Asus Rog Rampage Iv Black Edition
Kody Baril
Since there was no changes from the motherboard side manufacturers simply released a Firmware update and that was it, but ASUS is not one to sit back on their heels and let things happen. Instead ASUS knew that the Enthusiasts community wanted a refresh and wanted to see more features for the aging X79 platform. Well ASUS cannot make a new chipset for the X79 platform but they can do something which they actually do quite well and that is make a balls to the walls board with alot of new features to make it feel like a refresh even if Intel has not refreshed anything from the chipset side.
With that thinking ASUS made two new boards the X79- Deluxe and the Rampage IV Black Edition, of those two we have the Black edition model with us today. It truly is a special board as ASUS has taken pretty much everything they have learned from the other platforms and integrated them into the new X79 boards including T-Topology memory trace designs, AC WiFi, Excellent SupremeFX audio, superior DIGI+ III components and even the ROG OC Panel among so much more.
The Rampage IV Black Edition come in at a price tag of $499.99 which is a very hefty sum but for the level of user this is designed for it is a bit more expected. Overall that price will be hard to swallow for some users but that is why ASUS also released the X79 Deluxe board which is redesigned for Ivy-E but at a much lower cost of $349.99 so you really do have your pick but if you want the absolute best of cutting edge from ROG then you gotta pay to play.
Here you can see the main overview and some of the key features directly from the ASUS press deck. the board carries a whole host of features including a new DIGI+ III solution, newer SupremeFX solution, WiFI AC Support along with memory trace optimizations and even a BIOS tuned and specially designed for the Black Edition board.
The Black Edition is built around the theme of all black or everything being dark and matching the dark theme. this includes black VRM components, heatsinks and all of the bells and whistles however one area on the black which is definitely not black would be the Audio solution which uses the bright Red WIMA Film caps which are used for a specialized audio boost for higher end gaming sounds.
ASUS went more black here and the focus on this one is the VRM cooler heatsink which unlike the Extreme now carries an attached shroud to allow an awesome look along with excellent supplemental cooling to the main VRM sink.
The Extreme engine DIGI+ III design is a direct implementation of the DIGI+ designs designed for optimum performance and efficiency to meet both the extreme gamers needs along with the extreme benchmarkers needs as well. If you have ever heard the term wretched excess, the extreme engine DIGI+ III fits that description quite nicely. We all know that going excessive is not a bad thing but you must keep your goal in perspective, and ASUS did exactly that by building a super robust VRM, but also ensuring the DIGI+ controller was capable of handling the extreme load of benchmarking while also meeting the needs of 24/7 use. This includes such features as demand based switching which throttles the VRM components so that load is shifted back and forth between VRM components so that no single component is in a constant loading state which will allow for much cooler and efficient operation. Also, if the system jumps up to a fully loaded situation the controller can instantly transition to a high power state which kicks on all of the VRM components and ensures your system has the power it needs on tap. This kind of implementation also means that even under significant overclocks you can keep power saving features of the DIGI+ setup active and it will still throttle as seen necessary to keep power on tap but also allow power savings and efficiency in low load conditions. A note to this is that if pushing for extreme clocks the DIGI+ can be set for higher or extreme modes which will keep the VRM at a constant on state and full power will be delivered at all times which is necessary for those running in such scenarios such as LN2 benchmarking.
Also worth noting is the fact that the Nichicon GT caps are rated for a wider thermal threshold which means that the operating temps it can handle is much better and it is even better at the extreme cold temperatures some extreme enthusiasts subject these boards to.
The Chokes are also worth checking out as they are specially selected units which have a very unique look with a shiny smooth outer shell of the choke. Also the gold coating allows for minimal power loss and maximum power delivery.
The SupremeFX audio solution is something that I can no longer quantify as a unit which means a single or defining style which now SupremeFX carries multiple designs depending on the board. I guess if anything I can call this the newest iteration of the SupremeFX Implementation which carries similar design styling and even some similar components as previous Generations but there have been some upgrades since then. Things which are most noticeable would be the addition of the large red Block style WIMA Film Capacitors which are specially tuned for audio to enhance crisp detail such as gunshots and footsteps and these are used in conjunction with ELNA caps which much like previous gen applications of the SupremeFX designs offers a much fuller sound in your gaming environment. Also the SupremeFX Codec shielding, Op Amp and even the Red Line shielding are all in place to offer the best possible audio experience for extreme gamers looking for the very best they can get.
Sonic Radar is a very interesting development in that it offers an on screen overlay to show where noises are coming from which can offer you a competitive advantage in FPS games or other titles as gunshots or foot steps now not only can be heard but seen to allow better strategic positioning against an oncoming enemy force.
One area I can see this being advantageous would be with the hearing impaired as they are at a competitive disadvantage when playing games like FPS where hearing the noises around you can help you get a feel for where enemies may be approaching, and the SOnic Radar could be a solution to a gaming need nobody considered
ASUS has pushed the Gamefirst technology even further with its cFos software which now offers a EZ mode to allow even easier tweaking and adjust ability for all end users to increase online gameplay performance. The Gamefirst II technology builds off of the ability to shape the network traffic to better control throughput and packet priority to ensure the program that needs maximum speed and reduced latency such as streaming HD video or simply online gaming is all at your fingertips.
The ROG OC PANEL is the next new thing as we saw the OCKey introduced on the Rampage IV Extreme then on the Maximus V Extreme, now you see the next step in the evolution of ultimate overclocking peripherals.
As you can see the OC PANEL resembles a standard stand up K Type thermometer which is very familiar to enthusiasts overclockers. however this device does much more than just read thermals, as it connects directly to a special header on all ROG based boards for Z87 to allow full monitoring and hardware level control of the board to allow no overhead overclocking from the remote device.
One thing worth noting is that the remote fan and overclocking controls work with just the internal header connection, but if you want to get the advanced functionality of the extra overclocking devices such as GPU hotwire and all of the feature built under the cover than you are advised to connect a SATA power connector for the extended functionality which we will look at below.
The Subzero Sense feature is another that we have seen previously on the Rampage IV Extreme and is based solely on the needs of an extreme benchmarking enthusiast. The Subzero Sense feature is a collection of 2 K type probe connections on a block found on the side of the OC PANEL. These are used to keep track of the pot or LN2 container temperature to ensure your running within desired temps to avoid cold bugs or issues. Normally, when running LN2 or any other kind of sub ambient cooling you would need a external thermometer of good quality to ensure you get very accurate subzero temperature readings. With the Subzero Sense feature you now have 2 ports to which you can install K probe connections to monitor 2 different devices temperatures which means you dont need to spend the cash for those expensive thermometers.
One thing worth noting is that the small lower cover needs to be opened and removed from the OC PANEL in order to expose the multiple extreme overclocking tools and connections hidden below. We will look more at this in the overview images of the OC PANEL device directly.
ASUS has really jumped in deep with this one as some time ago i can remember talking to the ASUS Rep about RAMDisk performance and possibilities for Motherboard manufacturers to bundle it. Well now is that time, and ASUS of course is one of the teams leading the charge. Many may quickly note that in many cases especially previously RAMDisk was simply not feasible due to the low density and high cost to get a decent amount of usable Ram. Recently higher density kits have become much more affordable meaning that now even 32GB 4 DIMM kits are reasonable accessible by common users which means since most systems rarely use over 6-8GB max means you can have a quite sizable RAMDisk ready for super high speed operation for some transfer intensive tasks.
When Creating a RAMDisk there are many things to consider such as possible size limitations, and what data will you keep there? Well a RAMDisk is a huge measure faster than an SSD up to 10X faster in some cases and with RAM it is designed to constantly write and copy data so saving files that are constantly performing write operations can reduce wear on your SSD as well. With this in mind it is smart to look into which cache files are constantly writing, and find a way to migrate those to the RAMDisk. These will not only operate faster but if they are constantly being updated and written to it can save a ton of writes on your SSD. This is of huge importance for SSD longevity, as there are a limited number of write cycles on a SSD, and eliminating unnecessary write operations can actually have a very good result for the durability of your SSD.
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