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Where the applicable license entitles you to the source code of such software and/or other additional data,
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1.11.1 EZ Update .................................................................................... 77
1.11.2 ASUS EZ Flash 3 ......................................................................... 78
1.11.3 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 ............................................................. 80
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
BIOS Setup
1.1 Knowing BIOS
The new ASUS UEFI BIOS is a Unied Extensible Interface that complies with UEFI
architecture, offering a user-friendly interface that goes beyond the traditional keyboard-
only BIOS controls to enable a more exible and convenient mouse input. You can easily
navigate the new UEFI BIOS with the same smoothness as your operating system. The
term “BIOS” in this user manual refers to “UEFI BIOS” unless otherwise specied.
BIOS (Basic Input and Output System) stores system hardware settings such as storage
device conguration, overclocking settings, advanced power management, and boot
device conguration that are needed for system startup in the motherboard CMOS. In
normal circumstances, the default BIOS settings apply to most conditions to ensure
optimal performance. DO NOT change the default BIOS settings except in the following
circumstances:
• An error message appears on the screen during the system bootup and requests you
to run the BIOS Setup.
• You have installed a new system component that requires further BIOS settings or
update.
Inappropriate BIOS settings may result to instability or boot failure. We strongly
recommend that you change the BIOS settings only with the help of a trained service
personnel.
• When downloading or updating the BIOS le, rename it as M11HW.CAP for this
motherboard.
• BIOS settings and options may vary due to different BIOS release versions. Please
refer to the latest BIOS version for settings and options.
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5
1.2 BIOS setup program
Use the BIOS Setup to update the BIOS or congure its parameters. The BIOS screen
include navigation keys and brief onscreen help to guide you in using the BIOS Setup
program.
Entering BIOS at startup
To enter BIOS Setup at startup, press <Delete> or <F2> during the Power-On Self Test
(POST). If you do not press <Delete> or <F2>, POST continues with its routines.
Entering BIOS Setup after POST
To enter BIOS Setup after POST:
• Press <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Delete> simultaneously.
• Press the reset button on the system chassis.
• Press the power button to turn the system off then back on. Do this option only if you
failed to enter BIOS Setup using the rst two options.
After doing either of the three options, press <Delete> key to enter BIOS.
• The BIOS setup screens shown in this section are for reference purposes only, and
may not exactly match what you see on your screen.
• Ensure that a USB mouse is connected to your motherboard if you want to use the
mouse to control the BIOS setup program.
• If the system becomes unstable after changing any BIOS setting, load the default
settings to ensure system compatibility and stability. Select the Load Optimized
Defaults item under the Exit menu or press hotkey <F5>. See section 1.10 Exit
menu for details.
• If the system fails to boot after changing any BIOS setting, try to clear the CMOS and
reset the motherboard to the default value. See section 2.3.1 Rear I/O connection in
your user manual for the location of the Clear CMOS button to clear RTC RAM.
• The BIOS setup program does not support Bluetooth devices.
BIOS menu screen
The BIOS Setup program can be used under two modes: EZ Mode and Advanced Mode.
You can change modes from Setup Mode in Boot menu or by pressing the <F7> hotkey.
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
1.2.1 Advanced Mode
The Advanced Mode provides advanced options for experienced end-users to congure
the BIOS settings. The gure below shows an example of the Advanced Mode. Refer to the
following sections for the detailed congurations.
The default screen for entering the BIOS setup program can be changed. Refer to the
Setup Mode item in section Boot menu for details.
Configuration fields
Pop-up Menu
Menu bar
LanguageQ-Fan Control(F6) AI OC Guide(F11)
Menu items
Search(F9)
MyFavorite(F3)AURA ON/OFF(F4)
General help
Last modified settings
EZ Tuning Wizard
Go back to EZ Mode
Scroll bar
Hot Keys
Search on the FAQ
Displays a quick overview of the
system status and prediction
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7
Menu bar
The menu bar on top of the screen has the following main items:
My Favorites
Main
Extreme Tweaker
Advanced
Monitor
Boot
Tool
Exit
For saving the frequently-used system settings and conguration.
For changing the basic system conguration
For changing the overclocking settings
For changing the advanced system settings
For displaying the system temperature, power status, and changing
the fan settings.
For changing the system boot conguration
For conguring options for special functions
For selecting the exit options and loading default settings
Menu items
The highlighted item on the menu bar displays the specic items for that menu. For example,
selecting Main shows the Main menu items.
The other items (My Favorites, Extreme Tweaker, Advanced, Monitor, Boot, Tool, and Exit)
on the menu bar have their respective menu items.
Submenu items
A greater than sign (>) before each item on any menu screen means that the item has a
submenu. To display the submenu, select the item and press <Enter>.
Language
This button above the menu bar contains the languages that you can select for your BIOS.
Click this button to select the language that you want to display in your BIOS screen.
My Favorites(F3)
This button above the menu bar shows all BIOS items in a Tree Map setup. Select frequentlyused BIOS settings and save it to MyFavorites menu.
Refer to section 1.3 My Favorites for more information.
Q-Fan Control(F6)
This button above the menu bar displays the current settings of your fans. Use this button to
manually tweak the fans to your desired settings.
Refer to section 1.2.3 Q-Fan Control for more information.
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
AI OC Guide(F11)
This button above the menu bar allows you to view the descriptions of AI overclocking and
enable it.
• Refer to section 1.2.4 AI OC Guide for more information.
• This function is only enabled when using an unlocked CPU.
Search (F9)
This button allows you to search for BIOS items by entering its name, enter the item name to
nd the related item listing.
AURA (F4)
This button allows you to turn the RGB LED lighting or functional LED on or off.
[All On]: All LEDs (Aura or Functional) will be enabled.
[Aura Only]: Aura LEDs will be enabled and functional LEDs will be disabled.
[Aura Off]: Aura LEDs will be disabled, however functional LEDs will still be enabled.
[Stealth Mode]: All LEDs (Aura and Functional) will be disabled.
Search on FAQ
Move your mouse over this button to show a QR code, scan this QR code on your mobile
device to connect to the BIOS FAQ web page of the ASUS support website. You can also
scan the following QR code:
Scroll bar
A scroll bar appears on the right side of a menu screen when there are items that do not t
on the screen. Press the Up/Down arrow keys or <Page Up> / <Page Down> keys to display
the other items on the screen.
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9
General help
At the bottom of the menu screen is a brief description of the selected item. Use <F12> key
to capture the BIOS screen and save it to the removable storage device.
Conguration elds
These elds show the values for the menu items. If an item is user-congurable, you can
change the value of the eld opposite the item. You cannot select an item that is not usercongurable.
A congurable eld is highlighted when selected. To change the value of a eld, select it and
press <Enter> to display a list of options.
Hot keys
This button contains the navigation keys for the BIOS setup program. Use the navigation
keys to select items in the menu and change the settings.
EZ Tuning Wizard
This button above the menu bar allows you to view and congure the RAID settings of your
system.
Refer to section 1.2.5 EZ Tuning Wizard for more information.
Last Modified button
This button shows the items that you last modied and saved in BIOS Setup.
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
1.2.2 EZ Mode
The EZ Mode provides you an overview of the basic system information, and allows you to
select the display language, system performance, mode and boot device priority. To access
the Advanced Mode, select Advanced Mode or press the <F7> hotkeyfor the advanced
BIOS settings.
To switch from Advanced Mode to EZ Mode, click EZ Mode(F7) or press the <F7> hotkey.
Displays a quick overview
of the system status
Selects the display language
of the BIOS setup program
Enables or disables the SATA RAID mode
for Intel Rapid Storage Technology
Displays the CPU Fan’s speed. Click
the button to manually tune the fans
Loads optimized
default settings
EZ Tuning Wizard
Displays the system properties of the selected mode.
Saves the changes
and resets the system
Click to go to Advanced mode
Click < or > to switch modes
Search(F9)AI OC Guide(F11)
Selects the boot device priority
AURA ON/OFF(F4)
Search on the FAQ
Click to display boot devices
The boot device options vary depending on the devices you installed to the system.
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11
1.2.3 Q-Fan Control
The Q-Fan Control allows you to set a fan prole or manually congure the operating speed
of your CPU and chassis fans.
Click to select a fan to be
configured
Select a profile to
apply to your fans
Click to activate
Click to apply the fan setting
Click to undo the
changes
PWM Mode
Click to go back to main menu
Click to activate DC Mode
Select to manually configure
your fans
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
Configuring fans manually
Select Manual from the list of proles to manually congure your fans’ operating speed.
Speed points
Select to manually
configure your fans
To congure your fans:
1. Select the fan that you want to congure and to view its current status.
2. Click and drag the speed points to adjust the fans’ operating speed.
3. Click Apply to save the changes then click Exit (ESC).
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13
1.2.4 AI OC Guide
• The screenshot shown in this section is for reference purposes only, and may not
exactly match what you see on your screen.
• This function is only enabled when using an unlocked CPU.
The AI OC Guide allows you to enable the Ai Overclocking feature, or view a quick guide
of the Ai Overclocking feature which highlights the recommended setup procedure and
descriptions of the AI Overclocking.
Clicking on Enable AI will enable AI Overclocking.
Quick guide topicsClick to go back
Click to view the
previous topic in the
quick guide
14
Click to view
the next topic in
the quick guide
Click to enable AI
Overclocking
ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
to main menu
1.2.5 EZ Tuning Wizard
EZ Tuning Wizard allows you to easily set RAID in your system using this feature.
Creating RAID
To create RAID:
1. Click EZ Tuning Wizard from the BIOS screen to open EZ Tuning Wizard screen.
2. Click Yes
3. Select the port that you want to set to [RAID] mode, PCIE or SATA, then click Next.
to enable RAID.
• Ensure that your HDDs have no existing RAID volumes.
• Ensure to connect your HDDs to Intel
®
SATA connectors.
ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
15
4. Select the type of storage for your RAID, Easy Backup or Super Speed, then click
Next.
a. For Easy Backup, click Next then select from Easy Backup (RAID 1) or Easy
Backup (RAID 10).
You can only select Easy Backup (RAID 10) if you connect four (4) HDDs.
b. For Super Speed, click Next then select from Super Speed (RAID 0) or Super
Speed (RAID 5).
5. After selecting the type of RAID, click Next then click Yes to continue the RAID setup.
6. After the RAID setup is done, click Yes to exit the setup then click OK to reset your
system.
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
1.3 My Favorites
My Favorites is your personal space where you can easily save and access your favorite
BIOS items.
My Favorites comes with several performance, power saving, and fast boot related items by
default. You can personalize this screen by adding or removing items.
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17
Adding items to My Favorites
To add BIOS items:
1. Press <F3> on your keyboard or click MyFavorites(F3) from the BIOS screen to open
Setup Tree Map screen.
2. On the Setup Tree Map screen, select the BIOS items that you want to save in My
Favorites screen.
Main menu panel
Selected shortcut
items
Submenu panel
Delete all favorite
items
Recover to default
favorite items
3. Select an item from main menu panel, then click the submenu that you want to save as
favorite from the submenu panel and click
You cannot add the following items to My Favorite items:
• Items with submenu options
• User-managed items such as language and boot order
• Conguration items such as Memory SPD Information, system time and date.
or press <Enter> on your keyboard.
4. Click Exit (ESC) or press <Esc> key to close Setup Tree Map screen.
5. Go to My Favorites menu to view the saved BIOS items.
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
1.4 Main menu
The Main menu screen appears when you enter the Advanced Mode of the BIOS Setup
program. The Main menu provides you an overview of the basic system information, and
allows you to set the system date, time, language, and security settings.
Security
The Security menu items allow you to change the system security settings.
• If you have forgotten your BIOS password, erase the CMOS Real Time Clock (RTC)
RAM to clear the BIOS password. See section 2.3.1 Rear I/O connection in your user
manual for the location of the Clear CMOS button to clear RTC RAM.
• The Administrator or User Password items on top of the screen show the default [Not
Installed]. After you set a password, these items show [Installed].
ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
19
Administrator Password
If you have set an administrator password, we recommend that you enter the administrator
password for accessing the system. Otherwise, you might be able to see or change only
selected elds in the BIOS setup program.
To set an administrator password:
1. Select the Administrator Password item and press <Enter>.
2. From the Create New Password box, key in a password, then press <Enter>.
3. Re-type to conrm the password then select OK.
To change an administrator password:
1. Select the Administrator Password item and press <Enter>.
2. From the Enter Current Password box, key in the current password, then press
<Enter>.
3. From the Create New Password box, key in a new password, then press <Enter>.
4. Re-type to conrm the password then select OK.
To clear the administrator password, follow the same steps as in changing an administrator
password, but leave other elds blank then select OK to continue. After you clear the
password, the Administrator Password item on top of the screen shows [Not Installed].
User Password
If you have set a user password, you must enter the user password for accessing the system.
The User Password item on top of the screen shows the default [Not Installed]. After you set
a password, this item shows [Installed].
To set a user password:
1. Select the User Password item and press <Enter>.
2. From the Create New Password box, key in a password, then press <Enter>.
3. Re-type to conrm the password then select OK.
To change a user password:
1. Select the User Password item and press <Enter>.
2. From the Enter Current Password box, key in the current password, then press
<Enter>.
3. From the Create New Password box, key in a new password, then press <Enter>.
4. Re-type to conrm the password then select OK.
To clear the user password, follow the same steps as in changing a user password, but
leave other elds blank then select OK to continue. After you clear the password, the User
Password item on top of the screen shows [Not Installed].
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
1.5 Extreme Tweaker menu
The Extreme Tweaker menu items allow you to congure overclocking-related items.
Be cautious when changing the settings of the Extreme Tweaker menu items. Incorrect
eld values can cause the system to malfunction.
The conguration options for this section vary depending on the CPU and DIMM model you
installed on the motherboard.
Scroll down to display other BIOS items.
Overclocking Presets
Select this item to load various settings suitably tuned for your needs.
Ai Overclock Tuner
This item allows you to select the CPU overclocking options to achieve the desired CPU
internal frequency. Select any of these preset overclocking conguration options:
[Auto] Loads the optimal settings for the system.
[Manual] When the manual mode is selected, the BCLK (base clock) frequency can
[XMP I] If you install memory modules supporting the eXtreme Memory Prole
[XMP II] If you install memory modules supporting the eXtreme Memory Prole
be assigned manually.
(XMP) Technology, choose this item to load the DIMM’s default XMP
memory timings (CL, TRCD, TRP, TRAS) with BCLK frequency and other
memory parameters optimized by ASUS.
(XMP) Technology, choose this item to load the DIMM’s default XMP
prole.
The [X.M.P.] conguration option appears only when you install memory modules
supporting the eXtreme Memory Prole(X.M.P.) Technology.
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21
The following item appears only when you set the Ai Overclock Tuner to [XMP I] or
[XMP II].
XMP
This item allows you to select your eXtreme Memory Prole (XMP). Each prole has its
own DRAM frequency, timing and voltage.
The following item appears only when you set the Ai Overclock Tuner to [XMP I],
[XMP II], or [Manual].
BCLK Frequency
This item allows you to set the BCLK (base clock) frequency to enhance the system
performance. Use the <+> or <-> to adjust the value.
We recommend you to set the value based on the CPU specication, as high BCLK
frequencies may damage the CPU permanently.
ASUS MultiCore Enhancement
[Auto] This item allows you to use ASUS optimized core ratio Turbo settings at
[Disabled] This item allows you to use Intel default Turbo core ratio settings.
[Enabled] This item allows you to use optimized power and current thresholds for
default processor speeds.
maintaining maximum performance.
SVID Behavior
This item allows you to program the CPU’s SVID behavior based on the CPU’s quality.
This item allows you to subtract a value from your core ratio at which AVX applications run.
Conguration options: [Auto] [1] – [31]
CPU Core Ratio
This item allows you to set the CPU core ratios.
Conguration options: [Auto] [Sync All Cores] [Per Core] [AI Optimized]
The [AI Optimized] item appears only when you use an unlocked CPU.
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ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) BIOS Manual
When the CPU Core Ratio is set to [Sync All Cores] or [Per Core], the following item
appears.
1-Core Ratio Limit
Enter [Auto] to apply the CPU default Turbo Ratio setting or manually
assign a 1-Core Limit value that must be higher than or equal to the 2-Core
Ratio Limit.
When the CPU Core Ratio is set to [Per Core], the following items appears.
2-Core Ratio Limit
Enter [Auto] to apply the CPU default Turbo Ratio setting or manually
assign a 2-core ratio limit that must be higher than or equal to the 3-core
ratio limit.
If you assign a value for 2-Core Ratio Limit, do not set the 1-Core Ratio Limit to [Auto].
3-Core Ratio Limit
Enter [Auto] to apply the CPU default Turbo Ratio setting or manually
assign a 3-core ratio limit that must be higher than or equal to the 4-core
ratio limit.
If you assign a value for 3-Core Ratio Limit, do not set the 1-Core Ratio Limit and 2-Core
Ratio Limit to [Auto].
4-Core Ratio Limit
Enter [Auto] to apply the CPU default Turbo Ratio setting or manually
assign a 4-core ratio limit that must be higher than or equal to the 5-core
ratio limit.
If you assign a value for 4-Core Ratio Limit, do not set the 1-Core Ratio Limit, 2-Core Ratio
Limit, and 3-Core Ratio Limit to [Auto].
5-Core Ratio Limit
Enter [Auto] to apply the CPU default Turbo Ratio setting or manually
assign a 5-core ratio limit that must be higher than or equal to the 6-core
ratio limit.
If you assign a value for 5-Core Ratio Limit, do not set the 1-Core Ratio Limit, 2-Core Ratio
Limit, 3-Core Ratio Limit, and 4-Core Ratio Limit to [Auto].
6-Core Ratio Limit
Enter [Auto] to apply the CPU default Turbo Ratio setting or manually
assign a 6-core ratio limit that must be lower than or equal to the 5-core
ratio limit.
If you assign a value for 6-Core Ratio Limit, do not set the 1-Core Ratio Limit, 2-Core Ratio
Limit, 3-Core Ratio Limit, 4-Core Ratio Limit, and 5-Core Ratio Limit to [Auto].
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23
BCLK Frequency : DRAM Frequency Ratio [Auto]
[Auto] The BCLK frequency to DRAM frequency ratio will be set to the optimized
[100:133] The BCLK frequency to DRAM frequency ratio will be set to 100:133.
[100:100] The BCLK frequency to DRAM frequency ratio will be set to 100:100.
setting.
DRAM Odd Ratio Mode
This item allows you to enable or disable availability of odd DRAM ratios for improved
granularity.
Conguration options: [Enabled] [Disabled]
DRAM Frequency
This item allows you to set the memory operating frequency. The congurable options vary
with the BCLK (base clock) frequency setting. Select the auto mode to apply the optimized