ASUS Maximus VII Impact mITX Intel Z97 Motherboard Review
ASUS Maximus VII Impact mITX Intel Z97 Motherbaord Retail Packaging & Bundle
The ASUS Maximus VII Impact Motherboard packaging is basic and to the point. The front of the packaging doesn’t throw much in the way of information on the board out there. Up top there is the coveted Republic of Gamers logo that all ASUS boards strive to get. Down at the the bottom of the board, there are a handful of logos for the Intel Z97 chipset, Ultra HD 4K, Windows 8.1 Ready, and the mentioning of support for the Intel Core series of processors. If you want anymore information you will need to pick up the package and take a look at it, of course that’s only if you’re looking at the board in a retail location.
Much like many of the top tier motherboards out there, the front of the packaging for the ASUS Maximus VII Impact opens up to reveal more of the details about the board. On the main portion of the box, there is information about the networking, Keybot and the associtated interface, and the mPCIe Combo IV.
The inside of the cover on the ASUS Maximus VII Impact mITX motherboard goes into the details of the audio that is on the motherboard as well as some of the details on the power delivery method. The ASUS Maximus VII Impact motherboard features the SupremeFX Impact II for stunning audio. The SupremeFX Impact II brings along with it a couple of features, Sonic SoundStage, Sonic Studio, and Sonic SenseAmp. Along the bottom of the cover there is a handful of marketing text about the Impact Power II power delivery system. The Impact Power II takes advantage of a vertical board for all of the CPU power components. This allows the ASUS Maximus VII Impact to have the same type of power delivery of the larger ASUS ROG boards, while maintaining the smaller mITX form factor!
The back of the retail packaging for the ASUS Maximus VII Impact lists out all of the system specifications as well as points out a handful of the key features along the top of the box.
Opening up the retail packaging for the ASUS Maximus VII Impact reveals the mITX motherboard is securely packed within the box.
Removing the ASUS Maximus VII Impact mITX motherboard and the various layers of cardboard protecting it from the bundle, we can find the bundle tucked in underneath it all. It’s not the most organized bundle I’ve ever come across, though it would be tough to make it anymore organized in such a tight space.
The bundle that comes with the ASUS Maximus VII Impact mITX motherboard has all the bells and whistle that you’ll need to set up your system. Along the left side of the bundle above the more common accessories can be found, four SATA III cables, I/O shield, and the user guide. Along the right side though, there are a couple of the ASUS Maximus VII Impact specific accessories. At the bottom right, we can see the ASUS SupremeFX audio solution, just above that is the Impact CoolHub which features two 4pin fan headers, and the LN2 mode header. Slightly further up is the mPCIe Combo IV that includes a 802.11ac Wireless card, Bluetooth 4.0, and a M.2 socket for an M.2 SSD. Towards the upper right corner the antenna for the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth can be seen.
One side of the ASUS mPCIe Combo IV features the WiFi ac card, which is aBroadcom 802.11 ac card.
The flipside of the ASUS mPCIe Combo IV card features the M.2 SSD card slot.
The ASUS Maximus VII Impact uses a standalone SupremeFX audio card, this helps create additional space on the main PCB by offloading the audio chip.