Value -
Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item. Asus’ Maximus IV Extreme will cost you $289.99 from most online stores. Now $290 might seem like a lot of money to shell out for a motherboard, but this pricing is much better than it looks on the surface. When you compare this to other products in its class and then look at the features each offer you will find that the $290 price tag is quite a bit more acceptable than it looks at first glance.

Conclusion -
Some of you might be wondering why we bothered to review the Maximus IV Extreme when the Z68 is out and the Z77 is coming out in a couple of months. Well it is really quite simple; we covered it because it is an outstanding product. The web ended up overlooking products like the Maximus IV Extreme within a couple of weeks after launch. The excitement of a new product dies down and it can be quickly lost in the maze of newer boards. However, a real test of a product is to see where it is at a few months after its launch. This allows for plenty of time to tweak the BIOS and make important changes to the drivers and utilities which only provide for a better product. Asus has put this time to very good use. Although the Maximus had a solid BIOS when it launched the latest revision does improve several key factors. Most notably memory performance and compatibility has been improved over the last couple of BIOS releases. This means that the product you read about a last year is not the same as the one that we covered here.  The Maximus IV Extreme is a great product and one that anyone looking to upgrade should include on their list. In all honesty it has been one of the best P67 boards that we have tested since their launch back in 2010.

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