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 Republic of Gamers (ROG) is proud to announce the ROG Ally, an incredibly powerful new Windows 11 gaming handheld. Powered by a cutting-edge AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor, the Ally can breeze through AAA games and indie titles with ease. A bright and high-refresh-rate touchscreen ensures that gamers see their content clearly even when gaming outdoors. The Ally is easy to carry and handle all day, thanks to its lightweight 608 g design and ergonomic handholds.

Featuring an all-new purpose-built APU - an AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor with RDNA 3 graphics - the ROG Ally is primed to deliver never-before-seen levels of handheld gaming performance. Gamers who enjoy lighter indie titles, or more graphically intensive AAA games, can do it all with the Ally. Making all this possible is also ROG's Zero Gravity thermal system, which uses a dual-fan system with ultrathin heatsink fins and high-friction heat pipes to ensure the Ally stays cool in any orientation.

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.

ASUS has released an official statement regarding the recently discovered issues with AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, especially the Ryzen 7000X3D series. ASUS has also released EFI updates on Friday, that include thermal monitoring mechanism to protect motherboards and CPUs and is working on new updates that should be available soon and define new rules for AMD Expo and SoC voltage, which appear to be the main issue related to the CPU VDDIO/MC voltages.

We have already covered the first reports of damaged Ryzen 7000X3D series CPUs that suffered physical damage, and some motherboard manufacturers have already released new BIOS updates, including MSI. In the meantime, Roman "Der8auer" Hartung has also discovered that the issue might not be just limited to the Ryzen 7000X3D series, but could also impact the Ryzen 7000 X-series CPUs. Although there were no earlier reports on such issues, AMD Expo appears to be the main source of the problem and users can either disable it or manually set the SoC voltage, at least until motherboard makers come up with new BIOS updates or we hear an official statement from AMD.

GEEKOM is thrilled to announce the release of the GEEKOM AS 6, an AMD-powered mini PC. This powerful, feature-packed PC is the result of an exclusive collaboration between GEEKOM and ASUS, with these two industry-leading companies teaming up to co-develop a Mini PC with better overall performance than the Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon, making it the best choice for the gaming and office of the future!

GEEKOM and ASUS always strive to bring users the most optimal mini PC experience, and the AS 6 is proof of that commitment. The AS 6, powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor, delivers unprecedented levels of performance to effortlessly handle any task-from playing the latest games to intensive office work. It is truly eye-opening to discover that the AMD Radeon Graphics 680M in the AS 6 boasts a staggering performance improvement of nearly 90% compared to Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the NUC 13 Pro. And the new Radeon graphics technology combined with ultrafast DDR5 memory offers up to 2x faster game performance than the last gen.

The latest entry from Geekbench database pretty much confirmed that the ASUS ROG Ally will have two different versions, featuring two different Ryzen Z1 custom APUs. While both are AMD's Phoenix APUs with Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architectures, they will have different specifications, with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme featuring an 8-core/16-thread configuration with 12 Compute Units (CUs) GPU, the Ryzen Z1 non-Extreme will end up with a 6-core/12-thread CPU configuration and 4 RDNA 3 CUs.

The Ryzen Z1 Extreme SKU was detailed yesterday, and this newest leak also confirms two different versions of the ASUS ROG Ally handheld console, as previously leaked. The entry in Geekbench database also shows a small difference in clock speeds between those two Ryzen Z1 SKUs, with the base frequency of 3.2 GHz and Boost of 4.9 GHz (4,939 MHz) for the non-Extreme. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme has a base frequency of 3.3 GHz and Boost up to almost 5.1 GHz (5,062 MHz).

ASUS today announced the all-new Zenbook 15 OLED (UM3504), a premium thin and light 15.6-inch laptop powered by up to the latest AMD Ryzen 7 7735U processor. This powerful and compact laptop is designed for on-the-go productivity and creativity, featuring a durable all-metal chassis with a 14.9 mm-thin profile and a weight of just 1.4 kg. The 15.6-inch 16:9 120 Hz 2.8K ASUS Lumina OLED NanoEdge display is Pantone Validated for accurate color rendering and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified for the deepest blacks. It's also SGS and TÜV Rheinland certified for eye care.

To complement its Ryzen processor and AMD Radeon graphics, Zenbook 15 OLED has up to 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. Fast reliable connectivity is provided by WiFi 6E (802.11ax) enhanced with ASUS WiFi Master Premium. The premium design of Zenbook 15 OLED includes a choice of two finishes: a high-tech eco-friendly Basalt Gray plasma ceramic aluminium, or anodized Ponder Blue. To keep the laptop hygienic it's protected with ASUS Antimicrobial Guard plus, which reduces growth of viruses and bacteria by up to 99%. Conferencing is made easier with the FHD IR webcam and ASUS 3D Noise Reduction (3DNR) technology, along with the Harman Kardon-certified Dolby Atmos speaker system.

ASUS today announced the exciting new Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304), the world's slimmest 13.3-inch OLED laptop. It's also the most eco-friendly Zenbook ever, and takes the brand's signature qualities of ultraportable design, sustainability and on-the-go performance to a new level, proving conclusively that less can be more.

With a world-beating super-slim 1 cm profile and a super-light 1 kg chassis, the sophisticated Zenbook S 13 OLED delivers no-compromise performance, connectivity and battery life, making it the epitome of ultraportable design, and finished in brand-new Basalt Gray or classic Ponder Blue. It's also designed with the environment and carbon neutrality firmly in mind, using recycled metals and plastics in its construction, FSC Mix-certified packaging, an elegant new eco-friendly plasma ceramic aluminium for the Basalt Gray model, and halogen-free electronics, to make this the most eco-friendly Zenbook model we've ever produced.

ASUS today introduced its newest laptops, with the latest Zenbook and Vivobook lineups during the Thincredible product launch event. Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) debuted as the world's slimmest OLED ultraportable laptop—redefining what an ultraportable laptop can be. Equipped with the stunning new ASUS Lumina OLED displays, ASUS IceCool technology, and extremely durable and unique designs, the latest Zenbook and Vivobook lineups empower users with their outstanding sustainable performance and purposeful innovations.

Zenbook S 13 OLED is only 1 cm thin and weighs just 1 kg[iii]. This Intel Evo -certified laptop provides exceptional performance, battery life, and sustainability combined with an ASUS Lumina OLED display in an ultracompact chassis. Offering an all-day 63 Wh battery and full I/O ports, it's the perfect companion for those who need maximum portability to match their lifestyle. The Zenbook lineup also includes Zenbook 14X OLED (UX3404), a compact and high-performance portable laptop, and Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (UP3404), a convertible ultraportable laptop with immense versatility.

A tech reviewer, ETA PRIME, managed to get its hands on the ASUS TUF A15 laptop, based on the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS APU, and run some benchmarks on the integrated Radeon 780M RDNA 3 iGPU, showing that it is capable of delivering playable framerates in some popular games at 1080p resolution. The Ryzen 9 7940HS is an 8-core/16-thread Zen 4 APU with a base clock of 4.0 GHz and a maximum boost clock of 5.2 GHz. It features the Radeon 780M RDNA 3 iGPU with 12 CUs (768 stream processors) working at 2800 MHz. The APU in the ASUS TUF A15 laptop was paired up with 32 GB of DDR5-5600 memory. The system comes with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, but the review was focused on the AMD Radeon 780M.

In 3DMark Fire Strike and Time Spy benchmark, the Radeon 780M GPU was 12 and 15 percent faster than the Radeon 680M, despite the other system being equipped with faster LPDDR5 memory. ETA PRIME was also keen to note that the early driver was obviously not ready, and it did crash in some games, so the performance could be even higher when the official driver is released. ETA PRIME benchmarked a couple of popular games with the CPU limited to 80 W, resulting in playable framerates in most of the games at 1080p and medium to high graphics settings. Bear in mind that the system was tested in Performance Mode set via ASUS Armory Crate software. According to ETA PRIME, the integrated GPU was easily overclocked up to 3 GHz, and it would crash at 3.25 GHz, which shows great promise and might be more stable with the final launch driver.

ASUS today announced that it has been recognized for its design excellence, winning 26 iF Design Awards for 2023. These awards span multiple categories including Product, Packaging, Communication, Professional Concept, User Interface, User Experience and Telecommunication, showing the ASUS commitment to make every part of the process an experience. These awards span a large part of the company's portfolio including, gaming, consumer, commercial, healthcare, mobile phone and networking solutions. This achievement showcases ASUS's design spirit and innovation, as well as its commitment to creating incredible experiences for its customers.

"We are thrilled to be recognized again by the iF Design Awards for our design excellence," said ASUS Chief Design Officer, Mitch Yang. "This achievement highlights the incredible teamwork of our cross functional teams and their unwavering commitment to design spirit and innovation. Winning in so many categories is a remarkable achievement, and we are proud to continue leading the way in design and innovation."

There has been a lot of info about the upcoming ASUS ROG Ally handheld console, and now, an alleged slide has leaked online, confirming some of the previous specifications and revealing that custom AMD Phoenix APU, called the Ryzen Z1. The ASUS ROG Ally has been spotted on the FCC website, featuring the Ryzen 7 7840U APU, which could suggest that the Ryzen Z1 is a custom version of that same APU. The slide in question was leaked and then removed from the original source, but HXL caught it on Twitter before it was removed.

It confirms the 1920x1080 resolution screen with 500 nits of brightness, 120 Hz refresh rate, and 7 ms response time. The Ryzen Z1 series APU will be paired up with 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM in dual-channel mode, and have 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage in M.2 2230 slot. It is also possible that ASUS will have several versions with different storage and/or RAM configuration. It will run Windows 11, making it compatible with all popular game platforms Steam, EA App, Epic Games, and Xbox Game Pass. Furthermore, it will support Dolby Atmos and have a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Another leaked slide showed the ROG Ally Travel Case, and there will be plenty of other ROG Ally accessories. ASUS has already announced that the ROG Ally will be available worldwide and could launch sooner than expected, so all we need now is that official launch and the price.

Since the ASUS ROG Ally has already shown up on certification sites, it is not surprising that the first specifications have been leaked, including the information that it could come with AMD's Ryzen 7840U Phoenix APU. When the product number has leaked online, it is easy to find traces of it moving between ASUS headquarters. So far, the ASUS ROG Ally has been spotted at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) site with two product codes, the RC71L and the RC71X, which could easily be different memory and storage configurations or even a different color.

While these pre-productions samples shipped around clearly show that the ASUS ROG Ally is powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 7840U APU, the company did mention a "custom" APU, which means that the final product might end up with something different, maybe even just a higher clock. In case you missed earlier leaks, as the AMD Ryzen 7040 U-series is yet to be officially announced, the Ryzen 7 7840U fits into AMD's thin and light segment with TDP ranging from 15 W to 28 W. It is rumored to be an 8-core/16-thread Zen 4 CPU with a 3.3 GHz base clock and features AMD Radeon 780M RDNA 3 architecture GPU with 12 Compute Units (CU), or a total of 768 stream processors. Of course, ASUS might have a different deal with AMD and could use a completely different APU for the final product, but so far, pre-production samples show the Ryzen 7 7840U. ASUS has previously announced that the ROG Ally will be available worldwide and could launch sooner than expected.

ASUS is keeping the hype up for its upcoming ROG Ally handheld console, and now it has confirmed the worldwide release and teased that it could come sooner than anyone expected, which is pretty impressive. Announced on April 1st, the ASUS ROG Ally has impressive specifications, running on yet to be detailed AMD 4 nm custom APU based on Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architecture.

The ASUS ROG Ally measures at 280 x 133 x 39 mm and weighs 608 grams, making it shorter, narrower, thinner, and lighter than its competitor, Valve's Steam Deck. It has a 7-inch display with 1920x1080 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, 5 ms response time, and 500 nits of brightness. According to earlier hands-on previews of the prototype from Dave2D and LinusTechTips, ASUS did a great job with the dual-fan cooling solution, making it very quite. It will also have a dedicated PCIE Gen 3 x8 XG connector, which allows it to connect to the recently launched XG Mobile GPU, an external RTX 4090 GPU which retails at $1999.99 in the US. Linus also noted that the ROG Ally will offer 50 percent higher performance at 15 W and twice the performance at 35 W, compared to the Steam Deck. As noted, ASUS has now confirmed that the ROG Ally will launch worldwide, and that it might be sooner that we expect, linking to Best Buy for those that live in North America.

Graphics cards are most famously used for gaming, but gamers are far from the only folks who eagerly anticipate each new generation of GPUs. The highly specialized hardware in graphics cards offers potent parallel processing power, and professionals put it to work in fields like artificial intelligence, finance, game development, manufacturing, and robotics. While creators in these fields often use the same hardware as gamers, the needs of these two groups of users aren't identical.

To give these professionals options better suited for their lines of work, we're excited to announce the very first ProArt graphics cards: the ProArt GeForce RTX 4080 and ProArt GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. Tuned for quiet operation, styled for professional contexts, and slimmed down for wide chassis compatibility, these graphics cards are built from the ground up to serve the needs of creators.

ASUS today announced the ASUS ProArt Power Up Next-Gen Production exhibition at the 2023 NAB Show Centennial in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nevada from April 16-19. ASUS ProArt will be announcing several new products at the show, including the ProArt Cinema PQ07 and ProArt Display PA24US professional monitors, as well as the first ASUS ProArt graphics cards.

There will also be product demos of cutting-edge ProArt on-set, VFX, post-production, and video editing solutions at the booth. Attendees at the 2023 NAB Show Centennial will also be able to attend ProArt Masters' Talks featuring industry experts from Portrait Displays, Glassbox Technology, and Puget Systems. The sessions will cover a wide range of topics, including color management, virtual production workflows, and computing power behind next-generation productions.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the all-new ROG Phone 7 series of gaming smartphones at its For Those Who Dare virtual launch event. The ROG Phone 7 series includes the ROG Phone 7 and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate models and is the latest step in the high-performance evolution of the world's greatest gaming phone. This futuristically-styled phone—which sports a new two-tone design—combines the game-winning power of the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform with the advanced GameCool 7 thermal system and special ROG tuning to deliver a truly breathtaking mobile gaming experience—and impressively low power consumption. The key to this power efficiency is the revolutionary new rapid-cycle vapor chamber design, which increases heat dissipation efficiency by up to 168%, allowing the ROG Phone 7 series to run games at full speed while maintaining low temperatures.

To make ROG Phone 7 a powerful and portable theater, we've increased the effective volume of the ROG Phone 7 series' speakers by 50% and tuned the system in cooperation with audio specialists Dirac. ROG Phone 7 series now delivers amazing 2.1-channel sound when the new AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory—which houses a powerful subwoofer—is attached.

ASUS today announced Vivobook 15X OLED (M3504), Vivobook 16X OLED (M3604), and Vivobook 17X (M3704), a trio of stylish everyday laptops smoothly powered by AMD Ryzen 7000-Series Processors. Featuring up to a power-efficient eight-core 4.5 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor that's capable of handling all everyday tasks, 16 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB PCIe SSD, these laptops also have high-capacity up to 63 Wh batteries that offer outstanding battery life for daily productivity on the go.

Equipped with brilliant world-leading up to 4KOLED HDR Pantone Validated displays on the OLED models (M3504, M3604), or a crisp and clear FHD IPS display (M3704 only), the laptops also include a powerful DTS-tuned ASUS SonicMaster audio system for rich, immersive entertainment. Home users and remote workers will both appreciate the crystal-clear video and noise-free audio during video or audio conference calls, enabled by the FHD webcam with ASUS 3DNR technology and AI noise-canceling audio.

ASUS today announced five new models in the 2023 Vivobook Classic series of laptops, headed up by the flagship 14-inch Vivobook 14X OLED (K3405) and 16-inch Vivobook 16X OLED (K3605) models. In keeping with their role as flagships of the series, these powerful laptops feature up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, accompanied by up to 13th Gen Intel Core H-series processors and up to 32 GB of RAM. The feature-packed K3405 and K3605 really do deliver maximum performance at the best price.

Vivobook 14X OLED and 16X OLED (K3605) feature up to world-leading 3.2K 120 Hz OLED HDR Pantone Validated displays. A powerful Dirac-tuned audio system and an HD webcam with ASUS 3D Noise Reduction (3DNR) ensure immersive entertainment and crystal-clear video conferencing. High-performance WiFi 6E (802.11ax) and a long-lasting battery with fast-charge capabilities free users to take full advantage of their mobile lifestyle. On-the-go connectivity is easy with a set of I/O ports including up to Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C and/or Type-A and HDMI 2.1, plus a standard SD card reader.

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.

It appears that the microATX form factor is the way to go when it comes to AMD A620 chipset based motherboards and ASUS has no less than three new models, although one is technically with or without WiFi. The new models are the TUF Gaming A620M-Plus, the TUF Gaming A620M-Plus WiFi and the Prime A620M-A. All three boards sport six layer PCBs with what appears to be fairly basic power regulation, although ASUS doesn't mention how many phases either model has on its product pages. All boards feature a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, as well as two M.2 NVMe slots that support PCIe 4.0 x4 based drives. All models also have four DDR5 DIMM slots, four SATA 6 Gbps ports and front panel connectors for a 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port and two 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports.

Around the back is where things differ a bit, as the TUF boards have two DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI port, as well as two 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 port and a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port courtesy of a Realtek chip, as well a BIOS FlashBack button. The Prime board on the other hand replaces one DisplayPort output with a VGA connector for some reason and gets to make do with Gigabit Ethernet. The connectivity options aren't what we'd call impressive, but appears to be par for course compared to ASUS' competitors' products. Pricing appear to be in the range of €139-169.

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.