The missing crosshair VII needs to be restored.
The missing crosshair VII needs to be restored.
We all understand that exclusive ROG boards such as Maximus, Rampage, and Zenith usually offer several models (besides Dominus Extreme and LGA3647, which doesn’t require cut-down versions). The Hero, Code, Formula, sometimes Gene, and Impact lines are common. Why did X470 Asus release only the Crosshair VII Hero? Even the X370 Crosshair VI includes both Hero and Extreme, and those models appeared before Ryzen’s major breakthrough? It seems Crosshair VII Extreme is indeed in development, as someone familiar with Asus shared images for Spoiler Now. This visual sheds light on the shutdown decision by finance. The issue lies with the PLX chip—it costs $150–300 each when bought in bulk (100–300 units), making it prohibitively expensive for even bulk orders. A Threadripper would provide better value with real lanes instead of a complex switch. There’s also DIMM.2, additional USB ports, and overclocking controls—features appreciated by Buildzoid @AHOC—but the PLX chip makes it too costly for Asus to justify. This is the company that managed to sell the Crosshair VIII Formula with a premium screen, a non-essential VRM waterblock, a small fan for cooling, and 2.5G LAN, all priced over 50% higher than the Hero. From an engineering standpoint, it appears Asus may have opted for a different design for the Hero at that time, or the board might actually use a TDA21472 instead of the claimed chipset.