When you look at the stock performance, the Maximus VIII Impact is going to deliver results in a narrow envelope when compared to other motherboards. That's a given. However, running out of spec is where this little board will shine, much like the rest of the ROG Z170-based motherboards in ASUS' product stack. From the PCB up, ASUS ROG DNA is piled up in every corner of the board. Things like ASUS' Impact Power III 6+2+2 phase implementation of ASUS' Extreme Engine DIgi+ VRM controls equipped with Microfine alloy chokes, 10K Black capacitors, and Power PowlRstage® MOSFETs that allow it to overclock just as well as any ATX form factor board. Backing all that up, ASUS uses its Pro Clock technology to allow for extended bClk ranges that exceed what are commonly available as seen by the 350MHz bClk shots in the overclocking section. The ASUS T-Topology DRAM trace layout and memory training algorithms make it easier to push for big memory overclocks that don't compromise performance for the sake of clock speed, although you can take that route as the M8I supports memory speeds of 4133MHz right out of the box.