The OC Panel this time around looks like a permanent (and future compatible) addition to the range, and allows users to adjust voltages, BCLK and multipliers on the fly, as well as all the features listed above that were on the RIVE motherboard, and extra fan headers as required.

The OC Panel itself represents almost a tick-tock of the ROG range, given that the Rampage II Extreme had an additional upgrade in the OC Station which then those features migrated back onto the motherboard. All the models in the Maximus VI range have this system, although only the high end model comes with the OC Panel. The ROG OC Panel comes with the RIVBE (and Maximus VI Extreme), but uses a proprietary connector onboard to talk to the system. These features have not disappeared, but migrated – into the ROG OC Panel. The OC Key is gone, VGA Hotwire is gone, the Slow Mode switch is gone, the LN2 mode switch is gone, Sub-Zero Sense is gone, and the motherboard is physically smaller in width. The biggest difference in the RIVBE (Rampage IV Black Edition) against the RIVE (Rampage IV Extreme), aside from the color scheme, would be the lack of features present on the motherboard directly. Once those were complete, the teams were set to task on the motherboard we have in today – the Rampage IV Black Edition. Since then ASUS were put hard to work at the Maximus VI range, which expanded the ROG platform from three to five motherboards and placed extra features in the hands of the user (updated BIOS, Sonic Radar, AI Suite III, the OC Panel, and SupremeFX).

ASUS have tried to address this balance somewhat by releasing an upgrade to the bestselling X79 motherboard: the Rampage IV Black Edition is an evolution of the Rampage IV Extreme, incorporating as many aspects of the Maximus Z87 series as possible into an antiquated chipset.īack when we reviewed the ASUS ROG X79 range in August 2012, the ROG range itself received our best award at the time and the Rampage IV Extreme achieved our second highest award on our scale.

To compound all this, the X79 chipset looks dated, with no native USB 3.0 and only two SATA 6 Gbps. Users who wanted to migrate to the high performance end of the spectrum received a relatively small bump in performance over Sandy Bridge-E and Haswell on the mainstream was offering better IPC.

When Ivy Bridge-E arrived, there was discontent at the lack of a new chipset.

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