Introducing the EK-Quantum Momentum² ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme D-RGB - Special Edition, a premium Ultrablock-class product designed and produced by EK, the leading manufacturer of high-quality PC liquid cooling gear. This state-of-the-art product belongs to the Quantum Line and is specifically engineered for the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme motherboard, ensuring perfect compatibility.

Advanced Design
The EK-Quantum Momentum² ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme D-RGB - Special Edition is perfect for those who want to experience the very epitome of high-end liquid cooling technology. This exceptional monoblock represents the ultimate all-in-one solution, meticulously engineered to deliver outstanding cooling performance for a diverse range of CPUs, including the 13th Gen Intel Core and 12th Gen Intel Core processors. Exclusively designed for the LGA 1700 socket-based ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme motherboard, the monoblock sets new standards across the water-cooling landscape.

An ASUS ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 4090 overclocked by Splave became the first graphics card to break the 4 GHz GPU clock barrier. The card was overclocked to a blistering 4005 MHz GPU clock while leaving the memory untouched at 21 Gbps. The card was GPU Pi stable, and went on to set the single GPU record of 45.402 seconds. The ROG MATRIX was cooled using a liquid nitrogen evaporator, while the Core i9-13900K powering the rig was on AIO liquid CPU cooling. The CPU was left at stock frequency, and the memory ticked at vanilla DDR5-4800. The HWBOT validation of the feat can be accessed here.

According to the report, it appears that the latest ASUS ROG Ally 319 BIOS update actually has a big impact on the performance of the handheld console. While the earlier pre-release BIOS updates brought significant performance improvements, especially for the Ryzen Z1 Extreme-based version, the latest one, BIOS update version 319, actually slows down the portable.

According to the results seen online, the 319 BIOS actually lowers performance by up to 20 percent. While the release notes say that it should increase the performance of the 9 W low-power mode, it simply doesn't, and the results are even worse on 15 W and 25 W modes. ASUS is apparently aware of the issue and has advised users not to update just yet. To make things worse, downgrading back to the BIOS 317 version is possible but quite hard.

Here's the first picture of the bare PCB of the upcoming ASUS ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, courtesy of der8auer, who was given access to the card as part of a G.Skill overclocking event. We spotted a fully assembled version of this card on the Computex floor earlier. The PCB is essentially of the same design as the ROG Strix RTX 4090, but with some major changes. The card draws power from a single 16-pin 12VHPWR connector, and we're hearing that the card's power limits will be the highest ever allowed by NVIDIA for any custom RTX 4090, perhaps even getting close to the 600 W continuous design limit of the connector.

The card features a 24-phase VRM for the GPU power phases, and a 4-phase VRM for the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit memory interface. We cannot make out the exact DrMOS components for this VRM, but der8auer says these are 70 A-rated MPS-sourced DrMOS (the ROG Strix uses 70 A DrMOS sourced from OnSemi). Although one can't tell just by looking, ASUS says that it has deployed a network of SMD thermal sensors across the critical areas of the card, such as individual rows of memory chips, or DrMOS. This is essentially ASUS's inspiration of the late EVGA iCX. There is a physical dual-BIOS switch, some consolidated voltage measurement points, and some fan and lighting headers, but that's about it.

The ROG OLED gaming monitor lineup already contains a compelling set of options. The large-and-in-charge ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ and ROG Swift OLED PG48UQ deliver exceptional display characteristics across breathtakingly large panels. The fast, bright, and versatile ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM offers gaming excellence in the popular 27-inch size. Now, we're ready to bring all the advantages of OLED tech to gamers who crave the immersion of an ultra-wide display. Introducing the ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD. Equipped with Smart KVM, a premium ROG cooling solution, and a bright, vibrant QD-OLED panel, this monitor is ready to take center stage for your gaming rig.

Ultra-wide and ultra-versatile
Considering that it's a 49-inch display, it might be better to call the ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD a super-ultra-wide rather than just an ultra-wide. With its 5120x1440 resolution, it gives you all the desktop real estate provided by two separate 16:9 1440p displays. Its 1800R curvature wraps the display around the periphery of your vision, and helps ensure that colors are clear and bright, even at the extreme sides of the display.

At its Computex 2023 showcase and ASUS HQ tour for the press, the company has unveiled a new ASUS ROG concept graphics card based on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 design, that actually has no standard power connectors, but draws power from the motherboard via a proprietary slot.

As noted, the graphics card is still in its concept phase, and actually draws power from a special PCIe like slot connector at the bottom of the graphics card. Of course, this also means that it will need a special motherboard, which ASUS had on display as well. The motherboard is based on a Z790 TUF Gaming motherboard, with a design that had all the connectors at the back of the motherboard. In addition to the standard power and other connectors like SATA ports, it also includes three 8-pin PCIe and single 12VHPWR connector, which are meant to power the graphics card. Of course, such motherboard also requires a special PC case that have cut-outs for those connectors.

When you're shopping for a gaming display, its refresh rate is often one of the top items on your checklist. But a high refresh rate is just one ingredient in the recipe for a great gaming monitor. It's also important to consider motion clarity: is the display equipped to minimize blur?

Today, we're ready to announce that the ROG Swift 360 Hz PG27AQN, already a fast display with excellent motion clarity, is about to get even better. After installing the latest firmware, PG27AQN owners will be able to use NVIDIA Ultra Low Motion Blur 2 (ULMB) to enjoy over 1000 Hz of effective motion clarity.

EK, the leading manufacturer of premium water-cooling equipment, is delighted to introduce their latest creation, the EK-Quantum Reflection² ROG Hyperion D5 PWM D-RGB - Plexi distribution plate, specially designed for the new ASUS ROG Hyperion GR701 chassis. This cutting-edge distribution plate incorporates state-of-the-art water-cooling technology, featuring the latest 3rd generation SATA-powered D5 pump, eliminating the need for additional 4-pin Molex cables. Being EK-Matrix7 compatible, the Reflection² series distribution plates ensure seamless compatibility, effortless integration, and unrivaled aesthetics.

Exquisite Craftsmanship and Stunning Visuals
With its sleek design and transparent plexiglass construction, the EK-Quantum Reflection² ROG Hyperion D5 PWM D-RGB - Plexi offers an all-in-one custom water-cooling solution that combines a reservoir, routing system, and a pump. Meticulously crafted using advanced CNC machining techniques and with the use of high-quality acrylic material, you know this distro is made with impeccable accuracy and an immaculate finish, showcasing outstanding water-cooling capabilities, unmatched craftsmanship, and great attention to detail.

Popular gaming hardware content creator, ETA PRIME, yesterday teased that his ASUS ROG Ally preview unit was seemingly running Valve's Steam Deck operating system - the short YouTube video provided a glimpse of basic UI functionality as well as in-game performance (Forza Horizon 5). He promised that a full video was incoming, thus providing a full explanation of his modification process and a more in-depth exploration of more games running on the formerly Windows 11-based example. ETA PRIME has delivered on his earlier pledge - the first look/early impressions video was released only a few hours ago (at the time of writing). He reveals that his test platform ROG Ally is not running on Valve's Steam OS.

He has resorted to installing a gaming-focused Linux distro called Chimera OS - he notes that the similar HoloISO platform was not booting up on his handheld unit. On-board audio is reported to be non-functional - the Ally is connected to an external USB-C hub that outputs sound via the in-built 3.5 mm jack. Wi-Fi performance is reported to be inconsistent, ETA PRIME says that he has to reset the system in order to re-establish online connectivity. He was largely impressed with the Ally's gaming performance in a Linux-based environment, but prefers the Steam Deck's power efficiency. He will look into lowering the Ally's TDP, but there is no sure-fire way of making optimizations within the Chimera OS test build.

If something seems too good to be true, then it often is and the earlier rumoured price point of the "vanilla" ASUS ROG Ally at US$499.99 was apparently one such instance. Pricing information from serial Twitter leaker SnoopyTech suggests it will instead be priced at US$599.99, which seems a lot more realistic. Aside from using the 6-core CPU with a more limited GPU, the cheaper ROG Ally will also see its internal storage cut in half to 256 GB, compared to 512 GB for the "Extreme" version.

The rest of the specs appear to be identical, with both models sporting 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, the 7-inch, 120 Hz 1080p display and possibly even the same 40 Whr battery pack. At US$70 more than the equivalent Steam Deck, it might be a tough sell, especially as it's only US$100 to upgrade to the fully featured version, a much smaller cost increase compared to each of the Steam Deck SKUs, where you're looking at spending more to get more. It could simply be that this is a sales tactic by ASUS, to push most of its potential customers to buy the more expensive model.

ASUS's sensational handheld game console, the ROG Ally, will be priced at $699.99 for the model powered by the top AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, according to a leak by SnoopyTech. This top model will feature a 7-inch Full HD screen with 120 Hz refresh-rate, and Dolby Atmos-capable audio. Under the hood, the Ryzen Z1 is based on the 4 nm "Phoenix" silicon, featuring an 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU, and its full Navi3 iGPU based on the RDNA3 graphics architecture, with 12 CU (768 stream processors). This chip is wired to 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and a 512 GB NVMe SSD.

ASUS has a cheaper model of the ROG Ally designed for cloud gaming and casual gaming, powered by the Ryzen Z1 (non-Extreme). The non-Extreme Z1 rocks a 6-core/12-thread "Zen 4" CPU, but a heavily cut down iGPU with just 4 CU (256 stream processors), which are plenty for the intended use-cases. ASUS could price this much lower than the top model, with speculations pointing to $499.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the new ROG Ryujin III series of all-in-one CPU coolers, with six different models to choose from. Armed with the latest 8th gen Asetek pump, a larger embedded pump fan, and a beefy 240 mm or 360 mm radiator, these units stand ready to tame CPU heat without breaking a sweat. Three style options cater to any aesthetic, and the customizable 3.5-inch LCD display helps users personalize their PC like never before.

To ensure there is an ROG Ryujin III AIO cooler in the perfect style for any build, ROG is launching several new variants. For builders who love the pristine surfaces of an all-white build—and the way that this finish uniquely reflects RGB LED lighting—ROG offers the Ryujin III 240 ARGB White Edition and the Ryujin III 360 ARGB White Edition. For those who prefer classic black, the ROG Ryujin III 240 ARGB and Ryujin III 360 ARGB beckon.

ASUS ROG Ally, the company's handheld game console that started out as an April Fool's joke before being announced as a serious product development and ASUS's answer to the Steam Deck, is a lean-mean gaming machine powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. Announced earlier today, the Z1 Extreme is a highly power-optimized version of the 4 nm "Phoenix" silicon that packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, along with its full-config iGPU based on the latest RDNA3 graphics architecture, with 12 CU (768 stream processors), and an LPDDR5 memory interface.

On the ROG Ally, the Z1 Extreme is configured with a 1.70 GHz CPU clock-speed, along with a 2.10 GHz iGPU engine clock. Multiplayer Italy went hands-on with the ROG Ally, and showed off a gameplay of "DOOM Eternal," where the ROG Ally pumps out 71 FPS, with an SoC power-draw of 25.7 W, and an SoC temperature of just 56°C. ASUS and AMD are expected to give the ROG Ally the full spectrum of software-level optimizations suitable for the device, such as dynamic resolution (Radeon Boost), which should hold frame-rates above 60 FPS at all times.

An intriguing entry has appeared on the Geekbench Browser site, the information was uploaded with a timestamp from this morning (11:07 am on April 20 to be specific) pointing to a mobile ASUS device that was tested in GeekBench 5. The archived info dump reveals that the subject matter of the benchmark was the ASUS ROG Ally handheld gaming console, which has received a lot of attention in recent weeks - with it being touted as a very serious alternative to Valve's Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC that is quite popular with enthusiasts. The ROG Ally will need to offer a potent hardware package if it stands to compete directly with the Steam Deck, and the latest information confirms that this new contender is very promising in that department. Geekbench 5 awarded an impressive OpenCL score of 35498 to the RC71L variant of the ROG Ally, an RC71X-assigned model is known to exist but details of its exact nature have not been revealed. This particular ROG Alloy unit was running Windows 11 Home (64-bit) under the operating system's performance power plan.

The new entry on Geekbench Browser shows that the Ally is packing an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, which appears to be a customized version of the Ryzen 7 7840U APU mobile platform chipset - previous rumors have indicated that the latter would be in the driving seat. Both Phoenix range SoCs share the basic 8 cores and 16 thread makeup, but the Z1 Extreme is capable of boosting up to 5.062 GHz from a base frequency of 3.30 GHz. AMD's Radeon 780M iGPU (RDNA 3) is expected to deal with the Ally's graphical aspect, but the benchmark info dump only provides scant details about the GPU (codenamed "gfx1103") - most notably the presence of six computer units, an 800 MHz max frequency, and access to 8.20 GB of video memory. Number crunching boffins have calculated that the Ally could field 768 FP32 cores, courtesy of the dual issue SIMD design inherent to RDNA 3.

As expected, based on yesterday's press release from AUO, its new 540 Hz gaming panel is based on E-TN technology. The E simply stands for Esports and AUO has never really mentioned what the difference is between its E-TN and its regular TN panels. In this case, we already know who AUO is working with, as the monitor on display at Touch Taiwan was the ASUS ROG Swift Pro PG248QP, which was announced at CES earlier this year.

As ASUS has as yet to release the ROG Swift Pro PG248QP, we do at least have some very minor, additional specs of the display panel now. As expected, this is a 1080p panel and AUO claims a sub 1 ms response time, which is hardly unexpected considering the refresh rate. It also has a brightness of 400 cd/m², which is about 50-100 cd/m² better than the best TN panels on the market and it's said to deliver up to 99 percent of the sRGB colour gamut. No other details were provided, so we're just going to have to wait for ASUS to launch the PG248QP before we get the full specs.

As it turned out that ASUS ROG Ally handheld console is not actually an April Fools' Day prank, more details have started to appear about this Steam Deck competitor, and these first details look pretty promising. According to the Dave2D video, showing the prototype unit in full details, the ASUS ROG Ally will indeed be based on a 4 nm custom AMD APU, featuring Zen 4 CPU and RDNA3 iGPU, so we are most likely looking at a custom AMD Phoenix APU.

The video had a few nice pictures of the pre-production PCB as well as the cooling setup as well as details on the screen, and some performance of the ASUS ROG Ally. The ROG Ally measures at 280 x 133 x 39 mm and weighing 608 grams. This makes it shorter, narrower, thinner, as well as lighter, compared to the Steam Deck. It also comes with 7-inch display, but this time around, it is a 500 nits, 1920x1080 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and 5 ms response time, which makes it much better compared to the Steam Deck.

Update: LinusTechTips is the second one to get access to ASUS ROG Ally prototype and has provided a bit more details on specifications, performance, and other things about the upcoming handheld console.

While AMD has yet to officially launch the 7040 Series Phoenix APUs, yet another SKU has been spotted online, the 6-core/12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 7540U. Based on AMD's Zen 4 architecture and featuring RDNA3 iGPU, this SKU will join the recently spotted Ryzen 5 7640U and the Ryzen 7 7840U.

It is not clear how many SKUs will AMD actually have in the Ryzen 7040 U-Series, but so far three SKUs have leaked online. The earlier slide, which mentioned the Ryzen 7040 Series, put it in the thin and light segment with TDP ranging from 15 W to 28 W. Bear in mind that AMD will also have the 7040 series non-U Phoenix APUs that will fit the 35 W - 45 W "thin enthusiast" HS-series segment. There is also the "ultra enthusiast" HX-series segment with the recently launched 7045 Series Dragon Range APUs.

Last weekend ASUS ROG started to tease a handheld gaming system, called the Ally. On April 1 the company uploaded an expensive looking trailer, that bordered on being a total spoof in the latter half. People were quick to dismiss the announcement as an April Fool's Day prank, but since then the company has continued to post preview material and has even highlighted a Best Buy interest page. The ROG Ally has been confirmed to be an entirely real bit of gaming hardware that runs via Windows 11. AMD has been revealed as collaborating with ASUS on a custom Ryzen APU for the handheld system, which is advertised as the "fastest AMD APU yet" in the reveal trailer. Exact specifications for this chipset have not been listed, so expect those details as part of a future announcement.

ASUS ROG looks to be pitching the Ally as potential alternative to the Steam Deck, but it is too early to speculate about its exact method of operation (always online, local vs. cloud, etc.). Games journalists and gaming communities have also compared the Ally to the AYANEO 2 and GPD WIN 4. ASUS has informed various web influencers that it is promising "competitive pricing" for the upcoming handheld gaming system. The ROG Ally features a Full HD display and a dual fan cooling system tuned to operate quietly via the ROG Intelligent System. A new version of Armoury Crate offers the user access to various games library sources (including Xbox Games Pass) and custom-mapping of control inputs. Extra graphical grunt can be provided by the external and proprietary ROG XG Mobile eGPU platform.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the second project in its ongoing collaboration with ACRONYM, a leading technical apparel company, to create the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 - bringing together the world of fashion, art, tech, Web3 and gaming in a powerful tablet.

Available for sale worldwide starting April 3, 2023, the device features pro-level specs, including an Intel Core i9-13900H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. Containing that outsized power is a tablet-sized chassis that's designed to encourage portability and real-world use. The beautifully intricate, custom-machined aluminium creates rigidity. An ingeniously designed integrated carry system uses a versatile strap that lets the device become its own transport system and allows use in multiple modes. Rubber holds are inset to provide grip in every orientation, and the corners are reinforced to keep the machine safe from accidental bumps or drops.

ASUS ROG has started selling its RTX 4090 XG Mobile external graphics card in China and Japan this week. Japanese customers are being charged a cool $3000 for the pint-sized powerhouse external GPU, and Chinese buyers are getting a slightly better deal at $2700. It should be noted that this eGPU is the (GN21-X11) mobile variant of the GeForce RTX 4090, and not the full fat desktop version. The newly updated XG Mobile enclosure can only be connected to an ASUS Flow laptop, which limits the scope of compatibility to an already very expensive range of devices. The proprietary connection standard will keep customers in the ASUS ROG mobile hardware ecosystem - but their higher end laptop models can be configured with the very capable GeForce RTX 4070 mobile GPU, so the RTX 4090 XG Mobile seems to appeal to a very small buying niche.

The XG Mobile interface uses the PCIE Gen 3 x8 standard of connection, and the GPU has access to a dedicated 63 GB/s of bandwidth. This beats the Thunderbolt 4 standard of 40 Gb/s, by a 57% margin. The enclosure acts as a docking station - its features include an up to 2.5 Gbit Ethernet, a single HDMI 2.1 port, one DisplayPort 1.4 with G-Sync support and three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (3x Type-A + 1x Type-C). ASUS ROG has engineered the docking station/enclosure to be as compact as possible (21.7 cm x 16.5 cm x 3.26 cm), when compared to competing products from other manufacturers. The whole package weighs in at 1.3 kg, which will ensure decent portability for gamers on the move.

The 12-core/24-thread AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX "Dragon Range" mobile processors for enthusiast-segment notebooks, are capable of performance that matches the desktop Ryzen 9 7900X, with an easy 130 W power limit enabled along with Precision Boost Overdrive 2 (PBO2), with the "Enhanced" performance mode set on certain ASUS ROG laptops. The 7845HX is capable of drawing up to 110 W of power in its stock settings, which sees it offer a single-threaded boost frequency of 5.25 GHz, and 4.70 GHz all-core, and around 25000 points in Cinebench R23 multi-threaded. The Enhanced mode, which can be set via software on ASUS ROG laptops, raises the power limits, which makes the 7845HX draw up to 130 W of power, hitting temperatures of up to 93 °C, vastly improving boost frequency residency.

The 7845HX is "unlocked," and the UEFI setup program of ASUS ROG laptops offer several manual overclocking controls on par with the desktop platform. Manual overclocking along with PBO2, Curve Optimizer, and Maximum Boost Technology, yields up to 5.45 GHz single-threaded boost, and 5.10 GHz multi-threaded boost, yielding a 14 percent improvement over the stock frequency Cinebench R23 score, hitting 28542 points, which is on-par with that of a desktop Ryzen 9 7900X—a processor with 170 W TDP and 230 W PPT.

It was only Monday this week that ASUS announced the official launch of the ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM, but now retailers have started to put the display up for pre-order and it looks like for once, ASUS hasn't priced its products higher than the competition. In the US, it appears that the PG27AQDM will retail for US$999, which is the same price that LG is asking for its equivalent Ultragear OLED 27GR95QE-B. ASUS does claim to have higher typical brightness at 450 cd/m² vs a mere 200 cd/m² for the LG, yet somehow also claim to have half the power consumption.

A swift jump over the pond and the PG27AQDM looks a little less exciting, with it coming in at £1,098.95 in the UK and €1,299.99 in Germany and as much as 14,990 kr in Sweden, which puts all three nations at well over US$1,100 excluding any local VAT. That makes LG's Ultragear OLED the far more attractive option in Europe, as it's cheaper in all three countries by the equivalent of around US$100. For those still interested, the bad news is that the display won't arrive in retail until sometime in mid or end of April, depending on the country you live in.

While Intel 600- and 700-series chipset motherboard already support non-binary memory modules and kits, such support has yet to be implemented on AMD's AM5 motherboard, but, judging from screenshots posted on ASUS ROG forums, AMD motherboard partners are working on it and it should be just around the corner.

The screenshot from ASUS Tech Marketing person, named Raja, which was posted on ASUS ROG forums, shows the ASUS ROG STRIX X670-E motherboard running 192 GB of DDR5 memory. These are four 48 GB Corsair modules running at 2600 MHz (5200 MT/s). The post includes both CPU-Z and task manager screenshots, confirming it boots into Windows. Earlier, it has been reported that AMD motherboards can't boot into Windows with non-binary memory modules and kits, although the motherboard successfully recognizes it. There have also been rumors that AMD is working on an AGESA update that will fix this issue, and now, it looks like it could be coming sooner than we expected.

AMD has announced the immediate availability of its Ryzen 7045 HX-series (Dragon Range) processors for high performance laptop devices. In a Youtube video released on March 10, AMD's Jason Banta has announced the availability of the world's most powerful mobile processor, the Ryzen 9 7945HX. He listed the OEM partners who have integrated the 7945HX into flagship level laptop models. He also declared that this range topping CPU is a competition beater. Gaming benchmark tests have demonstrated that the Ryzen 9 7945HX beats Intel's Raptor Lake Core i9-13950HX by an average margin of 10%.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is announcing an extreme performance DDR5 memory kit based on the latest 24 GB module capacity, with a specification of DDR5-8000 CL38-48-48 at 48 GB (24 GB x2) under the flagship Trident Z5 RGB series, and setting a new bar for extreme overclocked memory with 24 GB capacity modules.