STANDING OFF

TIME TO BUILD. The Asus ROG Maximus X Formula is a solid, heavy motherboard, but easing it into the awaiting space instantly threw up an issue—it wouldn’t lay flat, due to a location peg in the center of the motherboard. We sometimes see these used to help out during installation, but here we found it slightly misaligned, forcing us to remove it. Once done, it was still a tight squeeze getting the motherboard into place, in part because it boasts an integrated I/O plate. That and the fact that there isn’t much clearance at the bottom of the case, due to the PSU cover. There is a trend for I/O plates to be used on high-end motherboards, but it’s worth knowing that they can be tricky to install, even in more open cases, like this one.