Asus ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX User manual

Motherboard
ROG
MAXIMUS
XII APEX

ii
E16623
Revised Edition V2
April 2020
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iii
Contents
Safety information....................................................................................................... v
About this guide......................................................................................................... vi
ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX specifications summary................................................ vii
Connectors with shared bandwidth ........................................................................ xii
Package contents..................................................................................................... xiv
Installation tools and components.......................................................................... xv
Chapter 1: Product Introduction
1.1 Before you proceed ...................................................................................1-1
1.2 Motherboard layout....................................................................................1-2
Chapter 2: Basic Installation
2.1 Building your PC system...........................................................................2-1
2.1.1 CPU installation...........................................................................2-1
2.1.2 Cooling system installation..........................................................2-3
2.1.3 DIMM installation.........................................................................2-5
2.1.4 M.2 installation ............................................................................2-6
2.1.5 Motherboard installation..............................................................2-8
2.1.6 ATX power connection................................................................2-9
2.1.7 SATA device connection...........................................................2-10
2.1.8 Front I/O connector ...................................................................2-11
2.1.9 Expansion card installation .......................................................2-12
2.1.10 Wi-Fi antenna installation..........................................................2-14
2.1.11 Removing the PCB piece (optional)..........................................2-15
2.2 BIOS update utility................................................................................... 2-16
2.3 Motherboard rear and audio connections ............................................. 2-17
2.3.1 Rear I/O connection ..................................................................2-17
2.3.2 Audio I/O connections...............................................................2-18
2.4 Starting up for the first time.................................................................... 2-21
2.5 Turning off the computer ........................................................................2-21
Chapter 3: BIOS and RAID Support
3.1 Knowing BIOS ............................................................................................3-1
3.2 BIOS setup program .................................................................................. 3-2
3.3 EZ Update ...................................................................................................3-2
3.4 ASUS EZ Flash 3 ........................................................................................ 3-3
3.5 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3............................................................................3-4
3.6 RAID configurations ..................................................................................3-5

iv
Appendix
Q-Code table............................................................................................................ A-1
Notices .................................................................................................................... A-5
ASUS contact information.................................................................................... A-12

v
Safety information
Electrical safety
• To prevent electrical shock hazard, disconnect the power cable from the electrical
outlet before relocating the system.
• When adding or removing devices to or from the system, ensure that the power cables
for the devices are unplugged before the signal cables are connected. If possible,
disconnect all power cables from the existing system before you add a device.
• Before connecting or removing signal cables from the motherboard, ensure that all
power cables are unplugged.
• Seek professional assistance before using an adapter or extension cord. These
devices could interrupt the grounding circuit.
• Ensure that your power supply is set to the correct voltage in your area. If you are not
sure about the voltage of the electrical outlet you are using, contact your local power
company.
• If the power supply is broken, do not try to fix it by yourself. Contact a qualified service
technician or your retailer.
Operation safety
• Before installing the motherboard and adding devices on it, carefully read all the
manuals that came with the package.
• Before using the product, ensure all cables are correctly connected and the power
cables are not damaged. If you detect any damage, contact your dealer immediately.
• To avoid short circuits, keep paper clips, screws, and staples away from connectors,
slots, sockets and circuitry.
• Avoid dust, humidity, and temperature extremes. Do not place the product in any area
where it may become wet.
• Place the product on a stable surface.
• If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualified service
technician or your retailer.
• Your motherboard should only be used in environments with ambient temperatures
between 0°C and 40°C.

vi
About this guide
This user guide contains the information you need when installing and configuring the
motherboard.
How this guide is organized
This guide contains the following parts:
• Chapter 1: Product Introduction
This chapter describes the features of the motherboard and the new technology it
supports. It includes description of the switches, jumpers, and connectors on the
motherboard.
• Chapter 2: Basic Installation
This chapter lists the hardware setup procedures that you have to perform when
installing system components.
• Chapter 3: BIOS and RAID Support
This chapter tells how to boot into the BIOS, upgrade BIOS using the EZ Flash Utility
and support on RAID.
Where to find more information
Refer to the following sources for additional information and for product and software
updates.
1. ASUS website
The ASUS website (www.asus.com) provides updated information on ASUS hardware
and software products.
2. Optional documentation
Your product package may include optional documentation, such as warranty flyers,
that may have been added by your dealer. These documents are not part of the
standard package.
Conventions used in this guide
To ensure that you perform certain tasks properly, take note of the following symbols used
throughout this manual.
CAUTION: Information to prevent damage to the components and injuries to
yourself when trying to complete a task.
IMPORTANT: Instructions that you MUST follow to complete a task.
NOTE: Tips and additional information to help you complete a task.

vii
ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX specifications summary
CPU
Intel®Socket LGA1200 for 10th Gen Intel®Core™ Pentium®Gold and
Celeron®processors*
Supports Intel®14 nm CPU
Supports Intel ®Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and Intel®Turbo Boost Max
Technology 3.0**
* Refer to www.asus.com for CPU support list.
** Intel®Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 support depends on the CPU types.
Chipset Intel®Z490 Chipset
Memory
2 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR4 5000+(OC) / 4900(OC) / 4800(OC) /
4700(OC) / 4600(OC) / 4500(OC) / 4400(OC) / 4266(OC) /
4133(OC) / 4000(OC)* / 3866(OC)* / 3733(OC)* / 3600(OC)* /
3466(OC)* / 3400(OC)* / 3333(OC)* / 3300(OC)* / 3200(OC)* /
3000(OC)* / 2933 / 2800 / 2666 / 2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-
buffered Memory*
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel®Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
OptiMem III
* Double Capacity DRAM support depends oh the DRAM Models.
* 10th Gen Intel®Core™ i9/i7 CPUs support 2933/2800/2666/2400/2133 natively,
Refer to www.asus.com for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).
Expansion Slots
Intel®10th Gen Processors*
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16 or x8/x8 modes)
Intel®Z490 Chipset
1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 slot
1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
* Support PCIe bifurcation for RAID on CPU function.
Multi-GPU support Supports NVIDIA 2-Way SLI®Technology
Supports AMD 2-Way CrossFireX™ Technology
Storage
Total supports 3 x M.2 slots and 8 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
Intel®Z490 Chipset
DIMM.2_1 slot (Key M) via ROG DIMM.2, type 2242/2260/2280/22110
(supports PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA modes)*
DIMM.2_2 slot (Key M) via ROG DIMM.2, type 2242/2260/2280/22110
(supports PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA modes)**
M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280(supports PCIe 3.0 x4 mode)***
8 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
Intel®Rapid Storage Technology supports Raid 0,1,5,10
Intel®Optane™ Memory Ready
* When DIMM.2_1 slot is running at SATA mode, SATA6G_12 will be
disabled.
** When DIMM.2_2 slot is populated, SATA6G_56 will be disabled.
*** M.2_1 shares bandwidth with PCIe x4 slot, when M.2_1 is populated with a
x2 device, PCIe x4 slot will run at x1 mode, when M.2_1 is populated with a
x4 device, PCIe x4 slot will be disabled.
(continued on the next page)

viii
ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX specifications summary
Ethernet 1 x Intel®I225-V Ethernet
ASUS LANGuard
Wireless & Bluetooth
Intel®Wi-Fi 6 AX201
2x2 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) support 1024QAM/OFDMA/MU-MIMO
Supports up to 2.4Gbps max data rate
Supports 2.4/5GHz Dual-Band
Supports channel bandwidth: HT20/HT40/HT80/HT160
Supports CNVI interface
Bluetooth v5.1*
* BT 5.1 function will be ready in Windows 10 build 19041 or later.
USB
Rear USB (Total 10 ports)
5 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (4 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®)
5 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (5 x Type-A)
Front USB (Total 8 ports)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel connector (supports USB Type-C®)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 5 USB 2.0 ports
Audio
ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220A
- Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs
- Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
- High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR
recording input
- Supports up to 32-Bit/192kHz playback*
Audio Features:
- SupremeFX Shielding Technology
- Gold-plated audio jacks
- Rear optical S/PDIF out port
- Premium Japanese audio capacitors
* Due to limitations in HDA bandwidth, 32-Bit/192kHz is not supported for
8-Channel audio.
Back Panel I/O Ports
5 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (4 x Type-A, 1 x USB Type-C®)
5 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (5 x Type-A)
1 x ASUS Wi-Fi Module
1 x Intel®I225-V Ethernet port
5 x Gold-plated audio jacks
1 x Optical S/PDIF out port
1 x BIOS FlashBack™ button
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x PS/2 mouse (green) port
1 x PS/2 keyboard (purple) port
(continued on the next page)

ix
ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX specifications summary
Internal I/O connectors
Fan and cooling related
1 x 4-Pin CPU Fan header
1 x 4-Pin CPU OPT Fan header
1 x 4-Pin AIO Pump header
3 x 4-Pin Chassis Fan headers
2 x 4-Pin Full Speed Fan headers
1 x W_PUMP+ header
Power related
1 x 24-pin Main Power connector
2 x 8-pin +12V Power connector
1 x 4-Pin EZ_PLUG connector
Storage related
1 x M.2 slots (Key M)
1 x DIMM.2 slot supports 2 x M.2 slots (Key M)
8 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
USB
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Front Panel connector (supports USB Type-C®)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 5 USB 2.0 ports
Miscellaneous
2 x AURA Addressable Gen 2 headers
1 x AURA RGB headers
1 x BIOS Switch button
1 x Clear CMOS header
1 x FlexKey button
1 x Front Panel Audio Header (AAFP)
1 x FS Mode switch
1 x LN2 Mode jumper
1 x Pause switch
8 x ProbeIt Measurement Points
1 x ReTry button
1 x RSVD switch
1 x Safe Boot button
1 x Slow Mode switch
1 x Speaker header
1 x Start button
1 x 10-1 pin System Panel header
1 x Thermal Sensor header
1 x Thunderbolt header
(continued on the next page)

x
ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX specifications summary
Special Features
ROG Extreme OC kit
- EZ PLUG
- FlexKey button
- LN2 Mode
- Probelt
- ReTry button
- Safe boot button
- Start button
- Slow Mode
Extreme Engine Digi+
- 10K Black Metallic Capacitors
- Infineon TDA21472 Power Stage
- MicroFine Alloy Choke
ASUS Q-Design
- ASUS Q-Code
- ASUS Q-Connector
- ASUS Q-DIMM
- ASUS Q-LED (CPU [red], DRAM [yellow], VGA [white], Boot Device
[yellow green])
- ASUS Q-Slot
ASUS Thermal Solution
- Aluminum M.2 heatsink cover
ASUS EZ DIY
- BIOS FlashBack™ button
- Clear CMOS button
- Procool II
- Pre-mounted I/O shield
- SafeSlot
AURA Sync
- Standard RGB header
- Addressable Gen 2 RGB headers
Dual BIOS
Software Features
ROG Exclusive Software
- Mem Tweakit
- RAMCache III
- ROG CPU-Z
- Overwolf
- BullGuard Internet Security (1-year full version)
(continued on the next page)

xi
ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX specifications summary
Software Features
ASUS Exclusive Software Features
Armoury Crate
- Aura Creator
- Aura Sync
AI Suite 3: 5-Way Optimization with AI Overclocking
TPU
EPU
DIGI+ Power Control
Fan Xpert 4
Turbo APP
- EZ Update
WinRAR
UEFI BIOS
AI Optimization Guide
ASUS EZ DIY
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS EZ Flash 3
FlexKey
BIOS 2 x 256 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS
Manageability WOL by PME, PXE
Operating System Windows®10 - 64 bit
Form Factor ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm)
Specifications are subject to change without notice. Please refer to the ASUS website for
the latest specifications.

xii
Connectors with shared bandwidth
BOOT
C_DET_CPU
C_DET_DRAM
C_DET_PCIE
VGA
DRAM
CPU
RGB_HEADER
ADD GEN2_1
B
D
A
B
A
C
C
D
Configuration 1 2
APCIEX16_1 x16 x8
PCIEX16_2 - x8
Configuration 1 2 3
BPCIEX4 x4 - x1
M.2_1 - x4 x2
Configuration 1 2
CDIMM.2_1 x4 SATA
SATA_12 V -
Configuration 1 2
DDIMM.2_2 V -
SATA_56 - V

xiii
• When DIMM.2_1 slot is running at SATA mode, SATA6G_12 will be disabled.
• When DIMM.2_2 slot is populated, SATA6G_56 will be disabled.
• M.2_1 shares bandwidth with PCIe x4 slot, when M.2_1 is populated with a x2
device, PCIe x4 slot will run at x1 mode, when M.2_1 is populated with a x4 device,
PCIe x4 slot will be disabled.

xiv
Package contents
Check your motherboard package for the following items.
Motherboard 1 x ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX motherboard
Cables
1 x Addressable RGB extension cable
1 x RGB extension cable
8 x SATA 6Gb/s cables
1 x Thermistor cable pack
ROG DIMM.2 with Heatsink
1 x ROG DIMM.2 with heatsink
1 x M.2 pad for ROG DIMM.2
1 x M.2 screw package for ROG DIMM.2
Miscellaneous
1 x M.2 Rubber Package
1 x Q-connector
1 x ROG stickers
1 x ROG thank you card
1 x Customizable nameplate sticker Pack
1 x ASUS 2x2 dual band Wi-Fi moving antennas
Installation Media 1 x Support DVD
Documentation 1 x User manual
If any of the above items is damaged or missing, contact your retailer.

xv
Installation tools and components
Phillips (cross) screwdriver
PC chassis Power supply unit
Intel®LGA 1200 CPU Intel®LGA 1200 compatible CPU Fan
DDR4 DIMM SATA hard disk drive
SATA optical disc drive (optional) Graphics card (optional)
M.2 SSD module (optional) 1 Bag of screws
The tools and components in the table above are not included in the motherboard
package.

xvi

ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX 1-1
Chapter 1
Product Introduction
1
Chapter 1: Product Introduction
• Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component.
• Before handling components, use a grounded wrist strap or touch a safely grounded
object or a metal object, such as the power supply case, to avoid damaging them due
to static electricity.
• Hold components by the edges to avoid touching the ICs on them.
• Whenever you uninstall any component, place it on a grounded antistatic pad or in
the bag that came with the component.
• Before you install or remove any component, ensure that the ATX power supply is
switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply. Failure to do so
may cause severe damage to the motherboard, peripherals, or components.
1.1 Before you proceed
Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components or
change any motherboard settings.

1-2 Chapter 1: Product Introduction
Chapter 1
1.2 Motherboard layout

ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX 1-3
Chapter 1
Layout contents Page
1. CPU socket 1-4
2. DIMM slots 1-5
3. Expansion slots 1-7
4. Fan and Pump headers 1-9
5. Liquid Cooling System headers 1-10
6. Power connectors 1-11
7. M.2 slot 1-12
8. DIMM.2 slot 1-13
9. SATA 6GB/s ports 1-14
10. USB 3.2 Gen 2 Front Panel connector 1-15
11. USB 3.2 Gen 1 header 1-16
12. USB 2.0 header 1-17
13. AURA Addressable Gen 2 header 1-18
14. AURA RGB header 1-19
15. BIOS Switch button 1-20
16. FlexKey button (Reset) 1-20
17. Front Panel Audio header 1-21
18. FS Mode switch 1-21
19. LN2 Mode jumper 1-22
20. Node header 1-22
21. Pause switch 1-23
22. ProbeIt Measurement Points 1-24
23. ReTry button 1-25
24. RSVD switch 1-25
25. Safe Boot button 1-26
26. Slow Mode switch 1-26
27. Start button 1-27
28. System Panel header 1-28
29. Thermal Sensor header 1-29
30. Thunderbolt header 1-30
31. Q-Code LED 1-31
32. Q-LEDs 1-32
33. BIOS LED 1-32
34. Condensation Detection LEDs 1-33
35. Storage Device Activity LED 1-33
36. 8-pin Power Plug LED 1-34

1-4 Chapter 1: Product Introduction
Chapter 1
1. CPU socket
The motherboard comes with a LGA1200 socket designed for 10th Gen Intel®Core™,
Pentium®Gold and Celeron®processors.
• Ensure that you install the correct CPU designed for LGA1200 socket only. DO NOT
install a CPU designed for other sockets on the LGA1200 socket.
• The CPU fits in only one correct orientation. DO NOT force the CPU into the socket
to prevent bending the connectors on the socket and damaging the CPU.
• Ensure that all power cables are unplugged before installing the CPU.
• Upon purchase of the motherboard, ensure that the PnP cap is on the socket and
the socket contacts are not bent. Contact your retailer immediately if the PnP cap
is missing, or if you see any damage to the PnP cap/socket contacts/motherboard
components. ASUS will shoulder the cost of repair only if the damage is shipment/
transit-related.
• Keep the cap after installing the motherboard. ASUS will process Return
Merchandise Authorization (RMA) requests only if the motherboard comes with the
cap on the LGA1200 socket.
• The product warranty does not cover damage to the socket contacts resulting from
incorrect CPU installation/removal, or misplacement/loss/incorrect removal of the
PnP cap.