Pros: 1. Gorgeous (as far as motherboards go). 2. The bios user interface and features are fantastic. 3. AI overclocking and QFan control are great. 4. The VRM water cooling block is nice for someone who is going to use the motherboard for extreme overclocking with an open loop water cooling setup.

Cons: 1. Price. 2. It would be nice if the W_Pump header was user configurable to be able to be used as a conventional fan header with rpm control. 3. The LED lighting on the I/O shroud and Armor cover plates should be brighter. 4. The VRM temperatures are not showing up in CPUID HWMonitor (perhaps this will be fixed with a future bios update).

Overall Review: I wanted an Asus ROG Maximus XI Code, but after looking for a couple of weeks could not find it in stock. By the time my Core i9-9900k shipped, I decided to sign up for auto notify on both the Code and Formula and take which ever one I could get my hands on first. That happened to be the Formula, which is the more expensive of the two. My Core i9-9900k CPU is running nice and cool using the Formula's AI overclock to 5 GHz and QFan control. I have a beQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 air cooler, and I cannot even hear the fans running. Meanwhile the CPU idles around 30-33 deg. C and the hottest it has gotten during my daily use so far is 61 deg. C. This motherboard is performing outstanding. That being said, the VRM water block probably is not a necessity unless someone is doing extreme overclocking. As noted in the Cons, I can't see how hot the VRMs are running, but there is no thermal throttling and the system has been rock stable at 5 GHz. Thus, for most people, the Maximus XI Code, which is very similar but uses a conventional VRM cooler, is probably a better value if you can find one in stock.

Pros: Worked well when it was functioning.

Cons: This motherboard lasted exactly 13 months, and then one day my pc blue screened and I could not get it started again. I researched all the symptoms and error codes I was getting, and everyone that was experiencing the same had to RMA the board. I contacted Asus support for assistance but the person I spoke with was not very knowledgeable, there was very little troubleshooting done. In the end they asked for me to send the motherboard in for RMA. I sent it in and went through the whole process. When I finally received the board and went through the long process of putting together my custom loop again, I find that nothing was fixed and I had the exact same issue. I purposefully purchased their top of the line water cooling motherboard and as such expected to receive a great product with the support to back it up, unfortunately none of that occurred. Very disappointed and with nowhere to turn.

Overall Review: Have owned several asus motherboards and other products they make, unfortunately this one did not live up, left very disappointed.

Pros: Best board Iv ever owned, not even comparable. CPU at 4.6,5.0 in turbo, ram running at 4133mhz, the board itself is liquid cooled. Truly amazing tec., I highly recommend!

Cons: Needs a huge psu, to power 3 cards in sli, but well worth it in end. The only con I can think is the price, but again considering what you end up with, well worth every penny.

Pros: Installation was a doddle. I used the Intel Extreme Tower Heatsink Gaming Cooler for i9-9900K, to keep the i9-9900K CPU cool and added 32Gb of 4400MHz DDR4 RAM. The BIOS is fantastic and allows you to set everything. I've over-clocked the memory and it still hasn't gone above 30C. (I'm not over-clocking the CPU - I'm not a gamer) This is the best mobo I've owned in a long time and I'm really glad I made the investment.

Cons: None that I can see.

Overall Review: I would recommend this to anybody who is a DIY computer builder.

Pros: Great looks, at least when new (see cons). Plenty of USB 3.x ports, very stable, extensive UEFI setup (though it could be organized better), USB BIOS flashback. AI OC feature worked well for me, running my 8086K at 5.1GHz with 1.31V, which seems quite reasonable given my air cooling setup. Plenty of fan headers and options for liquid-cooling later down the road.

Cons: Coming from a Maximus VI Formula, the audio section of the XI Formula is quite disappointing. My trusty Maximus VI had dual differential LM4562 op-amps with film capacitors driving the stellar TPA6120A2 headphone amp. The new Maximus XI drops down to just an RC4580 headphone amp and forgoes any film caps. The RC4580 is a competent part, but it's very much entry-level as audio op-amps go. The result is an unexciting, noticeably lower detailed sound that doesn't put a smile on my face the way the VI Formula could. RGB ligting effects are quite dim, nowhere near as bright as the digitally-enhanced marketing pictures would have you believe. The effect is elegant, but the brightness is so low that the motherboard RGB gets drowned out by nearly any other lighting inside the PC. The mirror-finish on the various plastic parts is very soft and easy to scratch. My motherboard came out of the box with micro-scratches already on the lighted USB/SATA part (no protective plastic applied there), and I scratched the mirror-finish on the VRM waterblock by just barely touching it while plugging in the ATX 12V cables. Better to leave all the protective film on until your build is 100% finished!

Overall Review: Brand new and still in the box, my motherboard arrived with dirty fingerprints, dust, scratches, and even some gouges on the plastic. I also found a couple human hairs trapped between the CPU socket and dust cap! It would seem that the assembly plant for this product is not kept clean, and the workers are not being careful. My board came with gouges in the plastic armor near the M.2 heatsink, clearly indicating that the worker's screwdriver slipped while attaching the M.2 heatsink screws. Instead of fixing the problem, they just shipped it damaged. Yes, it's cosmetic, but for the price paid, I am disappointed by the production quality. Overall, the Maximus XI Formula is my third generation of Formula-series board from ASUS, and sadly, it's the first that has left me with regret. Given the extremely high cost, with a major audio downgrade compared to my VI Formula, dim scratch-prone RGB lighting, and careless assembly, the Maximus XI Formula just feels like an upper-midrange motherboard at an ultra-premium price.

Pros: EKWB water block, livedash, memok, q-code, rgb(albeit a little faint) amazing looks

Cons: QC was very bad, I had to remove the armor to connect the rgb cable that lights up the onboard rgb, of course I realized once it was fully installed, 2 hours down the drain, then asus aura decided it wasnt working anymore, another couple hours 😡

Overall Review: Customers should get compensated when we waste north of 8 hours troubleshooting/repairing a brand new board goddamn

Pros: - Board and options are top of the line - EK providing the watercooling components is quite nice - RGB for those who like it

Cons: - HUGE Quality Control issues with one of the most expensive, flagship boards offered by Asus - Upon purchase immediately noticed motherboard capacitors being bent - One of them was not even soldered to the board itself - Immediately noticed several CPU fan pins being bent - Wait times for the board to come in stock + shipping is brutal - Needed immediate RMA

Overall Review: - Wouldn't recommend for those looking to have this ASAP in their build - Wait times for this can be quite extensive, if an RMA is involved like mine, might be waiting several more weeks - NewEgg customer service was solid and turn around was quick

Pros: Can overclock pretty well, and not too hard to troubleshoot. Pairs pretty well with the asus thor and asus ryujin (will use the water blocks in the future). The GPU I have was blocking the Asus logo but thankfully placing it in the second pcie slot allows you to view most of the beauty of this board. For the price You should plan to take advantage of all the features. The live dash can also provide you with the codes on any boot problems you may have. (If you are not booting but everything powers on and it cycles through codes take everything apart and re-seat the cpu since adjusting it fixed my first problem)

Cons: Like others have said the rgb lights may as well be non existent. Also had trouble with detecting my hard drives but was able to solve the problem by disconnecting everything. Re-seating the cpu and updating the bios. I also changed where the sata cables were connected as an added measure and have not moved it since I got it to work. Aura sync and live dash were the worst experience to get working but was able to get it working by uninstalling any other related asus programs>going to the support website for the exact motherboard and downloading the drivers under the utilities tab. YOU ALSO NEED AI SUITE 3 installed, I'm not sure how or why but having AI SUITE 3+LIVE DASH+AURA SYNC will allow (or at least allowed me to) control of the live dash and rgb. Aura crate is another bios optional download that will just install bloatware along with some "needed programs". On that not DO NOT USE AURA CRATE to download the three programs I mentioned. For some weird reason installing this board in the Corsair RGB Spec Omega, I could not screw in the top left or right screws in a straight direction. Every other screw went in fine, but these two I have to rely on luck on not breaking the board.

Overall Review: While the 8 phase lie hurts, it can still overclock very well, and overall is a great motherboard. The programs in tandem was a headache but I feel was worth it after all the effort (T_T). The rgb is supremely disappointing on the motherboard even in total dark conditions (please do not underestimate how dim these lights are. Despite all these cons I give this board 4 stars for the features alone. Not many boards at this ATX size come with this many features with its abundant headaches while still looking disappointingly beautiful. This board makes me feel like I contradict myself but who cares if you love the look of this board and the fact that it has water blocks I suggest giving it a try but follow my steps if you can if you encounter problems.