Asus has also revealed the Asus Maximus VII Impact, aside from the Maximus VII Formula. The Asus Maximus VII Impact is an updated version of its predecessor. The board and layout design looks very similar, and Asus hasn’t fixed that four SATA ports stacked together. In my review of the Maximus VI Impact, I mentioned that it was somewhat difficult to remove the last SATA cable (specially if the cable has lock) without removing all the other cables before it. Anyway, based on the picture of the motherboard, the Z97 Impact looks like has a new MPCIE Combo IV card and a new Impact Audio card. Check out the rest of its features below.
UPDATE: The Asus Maximus VII Impact Z97 motherboard is now available. See here for best price.
Asus Maximus VII Impact Features and Specs
The new Asus Maximus VII Impact Z97 mini-ITX motherboard is the most powerful and highly-specified Z97-based mini-ITX gaming motherboard, with a layout that delivers maximum compatibility with CPU coolers and expansion cards. It includes Impact Power II, a specially-engineered full-scale power card for exceptional performance; the SupremeFX Impact II dedicated audio card and the mPCIe Combo IV + 802.11ac/ Bluetooth 4.0 module, which features PCIe x4 bandwidth. It also benefits from Impact CoolHub, an optional card with two additional 4-pin fan headers along with an LN2 header for ultra-low-temperature overclocking adventures.
The Asus ROG Maximus VII Impact looks like it has a slightly new rear I/O port design. It still has an optical S/PDIF out, a DisplayPort, an HDMI port, Q-Core LED, DirectKey button, MemOK button, ROG Connect, Clear CMOS, 4x USB 3.0 ports, 4x USB 2.0 ports, looks like an improved RJ45 LAN port, but the eSATA is now replaced with a PS/2 combo port.
The Maximus VII Impact is expected to support expected to support the 4th Gen Haswell, Hawell Refresh, Devil’s Canyon and the upcoming 5th Gen. Broadwell processors. Well find out more about the new Impact in the following days to come. Currently, Asus has not posted its complete specifications on their official website.
UPDATE: 2nd Generation No Compromise Design
- mPCIe Combo III card with 802.11ac and M.2 (up to PCIe 4x M.2 SSDs supported);
- Intel GigE+LANGuard+GameFirst III;
- SupremeFX Impact II (Sonic SenseAMP, Sonic SoundStage, Sonic Studio and Sonic Radar II);
- Impact Control Card: KeyBot + SoundStage buttons
- Impact CoolHub Card: 2x 4pin fan headers + LN2 mode switch
- ROG UEFI BIOS Enhancements, including Secure Erase.
UPDATE: The Asus Maximus VII Impact Z97 motherboard is now available. See here for best price.
when is this coming!
No words yet, perhaps next month since Asus already announced the Maximus VII Formula
The specs say that the M.2 on the Impact VII will run at maximum Pci-e 4x
Does anyone know what the max M.2 speed the Impact VI is ?
Have checked and it does not say anywhere i found, just that it supports M.2 but as far as i can read, the M.2 standard starts off with support for speeds similar to Sata-3 speeds.
The M.2 socket on the Impact VI supports PCI-E 2X.
FYI the M.2 standard defines the connector, not the data protocol. The M.2 supports SATA and PCI-E , but the implemented protocol depends on the associated controller. So the implementation can vary from one motherboard to the next. This has lead to confusion among consumers.
According to recent reports, the MPCIE Combo IV supports M.2 (PCIE x4)
I know.
This is the card that is on the Imapct VII (7)
I was asking what the M.2 combo card on the Impact VI (6) was.
It seems that it is a PCI-e X2 solution, giving a maximum theoretical througput of ~700Mbyte/s.
I wonder if the Impact VII combo IV is available to buy and if this card will be useable on the Impact VI motherboard i have. (With PCI-e X4 enabled offcourse).
Would be awesome to have one of the new M.2 socket PCI-e X4 cards.
512 Gbyte and 1400 Mbyte/sec throughput.
Wroooom 🙂