ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Formula DDR4 AMD Motherboard

The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Formula is a full-ATX gaming and enthusiast motherboard built on the AMD X570 chipset, designed for AMD AM4 socket processors including 2nd and 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen CPUs as well as 2nd and 1st Generation AMD Ryzen processors with Radeon Vega Graphics. At the heart of its power delivery sits a 14+2 stage solution using IR3555 PowIRstage MOSFETs, paired with ProCool II power connectors, microfine alloy chokes, and 10,000-hour rated Japanese black metallic capacitors. This robust VRM architecture is complemented by the signature Crosschill EK III integrated VRM water-cooling block — developed in partnership with EK Water Blocks — allowing the board to sustain demanding overclocking sessions with the thermal headroom to match. Connectivity is a genuine strength. Onboard Wi-Fi is handled by the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 module (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2x2 MU-MIMO, up to 2.4 Gbps, dual-band 2.4/5 GHz), with Bluetooth 5.0 also included. Wired networking is dual-port: an Intel I211-AT Gigabit controller and an Aquantia AQC111C 5G port, both protected by ASUS LANGuard surge protection and supported by ROG GameFirst V traffic-prioritisation software. Storage is versatile, with two M.2 slots — M.2_1 supports PCIe 4.0 x4 and SATA for 2242/2260/2280 devices when paired with a 3rd Gen Ryzen processor, while M.2_2 (chipset) supports PCIe 4.0 x4 and SATA up to 22110 form factor. Eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports with RAID 0, 1, and 10 support provide additional storage flexibility. Expansion slots with a 3rd Gen Ryzen processor include two PCIe 4.0 x16 slots (x16 or dual x8), one PCIe 4.0 x16 (x4 mode, chipset), and one PCIe 4.0 x1. Multi-GPU support covers NVIDIA 2-Way SLI and AMD 3-Way CrossFireX for 3rd/2nd Gen Ryzen. Audio is delivered by the ROG SupremeFX S1220 8-channel HD codec with ESS ES9023P DAC, rated at 120 dB SNR for stereo playback and 113 dB SNR for recording, with SupremeFX shielding, gold-plated jacks, optical S/PDIF output, and support for up to 32-bit/192 kHz playback in stereo configurations. The back I/O panel provides eight USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports, optical S/PDIF output, gold-plated audio jacks, Wi-Fi antenna connectors, USB BIOS FlashBack button, and Clear CMOS button. Onboard headers include two Aura RGB strip headers, two Addressable Gen 2 headers, dedicated water-cooling headers (W_IN, W_OUT, W_FLOW, W_PUMP), and an AIO pump connector. The board features a LiveDash OLED display for real-time status readouts, ASUS Q-LED diagnostic indicators (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device), ASUS SafeSlot reinforced PCIe x16 slots, BIOS FlashBack for CPU-free BIOS updates, Slow Mode and LN2 Mode headers for extreme overclocking, and pre-mounted I/O shield for simplified installation. Verifiable Specifications: - Socket: AMD AM4 - Chipset: AMD X570 - Memory: 4x DIMM, DDR4, max 128 GB; up to DDR4-4800 (O.C.) with 3rd Gen Ryzen; Dual Channel - Form Factor: ATX — 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm (12 in x 9.6 in) - Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200, 802.11ax, 2x2 MU-MIMO, up to 2.4 Gbps - Bluetooth: 5.0 - LAN: Intel I211-AT (1 GbE) + Aquantia AQC111C (5 GbE) - Audio: SupremeFX S1220 + ESS ES9023P, 120 dB SNR playback, 113 dB SNR recording - Storage: 2x M.2 (PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA), 8x SATA 6 Gb/s, RAID 0/1/10 - USB (rear): 8x USB 3.2 Gen 2 + 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 - BIOS: 256 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI, ACPI 6.2, SM BIOS 3.2 - Warranty: 3 Years