ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX (WiFi 6) LGA 1200 Intel Z490 SATA 6Gb/s ATX Intel Motherboard (16 Power Stages, DDR4 4800, Intel 2.5Gb LAN, DIMM.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Aura Sync RGB)

Pros: The PCB looks like a mixture of both the Maximus XI Apex and Maximus X Apex. I like the 4-slots between the two PCIe X16 instead of three, and additional M.2 slot for those who prefer to have an onboard M.2 SSD than having one attached to the DIMM.2 module as seen on the previous generation APEX motherboards.

Cons: Was disappointed to see they used the Infineon TDA21472 power stage, it is rated to handle 70 A, slightly lesser than the Infineon TDA21490 used on the Maximus XII Extreme which is rated to handle 90 A. The unusual SATA ports layout is definitely an eye-opener, how it's positioned is somewhat questionable. Managing SATA cables can be a pain with such an unusual angle, I'm using 4x SSD storage drives. and lastly having no support for OC Panel / OC Panel II.

Overall Review: Overall, the ROG Maximus XII Apex is an amazing motherboard that has not only the aesthetics but also the features that are specially tailored for overclocking, and performs exceptionally when overclocking memory - DDR4-5000 is way much easier to achieve with this board.

Pros: -This board fits my specific needs. I have a big collection of 16gb RAM sticks so I only need the 2 ram slots giving me a total of 32GB. -the 10900K and Z490 chipset allows 3 nvme ssd's with 1 on the mainboard and 2 on the DIMM.2 card without losing 8X +8X for full SLI support. I have my OS on the mainboard and my mass storage on the DIMM.2. Giving me a total of 5TB of NVME storage. The removable DIMM.2 is my favorite feature of the APEX. Using all 3 nvme slots removes lanes from the 4x pcie slot rather than the 16X GPU slot PCIE and the second PCIE will still remain at 8X if you did decide to use SLI. So you not losing anything significant when populating all the slots unlike the Extreme board from last generation. -Last generation Maximus XI gave vastly different results based compared to the other models for Vcore and stability. for the XI, I had the Formula, Extreme and APEX. And memory and CPU overclock's were always significantly more stable with less voltage on the APEX board. This is why I always choose this board even though I do not need the LN2 features. -If you intend to use this on a bench the sata ports of setup so you can route your cables directly down underneath the board saving space.

Cons: -No IGPU power delivery so it requires a discrete GPU -Availability is always scarce with this model so if you want it and its in stock I suggest you buy it now before they are scarce and overpriced

Overall Review: For me personally this is ASUS best Z490 board. ATX form factor makes it compatible with every case designed for it (unlike E-ATX Extreme). The price is decent. You are getting the most stable power delivery compared to the other ASUS models (last gen APEX I was able to use less voltage for the exact CPU overclock with the same cpu on the Formula board, saving me 0.04 Vcore and about 6c in temps in Prime 95 running for 3 hours.) You are able to get the DIMM.2 NVME card for a standard ATX board without ASUS pick pocketing you like they do with the Extreme model. Another problem with the Extreme model for the 10900K and previous generations is this CPU and chipset does not even offer enough pcie lanes to use all the features on the Extreme anyway, so you are throwing money away or removing your ability to use SLI if you do decide to populate the entire board.

Pros: Clean layout Modest Lighting Great overclock (Intel 10700K at 5.3 on air)

Cons: Really bummed that Chassis Fan 3 runs full voltage - not registering on QFan but visible in BIOS.

Overall Review: Recommended. This is my third generation Apex. No regrets.

Pros: -Solid construction -Great board Layout -More than enough headers -More stable overclocks than I was getting from my strix z590 board

Cons: -Previous Gen so some functionally is dated (ie no pcie4 if you have an 11th gen chip spend the extra for a maximus XIII) -Primitive RGB on board compared to z590 boards if that's the kind of thing you care about (if it is you probably shouldn't be worried about buying an overclocking board like this one)

Overall Review: Wanted to get into a maximus board for a while. Was using a z590 strix (still using perfectly fine in another build) but it wasn't giving me the overclocking functionality I wanted. I paired this board with a 10900k and I plan to absolutely cook that chip :) If I move into 12th or 13th gen I will defiantly get a maximus board again. Maybe not the Apex this time as overclocking appears to be increasingly less relevant

Pros: - Still one of the best overclocking boards out there. - Ran my Patriot Vipe 4400Mhz 16GB on xmp without problems - Bios support is amazing at OCN.

Cons: - First motherboard arrived without q-connector and secondary bios busted - AIO and Water pump header always set the duty at 100%?! - Your case might have secondary connectors for Usb 3.1/3.2, this board only has one.

Overall Review: All-in-all I love this board.

Cons: They are probably rushing to make these boards now since they keep selling out. Played with one for 2 days trying everything to get it to work just to find out it was poorly made, when you buy a $400 motherboard there should be quality behind it not have to RMA it

Overall Review: Meh