ASUS Maximus IX Hero or ASUS Prime Z270-A?

[Mxngrel]

Hello!

I am currently looking for components to put in my new pc build and I am stuck between these two.
I have searched but haven't found any significant differences between these two. The IX Hero motherboard costs quite a bit more than the Prime Z270-A motherboard so surely there should be some significant difference.

Q1: What are the differences between these two?

Q2: I am building a PC for gaming purposes. It will feature an Asus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Strix Gaming OC graphics card and an i7-7700k processor. Which motherboard would you pick and why?

I appreciate any help, thank you!

 

[raisonjohn]

Hello!

I am currently looking for components to put in my new pc build and I am stuck between these two.
I have searched but haven't found any significant differences between these two. The IX Hero motherboard costs quite a bit more than the Prime Z270-A motherboard so surely there should be some significant difference.

Q1: What are the differences between these two?

Q2: I am building a PC for gaming purposes. It will feature an Asus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Strix Gaming OC graphics card and an i7-7700k processor. Which motherboard would you pick and why?

I appreciate any help, thank you!

Whichever motherboard you get between the two, you'd have these similar features:

Both have Z270 chipsets (supports overclocking that 7th-gen i7-7700K CPU)
Both have 8+2+2 Phase Digital Power design
Both have 4x RAM slots supporting up to 64GB capacity and up to 3200MHz++ speed
Both have 3x PCIe3.0 x16 slots at x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4 max. speeds
Both can support 2-Way Nvidia SLI or 2-Way AMD CrossFire or 3-Way AMD CrossFire
Both have 2x M.2 sockets (1x PCIe x4/SATAIII + 1x PCIe x4 modes) and 6x SATAIII ports
Both use Intel I219V LAN controller
Both have 2x USB3.1 ports at rear panel (1x USB3.1 Type-A + 1x USB3.1 Type-C)
Both have 4x USB3.0 ports at rear panel
Both have 5x 3.5mm audio jacks at rear panel
Both have 1x USB3.1 (19-pin) internal header (supports up to 2x additional USB3.0 ports)
Both require a 24-pin ATX power cable and an 8-pin ATX12V/EPS power cable from your PSU
Both have the basic audio connectors, front panel connectors, TPM connectors, and clear CMOS
Both have a Thunderbolt header, a 5-pin EXT_FAN header, a memOK! button, a Power On button
Both have Status/Post State LED indicators (Boot, VGA, DRAM, and CPU)
Both have a 2-pin Thermal Sensor connector
Both are ATX-sized (305mm x 244mm)

As for your Q1, these are the differences between the two:

IX Hero has 3x PCIe3.0 x1 slots | Z270-A has 4x PCIe3.0 x1 slots (but one is below the top x16 slot, which is non-usable if plugged with a GTX 1080Ti Strix), so, effectively, the same as the IX Hero
IX Hero uses SupremeFX S1220 audio codec | Z270-A uses Realtek ALC S1220A audio codec
IX Hero has no PS/2 ports | Z270-A has 1x PS/2 port
IX Hero has 4x USB2.0 ports at rear panel | Z270-A has no USB2.0 ports at rear panel
IX Hero has a total of 10x USB rear panel ports | Z270-A has a total of 6x USB rear panel ports
IX Hero has 1x USB3.1 internal header | Z270-A has no USB3.1 internal header
IX Hero has 1x USB2.0 (9-pin) internal header | Z270-A has 3x USB2.0 (9-pin) internal headers
IX Hero has 2x 4-pin RGB LED strip headers | Z270-A has 1x 4-pin RGB LED strip header
IX Hero has a total of 8x fan/pump headers | Z270-A has a total of 6x fan/pump headers
IX Hero has most of its fan headers along the board's extreme edges for cleaner cable routing (except for 1x CHA_FAN for the rear exhaust fan) | Z270-A has some fan headers (H_AMP and AIO_PUMP) located at the center of the board and the CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT slightly away from the edge
IX Hero has a Reset button, a Safe Boot button, and a ReTry button | Z270-A has a Clear RTC jumper only
IX Hero has a Slow Mode switch and an LN2 Mode jumper | Z270-A has none
IX Hero has a 2-Digit Error Code LED display | Z270-A has none
IX Hero has no CPU_OV jumper or XMP switch | Z270-A has 1x CPU_OV jumper and 1x EZ XMP switch
IX Hero has 3x water pump control/monitoring headers (W_IN, W_OUT, W_FLOW) | Z270-A has none
IX Hero has no COM port header | Z270-A has 1x COM port header
IX Hero has 3x 3D Mount screw ports | Z270-A has 2x 3D Mount screw ports
IX Hero has a USB BIOS Flashback button | Z270-A has none
IX Hero has 4x SATA data cables included | Z270-A has 3x SATA data cables included
IX Hero is Black + Gun Metal Gray | Z270-A is Black + White
IX Hero has its I/O shield and chipset with RGB | Z270-A has only the audio trace with RGB

As for your Q2, it is clear from the above differences in ports/connections, layout, and features, the Asus Maximus IX Hero is the better motherboard compared to the Asus Prime Z270-A.

The real question for you is: do you need those additional features in the IX Hero which are not found in the Z270-A to justify spending an additional ~$50 more or not?

If you do, then, the IX Hero is the clear choice as the cost is justified. But, if not, then, the Z270-A will suffice.

 

[Mxngrel]

Thank you very much for this. I honestly appreciate it a lot. I have chosen to go with the IX Hero.