ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Z490 (WiFi 6) LGA 1200 (Intel 10th Gen) ATX Gaming Motherboard, 14+2 Power Stages, DDR4 4800+, 5Gbps LAN, Intel LAN

Got this motherboard after going through 2 gigabyte motherboards with a very annoying, loud and painful high pitched coil whine coming from the VRMs. This is a fairly common issue with motherboards that push a lot of power to the CPU but this one runs quiet. Very happy with the performance so far and absolutely worth the premium over the gigabyte boards. My PC configuration also uses corsair commander pro to control all lighting and fans so the aura integration with Corsair's iCue is a very welcome bonus.Pros:Good lookINSANE amount of options and controls in the bios (Seriously, you can spend hours in the bios and still be looking up what some things do)Good power delivery without being loudGood layout (very important since some manufacturers will put sata or usb or other connectors in weird places)Cons: (more like nitpicks)The amount of crap you have to take off the motherboard to install the m.2 drives is honestly a little unsettling. First remove GPU (if installed) then the chipset cooler cover has to come off, THEN the m.2 slot covers come off.The onboard power/ reset buttons light up bright white and cannot be turned off. SUPER ANNOYINGFor $400, a back plate would have been appreciated (Like the Formula)

This BIS mobo is all the right stuff, performance, quality, and AI. So far this thing is blazinf, durable, ergonomic as they get, and super adaptable. Its running a 10600k havent OC yest but from the looks of the heat sinks and vrm, also playing with the AI, I think it will be just under the $750 boards, and make over 5ghz no prob. Also it interacts with the ram nicely. Definately my opinion best board of any for z490. It also runs pretty good temps at the moment, bit im hooking up the 2 waterloops next month. Great software, and packaging. Cool led.

The media could not be loaded. Used in a full Asus build inside of a helios case. This is my first build ever. This mb is very very good. My temps do stay very low (i'm sure the massive heat sinks help.) Installation was easy for me, I used gloves during set up to be safe because you don't want to hit it with static from what I've read. Asus walked me through flashing bios update with no problem (just to be safe.) Rgb syncs up well with armory crate. Lots of little stickers included.

Great motherboard! I set this up with an i9 10900kf and left the overclock settings on auto. Gets 5.1ghz all day without issues, no hotter than 60C while in Warzone. Shreads through video files when exporting from Premiere.My monitor tops out at 120hz so I can't get total framerate but in COD Warzone and Cold War it solid stays at 120 without missing a beat running 4k (on RTX 3080.)BIOS has been super easy to setup. Manual is awesome. Everything about it has been great. Would buy again without hesitation.

Really should have MORE for the price.I just replaced an Asus Z97-A legacy with this board in a new build. I'd buy Asus for Quality and this is great board, but for the price - it really needs more.They've placed the 20 PIN USB 3.0 port at the front of the board, and those using a full size card will often block access to that port. While Asus anticipated this issue and made the connecter horizontal instead of vertical, the bulky adapter sometimes is cumbersome to get in, thus resorting to purchasing the newer front panel connector this board supports, but it should have been included.Removing 10 screws just to mount a single M2 module is a bit ridiculous. Once you get the board placed and mounted in the case, if you mount a top fan, the ARgb Headers and CPU fan connectors are VERY CUMBERSOME to get to.Flex and other buttons on motherboard are useless for most and would much prefer a switch option or a front panel connector for such. While I imagine this is an enthusiast board - I still believe price vs features is unbalanced.

Really happy to have spent a little more to improve my motherboard in my latest build! ASUS has a good reputation for delivering sturdy, well-packaged hardware. If you're building with an liquid CPU cooler, be sure to note the clearance on this board to make sure all your parts will fit. A NZXT Z73 AIO cooler will block the first RAM slot on this board, unless you rotate it 90 degrees.*note* If you're writing one star reviews for the "Scratched" details on the front of the board, slow down. There is a protective plastic film on the panels on this board that may show scratches, this is common with electronics like these. Just peel off the plastic once you're comfortable with your installation and you'll be all set.

Amazon's first product they sent me was used and was obviously used. It had scratches on it where the last person tried to mount the M2 drives, plus booklets and the cd were all scrambled and out of order. Others have also had the same issue from Amazon. Check your product from amazon as this is a 400$ motherboard so it better be brand new!! Overall, once I returned the board and got what I paid for, it's a great board, tons of room for expansion, great bios, plenty of fan headers, almost anything you could want from a premium motherboard.