ROG motherboards are known for arriving with a plethora of bundled accessories and the Hero is no exception, the included items are as follows:

1 x ARGB RGB extension cable
1 x RGB extension cable
4 x SATA 6Gb/s cables
1 x ASUS Wi-Fi moving antennas
1 x M.2 SSD screw package(s)
1 x Q-connector
1 x ROG key chain
1 x ROG Graphics card holder
1 x ROG stickers
1 x ROG thank you card
1 x Support DVD
1 x User manual


Hero conforms to the ATX form factor and follows a traditional layout. Across the board, ASUS has stuck with a familiar design to last seasons Z490 ROG lineup. It looks stylish, professional and retains a monochrome theme.

Being a Z590 motherboard, we have supported for the Intel 11th Gen. Processors (as well as support for 10th Gen. too) with LGA1200. Hero comes in with a 14+2 digital phase design which includes 90A stages, ProCool II power connectors (CPU power comes in the form of 8+8), MicroFine alloy chokes and 10K black solid CAPs are used throughout. There are 7 fan headers spread out at the top, side and bottom of Hero with designated compatibility for water pumps. 4 RGB LED headers are also present for lighting strips and other devices.

Memory support sees us able to use up to 128GB of DDR4 and up to 5333MHz. As is usually on this class of board, there are physical buttons for power/reset – making this offering a nice choice if you do happen to be making use of a test bench. LED debug makes an appeared in the top-right too, which is always handy for quick diagnostics on POST.

Connectivity and storage is comprehensive, with 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 header and 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header for the front panel, Up to 8 SATA 6GB/s ports and 4x PCIe M.2 slots. Two of these are PCIe 4.0 x4 ready while the other two are PCIe 3.0 x4 – having four slots on one board is an astounding achievement.

For graphics delivery there are 2x PCIe 4.0 X16 slots, 1x PCIe 3.0 x4 slot and 1x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. As usual the uppermost X16 is wired for the full 16 lanes and should be used for a single GPU configuration. The two upper 16 slots benefit from “Safe Slot” which includes steel reinforced slots and extra anchor points for longevity.

The audio solution is somewhat different for this generation and is based on the ALC4082 codec. The audio package itself includes:

- SupremeFX Shielding Technology
- ESS® SABRE9018Q2C DAC/AMP
- Gold-plated audio jacks
- Rear optical S/PDIF out port
- Premium Japanese audio capacitors
- Audio cover


The Maximus XIII Hero benefits from integrated RGB LED lighting which can be found on the heatsinks. This lighting taps into the ASUS Aura Sync eco-system and can be controlled using ASUS software – with the possibility to pair up and synchronise the RGB with other ASUS devices.


Hero leaves no stone unturned on the back panel, with a huge selection of functionality – providing a plethora of USB and other features such as clear CMOS. Below are the ports available:

2 x Thunderbolt™ 4 USB Type-C® port(s)
6 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (6 x Type-A)
2 x USB 2.0 port(s) (2 x Type-A)
1 x HDMI™ port
1 x ASUS Wi-Fi Module
2 x Intel® I225-V 2.5Gb Ethernet
5 x Gold-plated audio jacks
1 x Optical S/PDIF out port
1 x BIOS FlashBack™ button
1 x Clear CMOS button