Last updated on December 8th, 2022 at 02:53 pm
ASUS unveils ROG Maximus XIII Apex motherboard for overclocking Rocket Lake-S processors
ASUS has expanded its range of ROG Maximus XIII motherboards with the new Apex model. The new product is designed for use with Intel Core processors 10th and 11th generation. The latter offer full support for the PCIe 4.0 bus.
At the heart of the ROG Maximus XIII Apex is the Intel Z590 chipset. The board is equipped with an 18-phase power subsystem. The manufacturer claims that each phase can handle up to 90 A. In the new motherboard of the ROG Maximus series, the manufacturer has completely redesigned the VRM, eliminating the phase doublers. The circuit also provides for two 8-pin EPS connectors to supply power to the processor. Massive aluminum radiators provide cooling of the elements of the power subsystem.
The ROG Maximus XIII Apex motherboard is designed for overclocking. This is also evidenced by the presence of the LED indicator of POST-codes, reading points for the readings of the voltages used, and many buttons and toggle switches that can be used for overclocking. Condensation sensors are located near the processor socket, memory slots, and the upper PCIe socket, useful for extreme overclocking. Besides, the ROG Maximus XIII Apex is equipped with five temperature sensors, five 4-pin and two 3-pin connectors for connecting fans, as well as several connectors for connecting a liquid cooling system.
Like previous Apex models, the new ROG Maximus XIII Apex motherboard comes with only two DDR4 RAM connectors. Although RAM is limited to only 64 GB, the new product supports DDR4-5000 and higher memory (overclocked). Assistance in overclocking memory is ready to provide support for ASUS OptiMem III technology.
The ROG Maximus XIII Apex also includes eight SATA III connectors and four M.2 connectors for NVMe storage. The pair of them on the motherboard supports the PCIe 4.0 interface and is equipped with heatsinks. The other two M.2 slots are added using the ASUS ROG DIMM.2 expansion card, which fits into the slot next to the RAM slots and supports NVMe drives up to 110mm in length.
The ROG Maximus XIII Apex expansion slot set consists of two PCIe x16 and one PCIe x8. The novelty’s network capabilities are provided by a 2.5-gigabit wired interface, as well as support for Wi-Fi 6E wireless connections. Responsible for the sound is the Realtek ALC4080 codec and the Savitech SV3H712 amplifier, equipped with high-quality Nichicon capacitors.
The board has four USB 3.2 Gen 1, five USB 3.2 Gen 2, and one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, which are output to the rear panel among the external connectors. An additional USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connector is provided for output to the front panel.
The price of the ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Apex motherboard is currently unknown. The previous version on the Intel Z490 chipset had a suggested price tag of $ 357.
