Overall and Final Verdict

I mentioned it in the opening section but it is worth revisiting again. For a lot of people, the Crosshair boards have a little history. Not only were they the first ROG board ever made, but for some people, they are the first AMD boards people used. Because of that, I had high expectations when taking a look at the Asus Crosshair VI Hero and I saved it for last out of the three boards I had at launch. The Crosshair VI Hero ended up being drastically different than what I’ve seen in the past for AMD boards but that is a good thing. To start off they finally got this board in line with the styling they have been using on the Intel boards for a few years now. This means angular shapes but a color neutral black on gray on gray look that doesn’t lock you into one color like previous ROG boards. They leave their RGB lighting to set the color theme with the backlit Crosshair logo, the lighting around the chipset heatsink, and the two RGB headers on the board for case lighting. In the end, you don’t have a flashy look like the MSI I took a look at, but the Crosshair VI Hero does look good, simple and clean.

They then paired the board with Asus’s standard software suite that includes AISuite and their UEFI. Like always this was the only UEFI that I didn’t have trouble with my mice working correctly in it and it is packed full of features. Especially for overclockers who will be looking to push the limits of the 1800X soon. The AISuite 3 software hasn’t changed at all so I didn’t cover it but it is still as easy to use as always, especially with the Asus Aura controls also being part of their software now.

Asus really went crazy packing features into the board and frankly, I don’t have enough space here to go over them all but I really like the wide selection of connection options including a new USB 3.1 header that should start to become popular with new cases soon. They are also the only company to go with an optional AM3/AM4 mounting setup that lets you run newer or older mounting for your cooler. The only downside was the board I had only came with one backplate and you will need both if you want to use any type of cooling unless your new heatsink comes with one. But by far my favorite part of the board was the number of USB ports on the rear I/O. You end up with 14 ports and as someone who runs two USB hubs just to have the connection options I need this is a welcome change. You do give up onboard video connection options for them, but I don’t think many people will be buying this expensive of a board and then going with onboard later on when it's introduced.

That then leads me to the only real complaint I had about the board. This one is going to cost you to pick up. It is still a lot less than the MSI, so keep that in mind but AMD fans aren’t really used to having these higher end board options available. That said I think the board is completely worth it for the price. While I would go with the MSI for its crazy silver looks, the Crosshair VI Hero is the board I would be recommending for stability, support, and features. It's also the board I went with to test our AM4 CPUs now and in the future (until I get one in with onboard video lol). In other words, I think this might be the go to board unless you want an all silver build. Asus managed to fit a lot of overclocker features in the Crosshair VI Hero while still giving the everyday user everything they need now and in the future as well.

fv5editorschoice

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Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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