ASUS mastered the art of using daughterboards to effectively increase the board area of its mini-ITX motherboards, to cram in more features, beginning with its pioneering VRM board, which added 8- to 10-phase CPU VRM. The company's latest such product builds heavily on this idea. The Maximus VII Impact, based on Intel's new Z97 Express chipset, and supporting socket LGA1150 processors, features as many as five daughterboards.

It begins with one that holds the board's mighty 8-phase CPU VRM; one called ImpactControl II, which features onboard power/reset, clear CMOS, and ROG Connect buttons, apart from POST LEDs, which show out from the rear I/O panel; one called the Impact CoolHub, which gives out two 4-pin PWM fan headers, with an LN2 mode toggle; the mPCIe Combo IV board, which features an mPCIe x1 slot on one side (which is populated with the board's 802.11 ac WLAN card), and an M.2 slot with PCIe 2.0 x4 link layer wiring on the other; and the SupremeFX Impact II, which is the audio board featuring an EMI-shielded 110 dBA SNR CODEC, audio-grade capacitors, a headphones amp, and inherent ground-layer isolation.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced Crossblade Ranger, the first AMD FM2+ motherboard to carry the revered ROG brand and packed with exclusive ROG technologies and game-boosting features for an AMD-based gaming powerhouse that's beyond compare.

Crossblade Ranger's core benefits deliver the best gaming networking, with Intel Gigabit Ethernet, GameFirst III and LANGuard, the best gaming audio from SupremeFX 2014, the best gaming interface with KeyBot and the best gaming performance with exclusive Auto Tuning technology to unleash the true power of AMD accelerated-processing units (APUs).

iBUYPOWER and ASUS today announced a partnership that will offer ASUS' market-leading technology and design with iBUYPOWER's highly rated customization program - Optiboost. With Optiboost there is no shortage of ways to make the desktop experience truly your own. In addition, with ASUS' renowned product design and reliability you can feel safe whether you need a personalized desktop focused on enjoying the latest in digital content delivery, improving productivity or just wanting to play the latest games.

"We're proud to add ASUS to the Optiboost family" said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER. "ASUS and iBUYPOWER aim to bring the best desktop experience to a wide variety of consumers through trusted product engineering, cutting-edge customization and tuning options."

ASUS today announced Strix DSP, a gaming headset with audio station, Strix Claw optical gaming mouse, Strix Tactic Pro mechanical gaming keyboard and Strix Glide Control and Glide Speed gaming mouse pads. The new products follow the recent launches of the Strix Pro gaming headset and Strix R9 280 and GTX 780 graphic cards, completing the Strix gaming-gear line-up that sharpens gamers' hearing and places everything under their control.

Taken from the ancient Roman and Greek word for owl, Strix is the brand name for the stunning new ASUS gaming-gear series. Strix means the keenest hearing, the sharpest eyesight and the ability to feel the environment, enabling the player to detect and react to even the slightest movement. Strix means survival on the very edge of instinct. Strix is in gamers' blood, just as it is in ours.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the Swift PG278Q Gaming Monitor, a 27-inch WQHD display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time to cater to the graphical requirements of today's fast paced games. It boasts gamer-centric features for a better gameplay experience, NVIDIA G-SYNC Technology for smooth, fluid visuals, as well as exquisite and ergonomic design touches.

The world's first and only WQHD G-SYNC fast gaming monitor
Designed especially for gamers, the ROG Swift PG278Q Gaming Monitor features a 27-inch WQHD 2560 x 1440 panel with a pixel density of 109 pixels per inch (PPI). The use of a WQHD panel gives it four times (4X) the resolution of 720p for sharper images, and provides 77% more screen workspace than similarly-sized 1080p displays.

Following its preview at CES 2014, ASUS is excited to launch the ASUS RT-AC87, the world's first Wave 2 802.11ac consumer router and the fastest 5 GHz with speeds up to 1.73 Gbps. Powered by Quantenna's award-winning QSR1000 4x4 Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) chipset, the ASUS RT-AC87 offers unparalleled speed and range for a superior wireless experience.

"As the number of wireless devices in the home increases, so does the importance of Wi-Fi quality. Our customers value high-performance Wi-Fi and know the importance of a reliable and fast wireless connection in order to stream bandwidth-intensive data. The RT-AC87 provides them with class leading performance, as well as incredible range and reliability," said Margaret Chen, President of Open Platform Business (OPBG) Group for ASUS Computer International.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced Maximus VII Formula and Maximus VII Formula/Watch Dogs, Z97 chipset-based ATX gaming motherboards ready for the latest 4th-, new 4th- and 5th-generation Intel Core processors - codenamed 'Haswell', 'Haswell Refresh', 'Haswell Refresh K-Series' ('Devil's Canyon') and 'Broadwell' - and engineered with many new and exclusive ROG game-boosting features.

The Maximus VII Formula series supports dual-channel up to DDR 3300+ (OC) memory, and quad-GPU SLI and 3-way CrossFireX for gaming rigs with multiple graphics-processing units (multi-GPU). The new motherboard series also includes two SATA Express and ten SATA 3.0 connectors, as well as eight USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0 ports.

ASUS today announced Strix GTX 750 Ti OC, a new graphics cards powered by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti graphics-processing unit (GPU) and designed for players who like to game on the edge of instinct.

Taken from the ancient Roman and Greek word for owl, Strix is the brand name for the stunning new ASUS gaming-gear series. Strix means the keenest hearing and sharpest eyesight and the ability to feel the environment, enabling the player to detect and react to even the slightest movement. Strix means survival on the very edge of instinct. Strix is in gamers' blood, just as it is in ours.

ASUS today announced H97-Pro Gamer, a new ATX motherboard that speeds up gamers' fun with 10 Gbit/s M.2 and SATA Express connectivity, Intel Gigabit Ethernet and exclusive GameFirst ll networking technology. H97-Pro Gamer additionally benefits from exclusive SupremeFX for unrivalled in-game audio and exclusive Sonic Radar ll technology to lend players a stealthy advantage in first-person-shooter (FPS) games.

The new motherboard also includes ASUS Gamer's Guardian, a collection of components hand-chosen for exceptional safety, durability and performance to protect gamers' backs.

I'M Intelligent Memory, a Hong Kong based fabless DRAM manufacturer, announces availability of the world's first 8 Gigabit (Gb) DDR3 components with a single chip-select, doubling the amount of memory per chip compared to other DDR3 DRAM devices on the market. Based on these new 8 Gb components, I'M is also introducing the first 16 Gigabyte (GB) DDR3 UDIMM and SO-DIMM memory modules with optional ECC error-correction.

The JEDEC specification JESD79-3 has always allowed an 8 Gb density for DDR3 memory devices. While most DRAM manufactures are waiting for a 2x nm process to fit such high memory capacity into a single DRAM IC package, I'M has developed its own a revolutionary way to manufacture 8 Gb DDR3 components with single chip-select utilizing existing 30 nm manufacturing technologies.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 74.4 million units in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14), a year-on-year decline of -1.7%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. The results reflect the smallest decline in global PC shipments since the second quarter of 2012 when declining shipments of mini notebooks combined with a surge in tablet sales to disrupt the PC market.

Buoyed by both continued business PC replacements and returning consumer interest, the preliminary results for 2Q14 are markedly better than the projected decline of -7.1% for the quarter. Despite the end of Windows XP support in early April, it appears many Windows XP migrations continue to take place. Most major vendors saw solid growth, and early indications also point to desktop shipments being stronger than expected in some areas, signaling continued business buying. The consumer side also appears stronger than expected, with growing activity among the lower-priced models as well as Chromebooks.

EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana-based premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is excited to introduce two new Full Cover water block for custom circuit board design NVIDIA and AMD powered ASUS Republic Of Gamers Matrix series graphics cards - ROG MATRIX-GTX780TI and -MATRIX-R9290X-P-4GD5.

EK-FC780 GTX Ti Matrix as well as EK-FC R9-290X Matrix directly cool the GPU, RAM as well as VRM (voltage regulation module) as water flows directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks. These CNC machined Full Cover water blocks also features a very high flow design therefore it can be easily used in liquid cooling systems using weaker water pumps.

ASUS today announced the USB 3.0 HZ-2 Docking Station. Designed for desktop or notebook users, the HZ-2 lets users connect up to 10 devices or accessories through a single USB cable. The HZ-2 includes the latest drivers and firmware for full compatibility with Windows 8.1 and earlier versions; and is backwards-compatible with USB 2.0 PCs and devices. Users can also connect their notebooks to larger displays via the HDMI or VGA ports found on the HZ-2.

Full connectivity options
The ASUS USB 3.0 HZ-2 Docking Station has all the connectivity and expandability features required to turn any notebook into a complete desktop workstation. The HZ-2 features an HDMI port with a VGA adapter supporting HD resolutions up to 2048 x 1152 pixels in 32-bit color, making it compatible with the latest range of monitors and televisions that deliver visuals at resolutions greater than HD. The HZ-2 is ideal for those looking to mirror or extend their Windows desktops. The HZ-2 has a built-in video processor, allowing users to work with two additional external displays via video output ports found on the notebook and dock.

ASUS today announced that its H97, H87, B85 and H81 Series motherboards are able to overclock the latest Intel Pentium Anniversary Edition processor (G3258), 4th-generation Intel Core K Series ('Haswell') and new 4th-generation Intel Core K Series ('Haswell Refresh') processors. The combination of the Pentium Anniversary Edition processor and non-Z chipsets represents the best choice for mainstream overclocking, delving both great value and superb performance.

The overclocking features of the Intel Pentium Anniversary Edition processor, 4th-generation and new 4th-generation Intel Core K Series processors have traditionally been limited to Intel Z chipsets. With ASUS H97, H87, B85 and H81 Series motherboards, performance enthusiasts are now able to exploit the overclocking power of those processors via the award-winning ASUS UEFI BIOS.

ASUS today announced Zenbook NX500, the stunning new flagship of the multiple-award-winning Zenbook Ultrabook range. Echoing the timeless, classic design of Zenbook, NX500 introduces a new sleek and elegant all-aluminum chassis housing state-of-the-art components for ultimate performance. NX500 premieres the incredible new ASUS VisualMaster display technology, and has the world's first 15.6-inch 4K/UHD (ultra-high-definition) touchscreen using 3M QDEF (quantum dot enhancement film) technology for unbelievably natural and vivid color reproduction.

NX500 uses a powerful 4th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, teamed with the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M graphics for seamless multitasking, smooth 4K/UHD video playback and responsive gameplay.

For all those without M.2 slots on their motherboards, and want to buy some of the new-generation SSDs that offer transfer rates as high as 1.8 GB/s, ASUS unveiled a cost-effective new way, with its ASUS Hyper M.2 X4 adapter. It's a simple half-height add-on card, which converts PCI-Express 2.0/3.0 x4 to M.2, with gen 2.0/3.0 x4 wiring, so not only can you install current-generation M.2 SSDs with PCIe 2.0 x2 link layer, but also certain upcoming ones based on SandForce 3700 series processors, that feature PCIe 2.0 x4 link layer, offering stellar 1.8 GB/s sequential transfers. The card is also future-proof against an M.2 standard that makes use of PCI-Express gen 3.0. In addition to the M.2 slot, which can seat drives as long as 12 cm, the card also features some basic electrical circuitry, and M.2 SSD link/activity LEDs. For use on older (pre-M.2 motherboards), you may need BIOS support and/or F6 drivers from the SSD manufacturer, this card is merely an adapter, of the kind Plextor bundles with its M6e SSDs.

Lucidlogix (Lucid), pioneers in multi GPU virtualization technologies, and ASUS, the leader in PC solutions, today announced the integration of Lucid VirtuWatt software inside select models of ASUS desktops. VirtuWatt will automatically and seamlessly power-off discrete GPU when not required, and power-on again when needed. This dramatically minimizes power draw, maximizes system life and reduces noise levels making the ASUS ROG G20 the ideal solution for ultimate marathon gaming session.

The recently launched ASUS G20, an extremely powerful compact gaming desktop PC, which the Eco Energy Mode integrate VirtuWatt, Lucid's eco-friendly GPU virtualization technology into its new system, resulting in a more powerful, cost-efficient PC user experience.

ASUS also showed off its H97 Pro-Gamer motherboard, designed for gamers who don't overclock their CPU or memory. Branded outside the ROG series, the board still retains its black+red product styling. Its feature set includes an 8-phase CPU VRM, four DDR3 DIMM slots; two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 with both populated), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, three legacy PCI, making up the expansion area; storage connectivity that includes six SATA 6 Gb/s, a SATA-Express slot, and an M.2 slot; Intel-made gigabit Ethernet with GameFirst II, and SupremeFX II audio.

ASUS showed off its first socket FM2+ motherboard in its Republic of Gamers family, the ROG Crossblade Ranger. Based on the AMD A88X FCH chipset, the Crossblade Ranger offers an 8-phase CPU VRM, four DDR3 DIMM slots, two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (gen 3.0 x8/x8 when both are populated), a third PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4) slot, eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, Intel-made gigabit Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard, and SupremeFX audio. The board supports both SLI and CrossFire. We expect this board to be priced under $150.

ASUS made an additions to its TUF (the ultimate force) line of super durable motherboards, with the TUF Sabranco Z97, and the TUF Sabertooth Z97 MK2. "Sabranco," according to ASUS is a combination of the words Sabertooth and branco (Portuguese for white). It's essentially a TUF Sabertooth Z97 MK1, with a milky white PCB, and a thermal armor that features "arctic" military camouflage pattern, used by armed forces operating in snowy conditions. The Sabertooth Z97 MK2, on the other hand, is a lighter variant of the MK1, minus SATA-Express, and a lighter CPU VRM.

Just like its rival MSI, ASUS has decided to showcase a little USB advancement at Computex 2014. To do that the company put on display not one but two LGA1150 motherboards (probably Z97-based) featuring USB 3.1 support courtesy of an ASMedia controller.

The USB 3.1 ports on ASUS' boards - codenamed Quicksilver (ATX) and Shadowcat (mini ITX), offer maximum transfer rates of 10 Gbps and up to 100 W for connected devices. Shadowcat also packs two DDR3 memory slots, four SATA ports, one PCI-Express x16 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1 channel audio, and D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today displayed at Computex 2014 its new line-up of products for gamers in pursuit of portability, class leading design and extreme performance. These exciting products include the powerhouse G20 small-form-factor desktop, the GR8 that delivers PC gaming power in a console design and the ultra-thin, ultra-cool GX500 gaming notebook.

To tantalize gaming and performance enthusiasts, ROG also showcased the flagship Z97-based Maximus VII Formula, Maximus VII Impact mini-ITX powerhouse, Crossblade Ranger - ROG's first AMD FM2+ gaming motherboard - and the limited-edition Ares III, the world's fastest graphics card powered by dual Radeon Hawaii XT GPUs and cooled by a custom-designed EK water block.

In addition to the 32-inch ProArt PA328Q ASUS has brought to Computex 2014 another 'prosumer' oriented UHD (3840 x 2160) monitor, the 27-inch PB279Q. Seen below, this upcoming model features a 'super slim' 9 mm bezel, 100% sRGB coverage, 178/178-degree viewing angles, a 5 ms (GTG) response time, 300 cd/m2 brightness, and one DisplayPort 1.2, one mini DisplayPort and four HDMI 1.4 inputs.

The PB279Q also offers full pivot, tilt and swivel and height adjustment. No word yet on pricing or availability.

Today at ASUS has taken the veil off its latest UHD (3840 x 2160) widescreen display, the ProArt PA328Q. This new 32-inch monitor offers 10-bit color and 100% sRGB coverage and features 178/178-degree viewing angles, 350 cd/m2 brightness, 100,000,000:1 'Smart Contrast', a four-port USB 3.0 hub, tilt, swivel, pivot and height adjustment, and an array of inputs which includes HDMI 1.4 (UHD @ 30 Hz), HDMI 2.0 (UHD @ 60 Hz), mini DisplayPort, and DisplayPort 1.2.

The ProArt PA328Q is set to arrive in Q4. No price tag was announced.

ASUS Transformer Book Flip was announced today, a stylish, innovative and affordable Windows 8.1 laptop with a remarkable hinge design that enables the screen to be set at any angle between zero and 360 degrees. Flip is incredibly versatile, and can be used as a powerful laptop, a responsive tablet, or anything in between.

Flip is powered by Intel Core up to i7 processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce GT840M discrete graphics for seamless multitasking and outstanding performance, whether for productivity, entertainment or playing the latest games. And with three screen sizes available - 13.3 inches, 14.0 inches and 15.6 inches - there's a Flip for everyone!