ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial (Intel 1200)

Mainboards im vierstelligen Euro-Bereich sind seit einigen Jahren vereinzelt im Desktop-Segment anzutreffen, nehmen jedoch klar eine Luxus-Stellung ein und klammern jegliche Vernunft aus. Hohe Absatzzahlen können die Hersteller somit nicht generieren. So wird es auch dem ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial ergehen, das wir von ASUS für einen Test erhalten haben. Lohnt sich die Platine für den enorm hohen Anschaffungspreis?

After almost a decade of total market dominance, Intel has spent the past few years on the defensive. AMD's Ryzen processors continue to show improvement year over year, with the most recent Ryzen 5000 series taking the crown of best gaming processor: Intel's last bastion of superiority. Now, with a booming hardware market, Intel is preparing to make up some of that lost ground with the new 11th Gen Intel Core Processors. Intel is claiming these new 11th Gen CPUs offer double-digit IPC improvements despite remaining on a 14 nm process. The top-end 8-core Intel Core i9-11900K may not be able to compete against its Ryzen 9 5900X AMD rival in heavily multi-threaded scenarios, but the higher clock speeds and alleged IPC improvements could be enough to take back the gaming crown. Along with the new CPUs, there is a new chipset to match, the Intel Z590. Last year's Z490 chipset motherboards are also compatible with the new 11th Gen Intel Core Processors, but Z590 introduces some key advantages. First, Z590 offers native PCIe 4.0 support from the CPU, which means the PCIe and M.2 slots powered off the CPU will offer PCIe 4.0 connectivity when an 11th Gen CPU is installed. The PCIe and M.2 slots controlled by the Z590 chipset are still PCI 3.0. While many high-end Z490 motherboards advertised this capability, it was not a standard feature for the platform. In addition to PCIe 4.0 support, Z590 offers USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 from the chipset. The USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 standard offers speeds of up to 20 Gb/s. Finally, Z590 boasts native support for 3200 MHz DDR4 memory. With these upgrades, Intel's Z series platform has feature parity with AMD's B550. On paper, Intel is catching up to AMD, but only testing will tell if these new Z590 motherboards are up to the challenge.

Asus’ ROG Maximus XIII Extreme and Extreme Glacial are full-featured Z590 motherboards that include robust power delivery, premium audio with a DAC, five M.2 sockets, 10 GbE and integrated Wi-Fi 6E. The Glacial includes a custom waterblock. While pricing is tough to take, the Extreme ($899) and Extreme Glacial ($1499) represent what flagship-class motherboards should be.

As I have said, this board is not designed for your everyday user. It is designed for professional overclockers that want to make their 11th Gen CPUs bleed and cry! ASUS have added all the hardware and customization need to control the board exactly how you want, allowing you to push your components to their limits. ASUS has also included software and AI enhancements to make sure you are getting every single ounce of performance out of your 11th Gen CPU that is possible. While expensive, if you want to push your components to be mere millimetres away from death, this is the board that will help you do so!