If you have a GPU, you are out of luck as you would have to remove your GPU first before starting.
It’s just a thin aluminium sheet, so I don’t expect it to be of any value when it comes down to cooling.īut to install the M.2 into the M.2_1 slot, you would have to remove the fan shroud, which is held down by 2 screws, no less, and unscrew two more screws to lift off the M.2 heatspreader, and then you can mount your SSD. For some peculiar reason, ASUS thought it would be nice to add a fan shroud which extends over the first M.2 slot’s heatspreader. Now as I have mentioned, the only design flaw with the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) is around the PCH heatsink. Why does that metal sheet extend just that tiny bit?
Intel WiFi 6 AX200 (2×2 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.0)ġ x Extension Cable for RGB strips (80 cm) The ROG Crosshair VIII Formula comes with a pretty backplate which looks even more awesome.Ģnd, 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen processors (AMD Ryzen 2000 and Ryzen 3000 series)ġst, 2nd Generation AMD Ryzen Processors with Radeon Vega Graphics (AMD Ryzen 2000G and Ryzen 3000G series)ĪSUS ASP1405i PWM controller (7 + 1 phase config)Ĥ x DDR4 DIMM, max. There are some UV spot to improve the looks of the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi), but ASUS clearly held back here.
The backside of the board is a bit naked, but you can revel in the beauty of the soldering work before you install the board into a case. As long as they remember to install their motherboard. The ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) benefits from that, and enthusiasts will no longer have to worry about forgetting to install the I/O shield. The slots are reinforced to prevent damage from the humongous cards we have nowadays.ĪSUS created history by integrating the I/O shield onto the motherboard for the first time with the ROG Rampage V Edition 10, and they have been doing it on their flagship ROG boards ever since.
This is also where we see the main design flaw of the board, but more on that later. The lower half of the board is dominated by the ornamental block of aluminium extending between the two PCIe x16 slots. However instead of being entirely ornamental, these heatsinks feature some semblance of fins, and there’s even a heatpipe to share the heatload between the hunks of aluminium. Most of the PCB is hidden away under “armor”, making the board look sleeker than if it was naked.ĪSUS has always made awesome looking VRM heatsinks, and the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) sports a fancy design as well. AppearanceĪSUS definitely upgraded the aesthetics of the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) over the Crosshair VII Hero. You also get a CableMod voucher, which will help you get your dream cables for 20% less. As typical of recent ROG products, the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) comes with a note thanking you for getting a product from the Republic of Gamers, a whole set of stickers and even a coaster.