EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is preparing a a new line of water blocks for the latest ASUS Republic of Gamers Rampage IV Black Edition X79 LGA-2011 motherboard.

EK-FB KIT ASUS R4BE will be a complete water cooling solution for ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard consisting of two separate water blocks. These water blocks will directly cools Intel X79 Express southbridge (PCH) chip and power regulation (VRM / MOSFETs) module. The product itself will be available in both Original- as well as Clean CSQ design and will blend perfectly with the stylish look of this new ASUS motherboard.

ASUS today announced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage IV Black Edition, an E-ATX gaming and overclocking motherboard designed to unleash the full potential of Intel LGA 2011 Core i7 Ivy Bridge-E processors is available for pre-order at select sites.

Based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, the Rampage IV Black Edition includes all of the best ROG technologies and innovations for unrivaled gaming and overclocking performance. With its four PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots, two PCI-E 2.0 x1 slots and eight DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of overclocked DDR3 DRAM, the Rampage IV Black Edition has near limitless expansion possibilities, including support for both 4-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that in partnership with Ubisoft it will bundle Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag with the Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard and selected gaming PCs including Tytan G30 and the G750 gaming laptop.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the newest instalment of the stealthy adventure title and its release has been awaited eagerly by gamers worldwide - and ASUS ROG will be Ubisoft's recommended hardware brand partner for the PC launch.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the launch of Matrix R9 280X Platinum edition and Matrix R9 280X standard edition, two new graphics cards powered by the latest AMD Radeon R9 280X graphics-processing unit (GPU). As dedicated gamers have come to expect from ROG, the new Matrix R9 280X graphics cards are tricked out with exclusive technologies and tools including an efficient copper-based thermal design for faster performance at lower temperatures, VGA Hotwire connections for voltage control, DIGI+ voltage-regulator modules (VRMs) for smooth and stable power and GPU Tweak, an easy-to-use tuning software that allows users to squeeze every last drop of performance out of their graphics card.

ASUS Republic of Gamers today announced Orion for Consoles, a gaming headset and audio-console package designed for today's most popular games consoles and computers. The latest addition to the Republic of Gamers (ROG) award-winning Orion gaming headset series, Orion for Consoles comprises a headset with 100 mm cushions for whole-ear cover and comfort. Orion for Consoles also features Spitfire II, a dedicated USB-powered audio console with built-in headphone amplifier for bolder sounds and environmental-noise-cancellation (ENC) technology for clearer in-game chat. Designed for use with Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 games consoles, PCs and Apple Mac computers, Orion for Consoles is ready to work straight from the box - no drivers required.

At the OC Main Event in San Francisco, co-hosted by ASUS, Corsair and Intel, the ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard was used to break five overclocking world records. Combining the Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard with ASUS GeForce GTX Titan graphics cards, the latest 4th generation Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition processors and Corsair Vengeance Extreme and Dominator Platinum DDR3 memory, world-renowned members of the international overclocking community worked with ROG engineers to claim new top scores with the 3DMark 11Entry, 3DMark 11 Performance, 3DMark Fire Strike, Cinebench, and quad-channel memory frequency.

"We are proud that previous ASUS X79 motherboards have dominated overclocking rankings by breaking 26 world records since the chipset launch," said Jackie Hsu, ASUS Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Worldwide Sales, Open Platform Business Group. "The accomplishments we demonstrated here at the OC Main Event San Francisco are a testament to what is achievable by combining world-class R&D with incredible talents from the enthusiast community." Xavier Laurent, Director of Product Marketing for Corsair adds "As a company that creates products by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, collaborating with like-minded partners ASUS and Intel to break world benchmarking records using Corsair Dominator Platinum and Vengeance Pro memory was a natural fit. The success of the OC Main Event San Francisco demonstrates the continued strength of the enthusiast community and validates our commitment to this portion of the ecosystem."

ASUS has disclosed the details of the ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 final which will be organized with support from Corsair. The AOOC 2013 final will be held in Moscow on October 5, 2013, as part of the Igromir 2013 expo to be hosted by the Crocus Expo Center from October 3 to 6, 2013. The ASUS booth will be located in Pavilion 1, Hall 1 of the Crocus Expo Center.

The ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 final will be attended by the 13 overclocking teams from Europe and the CIS selected in the qualification round and by the winners of AOOC 2012. These are the best of the European overclocking scene, repeatedly placing in the top of HWBot.org with record-breaking results, so we can be sure that they can deliver their best in ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 using components from ASUS Republic of Gamers and Corsair.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced Maximus VI Formula, an ATX gaming motherboard ready for the latest 4th generation Intel Core processors and packed with exclusive ROG features.

Based on the new Intel Z87 chipset, Maximus VI Formula is brimming with the kind of innovative and exclusive features that ROG fans expect. CrossChill hybrid air and water-cooling gives efficient heat dissipation for extreme overclocked performance, SupremeFX Formula onboard audio with a dedicated 600ohm headphone amplifier ensures immersive high-quality audio and a mini-PCIe Combo II card adds dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi for next-generation wireless networking. Maximus VI Formula also features Extreme Engine DIGi+ III technology and high-quality electronic components for precise power delivery with stable performance.

EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is preparing a a new line of blocks for the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX based ASUS DirectCU II series graphics cards and ASUS Republic of Gamers Z87 LGA-1150 motherboards:

ASUS Republic of Gamers Motherboards:

• ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
• ASUS Maximus VI Formula
• ASUS Maximus VI Hero
• ASUS Maximus VI Gene
• ASUS Maximus VI Impact

Graphics cards:

• ASUS GTX780-DC2-3GD5 GeForce GTX 780 3GB GDDR

ASUS announced that the Intel Z87-based Republic of Gamers Maximus VI Extreme motherboard has achieved a decisive 91% success rate at a Computex Taipei 2013 overclocking summit sponsored by Intel and Corsair. Additionally, the board tallied eight world performance records at a separate gathering that took place at ASUS headquarters, all mere days after its official launch.

Ten out of eleven wins at the Intel and Corsair Computex OC Main Event
Competing against top-tier overclocking motherboards from a variety of brands, Maximus VI Extreme took ten out of eleven top spots (or 91%) at the Intel and Corsair Computex OC Main Event. Full details found here.

ASUS launched its socket LGA1150 motherboard lineup with three products in its coveted Republic of Gamers (ROG) lineup, the flagship Maximus VI Extreme, the micro-ATX Maximus VI Gene, and the mid-range Maximus VI Hero. A little earlier today, the mini-ITX Maximus VI Impact joined the team with a stunning feature-set for its size. At Computex, we pictured the last piece of the puzzle, the Maximus VI Formula. Pictured below, this ATX motherboard based on the Z87 chipset is best suited for liquid-cooled rigs with 3-way graphics cards. It borrows a piece of technology over from the TUF series, a thermal armor that covers most parts of the board. The armor makes contact with a water block that actively cools the board's CPU VRM.

The Maximus VI Formula uses an identical CPU VRM to the Maximus VI Extreme. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS. A 4-pin ATX and Molex can be optionally connected to stabilize overclocks. The LGA1150 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), it lacks the PEX8747 bridge chip of its bigger sibling. Three other PCI-Express 2.0 x1 chips make for the rest of the expansion. Connectivity on the Maximus VI Formula includes ten SATA 6 Gb/s ports, eight USB 3.0 ports, SupremeFX audio, gigabit Ethernet (Intel controller), 802.11 ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. ASUS didn't reveal launch plans.

ASUS announced its first Republic of Gamers (ROG) motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, the Maximus VI Impact, which could go on to become choice number one for SFF gaming PC builders. Arguably the most feature-rich mini-ITX motherboard ever made, the Maximus VI Impact is a socket LGA1150 motherboard based on Intel Z87 Express chipset, which supports 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors.

The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it using a 10-phase VRM that off-shoots into its own little PCB, with heatsink. The other three daughterboards on the Maximus VI Impact include the SupremeFX Impact, a sound-card with an audiophile-grade 115 dBA DAC, OPAMPs, and audio-grade capacitors; and an mPCIe combo card that lends it 802.11 ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0; and an ImpactControl card that gives overclockers POST diagnostic readouts and CMOS reset/restore at the push of a button, right from the rear panel.

The GTX 670 DirectCU Mini cooler earned ASUS engineers tons of respect (and hopefully sales) from enthusiasts. The same crew unveiled a new high-end graphics card in the company's Republic of Gamers (ROG) family, based on a performance-segment GeForce GTX 700 series GPU, the ROG Poseidon. The card features a unique new cooler that combines an air-based cooler, with a full-coverage liquid-based one. Users have the choice of running the completely on air, completely on water (with the fan shut off), or with both in concert (air+liquid). The solution works with a common full-coverage base that makes contact with the card's GPU, memory, and VRM, which is in contact with both a complex ain-array, and a coolant channel. An ROG logo on the cooler's top lights up red, and can either stay at a set brightness, or pulsate. The company didn't finalize clock speeds, or launch date.

ASUS today announced the PQ321 True 4K UHD Monitor, a desktop display with a stunning Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution that's equivalent to four Full HD displays stacked side-by-side. The PQ321 has a 31.5-inch LED-backlit 4K Ultra HD display (140 pixels-per-inch) with 16:9 aspect ratio, and supports 10-bit RGB 'deep color' for vibrant images with more natural transitions between hues.

Along with the Z87 mainline (classic) series, ASUS unveiled its premium gamer-overclocker targeted Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus VI series, consisting of three models, the Maximus VI Hero, the Maximus VI Gene, and the Maximus VI Extreme. The Maximus VI Hero is the more affordable ATX model among the three; the Maximus VI Gene is the only micro-ATX offering, while the Maximus VI Extreme is the flagship motherboard from ASUS for socket LGA1150.

The Maximus VI Hero offers a 12-phase CPU power supply, most ROG-exclusive features, expansion slots that include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, SupremeFX onboard audio with ground-layer isolation, and essential connectivity options that include four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI display output. We won't be surprised if Maximus VI Hero ends up being a sub-$200 option, to compete against similarly priced alternatives from ASRock and MSI.

ASUS today announced the ROG (Republic of Gamers) Xonar Phoebus Solo 7.1 PCI Express gaming sound card with precise positional audio and lifelike immersion for gamers. Xonar Phoebus Solo continues to exhibit the previous Xonar Phoebus hardware excellence, including clear 118 dB signal-to-noise ratio, a powerful 600 ohm headphones amplifier, Dolby Home Theater V4, and DTS UltraPC II surround sound.

The ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo sound card features an EMI shield and exclusive ASUS Hyper Grounding technology that significantly reduce the detrimental effects of the electromagnetic interference present inside all desktop PCs. Hyper Grounding technology brings the considerable motherboard expertise of ASUS to audio products, with a multi-layer PCB and high-quality power supply that help eliminate electrical noise from nearby components, resulting in cleaner, less distorted audio. Together with the high-fidelity PCM1796 digital-to-analog converter, the ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo delivers clear and crisp sound with a 118dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which means gamers will hear and experience every audio detail.

ASUS rolled out its first Republic of Gamers (ROG) branded input device, the ROG Eagle Eye GX1000 gaming mouse. Clad in brushed aluminum and ABS plastic, with a braided weave cable, the Eagle Eye GX1000 features a pseudo-ambidextrous design (side buttons only on its left side), with a total of six action buttons, a scroll wheel, and on-the-fly sensitivity control buttons.

The ROG Eagle Eye GX1000 features a weight compartment, with adjustable weighs in units of 5 g. Its dry weight (without any weights) is 150 g. Under its hood is an 8,200 DPI laser sensor, which can be lowered all the way down to 50 DPI. Overall, the mouse measures 128.5 x 65.5 x 43.5 mm. ASUS dropped in some groovy LED lighting for the scroll wheel, the sensitivity adjustment felt-touch surface (can coarsely display DPI setting), and its rear side. An ROG-branded mousepad is part of the package. Expect this one to be priced upwards of $100.

Even as most motherboard vendors showed off at least half-baked versions of their socket LGA1150 motherboards based on the Intel Z87 Express chipset, supporting 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors; ASUS has been relatively mum. The company doesn't even have a motherboard booth at CeBIT, to begin with. The company did manage to release teaser pictures of three new motherboards, which lead its three consumer motherboard lines: Republic of Gamers (ROG), The Ultimate Force (TUF), and mainline (P9Z87?).

The teaser pictures reveal nothing more than the plaque printed on the center of the motherboard. The first picture below teases what could be P9Z87 Deluxe. Someone at ASUS loves M&Ms. The second picture teases TUF Gryphon Z87. It looks like ASUS had enough of the Sabertooth brand extension. The third picture, dissimilar from the others, is of a new innovation ASUS will introduce with its next ROG motherboard based on the Z87 chipset. It appears to be a device that plugs into one of the motherboard's headers. Probably an external overclocking module akin to EVGA EVBot?

A little earlier today, MSI announced it would be integrating the Bigfoot Killer NIC, a latency optimized network controller that is designed to help online gaming, into some of its gaming notebooks and motherboards. We're hearing that MSI plans to carve out an entirely new gamer-centric motherboard brand extension, along the lines of ASUS Republic of Gamers, Gigabyte G1.Killer, and ASRock Fatal1ty series. MSI transferred branding over from its G-Series gaming notebooks over to create the new motherboard series, one of which was teased to the press earlier today.

Pictured below is a section of a new socket LGA1155 G-Series motherboard. According to sources, the board pictured below looks essentially identical to the Z77A-GD65, with a few obvious changes: color scheme changed to black and red with swanky VRM and chipset heatsinks; and Bigfoot Killer E2200 network controller by Qualcomm-Atheros. The NIC works to minimize latency to game servers, and lets you prioritize available bandwidth to specific apps. One could expect MSI's G-Series motherboard line to be out by Cebit (March, 2013), with a lot more of such teasers along the way.

Over the last weekend, AMD hosted a teleconference with the press in which it charted out its strategy for 2013. Older reports led us to believe that the company's next-generation GPU lineup won't launch any time before Q4, but the press overlooked another possibility, that AMD could make additions to its existing HD 7000 series product family, before Q4.

The current Radeon HD 7000 appears "complete," due to the fact that there are products covering nearly every competitive price point. With the introduction of the GeForce GTX Titan, NVIDIA could gain two products in the price-range of $900-$1200, the other being GTX 690. AMD's various board partners, lead by TUL-affiliated ones, and HIS, launched the HD 7990 around the $800 mark, and ASUS topped things up with the Republic of Gamers ARES II at an unreal $1,600 point, which AMD claims is the fastest graphics card money can buy.

It's finally happened! ASUS took a long overdue plunge into the ocean of enthusiast storage, by unveiling the Republic of Gamers (ROG) RAIDR, a PCI-Express SSD that uses a number of mSATA SSD sub-units in an internal RAID 0 configuration that's abstract to the host. As it goes with every other ROG product, the RAIDR is dressed in secsi red+black, and uses a conventional full-height add-on card design that's completely covered by an EMI shield. The card connects to its host over PCI-Express 2.0 x4, and probably packs four mSATA 6 Gb/s sub-units, which make up various capacities.

ASUS' Republic of Gamers MARS III dual-GeForce GTX 680 graphics card may have been extensively covered at this year's Computex event, but very few have had a peek at its innards (PCB). Expreview posted pictures of the card's PCB, sourced from the manufacturer.

The pictures reveal an unusually long and tall PCB, which draws power from three 8-pin PCIe power connectors, a 21-phase VRM that uses Super Alloy chokes and driver-MOSFETs, PLX PEX8747 PCI-Express 3.0 x48 bridge chip, and of course the two GK104 GPUs with a total of 32 individual GDDR5 memory chips (16 for each GPU, 16 on each side of the PCB) wired to them, totaling 8 GB of memory.

Edit: We received an update from ASUS, clarifying that this card will not be released. The design was only displayed during a factory tour, to show ASUS craftmanship.

To provide the best user experience on the AMD platform, ASUS has refreshed a variety of motherboards, including mainstream channel models, dedicated products from ROG and the TUF Series, plus FM1 socket-compatible and power-efficient APU-based models. Each product offers a variety of new ASUS exclusive technologies such as digital power control, Remote GO!, and Network iControl, alongside innovative Fast Boot, ASUS Boot Setting, and DirectKey, all specifically leveraging upcoming Windows 8 capabilities. Both new and existing features have been tailored and tested to comply with the Windows 8 architecture for total stability and maximized utility, while all motherboards have gone through a full series of compatibility assurance tests in getting ready for the move to Windows 8.

ASUS is working on its second Republic of Gamers (ROG) ARES graphics card, the ARES 2 dual-HD 7870. Its first ARES was dual-HD 5870. ASUS' decision to go with a pair of Radeon HD 7870 GPUs, instead of the premium HD 7970, certainly comes as a surprise. With it, one could deduce the target market-segment ASUS is aiming at: US $650-750, providing a solution that outperforms even the fastest HD 7970 GHz Edition and GTX 680 graphics cards, while being cheaper than Radeon HD 7990 (which is MIA), dual-HD 7970 X2, and of course, the GTX 690.

ASUS ARES 2 will back two 28 nm "Pitcairn" GPUs with all components unlocked; likely factory-overclocked speeds beyond those of the HD 7870 GHz Edition; and a total of 4 GB of GDDR5 memory (2 GB per GPU system). The card will draw power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and will have a TDP of around 300W. It will take advantage of AMD ZeroCore CrossFire, with which it powers down the second GPU when not gaming, or with light 3D loads that the first GPU can munch on. With the monitor idling for a set amount of time, both GPUs power down. It's likely that ASUS will use a triple-slot cooling solution, despite the fact that the HD 7870 is a generally cool GPU. Pictured below is the first-generation ROG ARES (dual-HD 5870).Update Jun 26: We have received word from ASUS that "There is no plan to release a dual 7870 VGA".

According to Broadcom vice-president Michael Hurlston, the upcoming ASUS Republic of Gamers G75VW will be the world's first notebook PC with an integrated 802.11ac WLAN adapter. It will be the "world's first 5G Wi-Fi laptop," according to Hurlston. Yet to be released to the market, the G75VW will be equipped with a Broadcom-made 802.11ac adapter, although its product page currently only mentions 802.11n support. The notebook will pack dual-antennae MIMO support, and will be capable of theoretical network speeds in the 800 to 850 Mbps range. Hurlston made this statement at the Computex 2012 company booth.