ASUS today introduced its GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB Phoenix graphics card, based on the same cost-effective design as the GTX 1060 3 GB Phoenix it launched last year. The card features a compact 18.3-inch long custom-design PCB, mated to a simple aluminium fan-heatsink, with spirally-projecting heatsink fins, ventilated by an 80 mm double ball-bearing fan. The card comes with NVIDIA-reference speeds of 1506 MHz core, 1708 MHz GPU Boost, and 8.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective) memory.

Based on the 16 nm GP106 silicon, the GTX 1060 features 1,280 CUDA cores, 80 TMUs, 48 ROPs, and a 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 6 GB of memory. The card draws power from a single 6-pin PCIe power connector. Outputs include dual-link DVI, two HDMI 2.0b, and one DisplayPort 1.4 connector. In the wake of the crypto-plague, its price is constantly changing.

ASUS is looking to introduce another keyboard solution to the market in the form of the Strix Flare RGB keyboard. The Strix Flare doubles down on the RGB goodness that has consumers diving for such products. It uses Cherry MX RGB switches (RGB Silver, Silent RGB Red, Silent RGB Black, Silent RGB Nature White); there's a white diffuser platform under the switches to more homogeneously spread the lighting effects; and the left and right sides of the keyboard sport LEDs that glow on users' desks. The clear plastic on the top right of the keyboard also basks in RGB goodness, and there are a couple of ASUS-branded stickers, and a single user-customizable one, that users can install there to achieve a desired RGB logo effect. All of this RGB goodness can be calibrated and individually controlled via ASUS' proprietary AURA Sync app.

Lighting and macros are adjustable and selectable on the fly; there are various media-dedicated controls on the left side of the keyboard, and there's profile configuration with ASUS' Armoury utility. The Strix Flare sports a detachable palm rest, USB pass-through, and is a wired affair that weighs in at 1,2 Kg with the cable, and should be available soon.

ASUS today announced that its complete lineup of AM4-socket-based motherboards now offer support for the first Zen architecture-based AMD Ryzen desktop processors with Radeon Vega graphics Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), via a BIOS update that's available immediately. These all-new AMD Ryzen 2000 Series APUs combine up to four Zen-based CPU cores with integrated Radeon Vega graphics. When used in combination with ASUS AMD AM4 Series motherboards, AMD Ryzen 2000 Series APUs offer great-value performance and deliver best-in-class gaming and graphics experiences.

Existing owners of ASUS AM4-socket motherboards can update their systems quickly and easily with the intuitive ASUS USB BIOS Flashback or ASUS EZ Flash 3 tools. In addition, an updated graphics driver - available from the ASUS support website - pushes the integrated AMD Radeon graphics to new performance heights for best-ever visual and gaming experiences with AMD Ryzen 2000 Series APUs.

FSP, one of the leading manufacturers of power supplies in the world is pleased to announce its newest advanced power supply, the Hydro PTM+. After its initial unveiling at Computex 2017, where it received massively positive response from hardware fans and PC gamers, the Hydro PTM+ 1200W is now ready to be built into PC gaming rigs across the globe.

The Hydro PTM+ was developed in cooperation with Bitspower to create a unique liquid cooled power supply that excels at its efficiency, power rating, and thermal performance. With liquid cooling enabled, up to 1400W of power can be delivered, but when power demand is below 50% loading the Hydro PTM+ remains passively cooled, remaining completely silent. On top of the fantastic power delivery and unique cooling solution, the Hydro PTM+ fits any gamers' needs, by also offering good looks. With ASUS Aura sync certified RGB lighting inside the unit and fully modular design with ribbon cables, the Hydro PTM+ is the first PSU that truly combines power, cooling, and aesthetics.

AAEON, an award-winning developer of embedded systems, is pleased to announce the release of the BOXER-6640, an embedded controller with a 6th or 7th Generation Intel Core Desktop Processor and support for DDR4 memory.

The BOXER-6640 is purpose built for factory automation and machine vision applications. With two LAN ports, four USB3.0 ports, and three USB2.0 ports, it can be connected to a range of cameras and sensors, and its 8-bit DIO enables it to control connected systems based on digital inputs. As it also has a VGA port and two further combined HDMI and DP ports for dual display output, this controller can easily serve as the hub of an effective HMI solution.

AAEON, an ASUS company and a leading developer of network solutions, releases the FWS-2360, a desktop network security appliance with the added assurance of Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT) and the speed and efficiency of fiber cable ports. Compact and highly extendable, the ready-to-go white box solution is tailor made for SOHO businesses, domestic networks, and vCPE and edge applications.

In addition to its pair of fiber/copper SFP GbE ports are four conventional GbE ports and two Mini-card slots to accommodate WiFi and 4G LTE expansion. The system's inbuilt bypass function also ensures that network traffic will continue to flow in the event of software complications or loss of power. Further expansion capabilities are provided by an mSATA socket and a SATA III Port with a 2.5" HDD Bay, giving customers a choice of mass storage possibilities.

ASUS today launched Blue Cave, a high-performance AC2600 Wi-Fi router based on Intel's latest connected home technology that's built to meet the demanding needs of modern smart homes. Blue Cave is an easy-to-use, innovatively designed router featuring family-friendly features like easy PC-free network setup and control, via the intuitive ASUS Router App for Android and iOS devices.

It's built to cope easily with the increasingly complex and bandwidth-heavy demands of smart home networks, offering superb multi-device performance powered by the Intel Home WiFi chipset, comprehensive commercial-grade security with ASUS AiProtection, and out-of-the-box IoT integration with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced Strix GL12, a gaming desktop with a unique combination of extreme gaming performance and striking, unconventional design. Strix GL12 is powered by up to a factory-overclocked 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics for unmatched gaming prowess. It features an esports-ready, easy-swap 2.5-inch SSD tray that can be taken out and replaced in seconds, all without having to shut down the system. Strix GL12 has aggressive, angular 'slashes' across the front of the chassis, a transparent side panel, and customizable ASUS Aura Sync lighting effects.

Strix GL12 is powered by up to an 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8700K processor, with every processor having been tested and handpicked by ROG engineers to ensure the very best performance. When combined with Turbo Gear, these top-of-the-line processors can be overclocked to speeds of up to 4.8 GHz (hexa-core) - that's up to 50% faster than previous-generation processors. It's also even faster than Intel Turbo Boost, which overclocks to a maximum speed of 4.3 GHz (hexa-core).

So, maybe it isn't really working - but at least the system boots up all the way to the BIOS memory checks, where it then stops emitting life signs. Der8auer went through a sort of blind process to discover that there is a particular ID pin on EPYC that when covered, allows the CPU to be booted up by a X399 motherboard (in this case, an ASUS X399 Zenith Extreme). ID pins are nothing new, and basically tell sockets whether or not they should be powering up a particular CPU.

So what exactly does this mean? Nothing much - only that the sockets and pinouts are the same. The approach towards detecting the ID pin was a crude, brute force one, appending a piece of electrical tape to different parts of the CPU, narrowing down the search for a single pin. When this particular pin was covered, standby power finally kept on, and the motherboard ran through some initial boot steps until stopping at the D0 memory boot code. Der8auer thinks that a "simple" BIOS switch on this TR4 motherboard to an EPYC motherboard's BIOS would suffice to get the EPYC CPU running on this Threadripper motherboard. Check out the full video after the break.

Thermaltake is on a cross-branded products launch spree, and its latest creation is a Pacific M4 monoblock designed for ASUS TUF X299 Mark I motherboard. A monoblock is an enlarged CPU water block that cools even the VRM surrounding the CPU socket, something Intel's "Skylake-X" platform could really do with. The Pacific M4 combines a nickel-plated copper main block, with an acrylic top that's been studded with 256-color RGB LED elements through a silicone diffuser; and a top sticker with Thermaltake and ASUS TUF logos. The RGB LEDs take in standardized 4-pin RGB input, and can be controlled by ASUS Aura Sync RGB software. Heat drawn from the VRM is conveyed by a base-plate onto the main block. The block takes in standard G1/4 fittings. Measuring 154 mm 114 mm x 29.4 mm (LxWxH), the monoblock weighs 770 g. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ASUS introduced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix Fusion 500 gaming headset, a step up from the Strix Fusion 300 the company launched last September. The headset essentially retains the design of the Fusion 300, but steps it up with gold-metallic body panels around the cans, RGB multi-color LED diffusers replacing the red LED accents, which you can control via ASUS Aura Sync RGB software; and under the hood enhancements.

The headset uses a higher quality ESS Sabre 9018 DAC combined with ESS 9601 amplifier. The DAC has a high SNR, and puts out 24-bit/96 kHz audio. The enhanced audio setup is mated with 50 mm ASUS Essence drivers, and improvements made to the passive acoustic dampening material around your ears. ASUS included game-specific virtual-7.1 surround DSPs with this headset. Available now, the ASUS ROG Strix Fusion is priced at USD $179.99, about $50 pricier than the Fusion 300.

SiSoft's hardware database is a fountain of information for soon-to-be-released hardware if you have the patience to go through all the entries. On this occasion, we get a glimpse of AMD's future Ryzen 5 2600 processor. Similar to its predecessor, the Ryzen 5 2600 is a 65W six-core processor with twelve threads. However, this new model features a 3.4 GHz base clock which is 200 MHz faster than the Ryzen 5 1600 that we reviewed last year. It will also come with 6 x 512 kB of L2 cache and 2 x 8 MB of L3 cache. Being an engineer sample and all, take these specifications with a pinch of salt. According to the entry, the processor was tested on an ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero motherboard that sports AMD's X470 chipset. Unfortunately, we don't have any more details at this time.

AAEON, a global leader in embedded computing systems, launches the NANOCOM-KBU, the world's first COM Express Type 10 board to be powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core U Processor. With its powerful CPU, the trailblazing NANOCOM-KBU has onboard 4GB DDR4 memory and a graphics engine that supports 4K applications.

In addition to its Core processor, the NANOCOM-KBU boasts an upgraded embedded controller structure with a real-time interrupt for faster response rates, and it addresses a customer demand for power control and battery management systems. The board's I2C bus also supports a range of IC formats, making it easier for end users to integrate the module with their own custom-made carrier boards. The AAEON NANOCOM-KBU features a wide operating temperature range of -40oC to 85oC, 5V/12V CD input support, a 1GbE LAN port, eight USB2.0 and two USB3.0 ports, two SATA 2 interfaces, and four PCI-E expansion slots.

In Win has always been known for their out-of-the-box designs and exotic cases. And as always, the brand didn't disappoint and showcased some impressive offerings at their booth. The 909 was the first case that we encountered upon entering. In this occasion, the case showed a few minor upgrades which included a co-branded reservoir from EK Water Blocks, 5mm thick tinted tempered glass side panels, dazzling LED lighting effects, and a front USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C connector. However, the 909 wasn't the only model that got a makeover. In Win's popular 101 case received a special TUF treatment from ASUS as well. The front panel now sports an attractive orange-yellow theme making it a perfect match for TUF Gaming motherboards.

The 915 is a new full-tower case that flaunts a sexy curved exterior, premium aluminium body with tinted tempered glass side panels, and RGB lighting. It also features a cool automatic elevating ventilation cover on the top. In Win also brought their latest mini-ITX case, the A1, to the show. This miniature model comes equipped with a 600W power supply and Polaris RGB fans. The quick-release glass side panels make swapping components easy, and the case even comes with an optional wireless mobile device charging area. The final case on our tour is the WINBOT which looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie. It's basically an aluminium case that lives inside a plexiglass bubble. As a result, users can have a 360° view of the system inside. The case is equipped with an advanced facial detection module which allows it to scan, observe, and react to your hand signals.

ASUS today announced XG Station Pro, an external graphics card enclosure with a stylish aluminum chassis and advanced cooling that provides PC and Mac laptop users with high-end graphics performance, suitable for demanding professional applications, such as video rendering, 3D design and scientific modeling. With support for the latest NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards and featuring fast and convenient Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, XG Station Pro enables a workstation-class experience when connected to a laptop and an external monitor without sacrificing mobility.

Premium, all-aluminum design
Designed in collaboration with In Win - the well-known maker of premium computer chassis - XG Station Pro has a highly functional and stylish design with an elegant, grey aluminum chassis that perfectly complements premium laptops. XG Station Pro fits a full-length, 2.5-slot graphics card, yet has a compact size that takes up minimal space on a desk or workspace. An external, 330W power supply drives even the most demanding graphics cards, reduces heat within the chassis, and enables XG Station Pro to have a smaller overall size.

ASUS today announced ProArt PQ22UC and ZenScreen Go MB16AP, slim and light portable monitors created for designers, video producers and other professionals who often need to create and showcase work away from the office. ProArt PQ22UC features an extremely high contrast ratio due to its OLED panel and exclusive ASUS ProArt Calibration technology for highly accurate, vibrant and undistorted colors. ZenScreen Go MB16AP can be connected to a laptop or Android device, and provides more flexibility with a built-in battery. The new portable monitors will be on display at the ASUS Showcase Room at Wynn Las Vegas, from January 9-12, 2018.

ASRock introduced the Ultra Quad M.2 Card, an add-on card that lets you easily set up an M.2 NVMe RAID array with up to four drives with 32 Gbps bandwidth for each drive. In principle, this product does exactly what ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 Riser card does, but better. The first benefit is shorter traces- while the ASUS card has M.2 slots arranged horizontally along the plane of the card, with the topmost slot being farthest away from the PCI-Express interface, the ASRock card has them arranged diagonally, in a way that ensures each slot is close to the PCIe bus. ASRock also claims better thermals with a larger 50 mm fan (vs. 40 mm of the ASUS card) and longer thermal pads (110 mm vs 80 mm), power stability with a 6-pin PCIe power input, and software control over the fan. The card supports NVMe RAID on both Intel X299 and AMD X399 platforms. The card is expected to be priced around USD $69.99.ASRock presentation slides follow.

ASUS today announced Blue Cave, a stunningly designed high-performance AC2600 Wi-Fi router based on Intel's connected home technology that's built to meet the demanding needs of modern smart homes. Winner of a 2017 Computex Best Choice Golden Award, Blue Cave is an easy-to-use, innovatively designed router with stylish good looks and family-friendly features. It's built to cope easily with the increasingly complex and bandwidth-heavy demands of smart home networks, offering superb multi-device performance powered by the Intel Home Wi-Fi chipset, comprehensive commercial-grade security with ASUS AiProtection, and out-of-the-box IoT integration with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT.

"Combining years of ASUS experience in wireless innovation and Intel's connected home technology, Blue Cave delivers ultrafast Wi-Fi speeds throughout the home," said Tenlong Deng, General Manager, ASUS Networking and Wireless Devices Business Unit. "Not only powerful, its eye-catching design with no external antennas blends perfectly with any décor."

ASUS today announced its latest lineup of small form factor products at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, including the PB40 and PN40 Mini PCs, Chromebox 3 and Tinker Board S. This year's innovations offer compactness and versatility for a variety of usage scenarios without compromising quality or performance.

With the new PB40 and PN40 Mini PCs, users can enjoy the power of a computer with the convenience of a compact and portable device, whether for work or play. The latest Chromebox 3 lets users enjoy their favorite Android apps for both home and educational entertainment, with the full power of an 8th Generation Intel Core processor. And with the new ASUS Tinker Board S, DIY enthusiasts can enjoy class-leading performance for turning their creative ideas into reality.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that it will unveil the new ROG Swift PG65 big format gaming display (BFGD) with NVIDIA G-SYNC at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. The 65-inch 4K UHD ROG Swift PG65 is the world's largest gaming display format, and is designed to bring uncompromising performance and a giant screen experience that's ideal for PC gaming. The new monitor will be on display at the ROG Showcase Room at Encore Las Vegas, Fairway Villa, from January 9-12, 2018.

ASUS today announced AiMesh, an innovative feature upgrade for ASUS routers that allows users to easily create a flexible and powerful whole-home Wi-Fi system using any compatible ASUS models.

AiMesh overcomes many of the limitations found in alternative off-the-shelf whole-home Wi-Fi systems, such as mesh-networking systems. Although these systems can be convenient all-in-one solutions, they are often only available in fixed bundles, with a limited choice of Wi-Fi speeds, hardware features and upgrade paths. With AiMesh, users can create a completely flexible whole-home Wi-Fi system tailored to their needs, while continuing to enjoy all the functions of each individual ASUS router, such as extreme Wi-Fi performance and exclusive advanced networking features. AiMesh also offers convenient central management and control via either the ASUS Router mobile app or the ASUSWRT web interface.

DigiTimes, citing sources from the "upstream supply chain", has advanced a report stating that global branded motherboards' shipments are expected to decline by 10% YoY in 2018. The report further states that the DIY PC market is expected to shrink by up to 15% this year. These decreases follow a down trendline starting in 2013, where motherboard shipments peaked at 75 million. This number has seen continuous reductions since then, with less than 50 million shipments in 2016, and decreased further towards an estimated 43 million units in 2017.

Motherboard makers are looking towards the still expanding gaming sector (and gaming motherboards) as a way to increase shipments and revenue, due to higher ASP (average selling price) of all things gaming branded. Manufacturers are looking at an uphill battle against ASUSTeK, however, which has done a tremendous job in marketing and brand recognition with its ROG line of gaming products, and has consequently locked in around 70% of the gaming product market.

ASUS today introduced the ProArt PA27AC monitor that meets displayHDR 400 standards. This 27-inch monitor features an IPS display panel with WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) native resolution, and covers 100% of the sRGB color-space with its 8bpc color depth. The monitor meets VESA's displayHDR 400 standard, with a peak luminescence of 400 nits, 8bpc image quality, and standard dynamic mega contrast dimming. The PA27AC also offers support for AMD FreeSync technology. Other vital specs include 60 Hz refresh-rate, and 5 ms (GTG) response time. The monitor takes input from DisplayPort 1.2a (needed for FreeSync), HDMI 2.0, and HDMI 1.4. The DisplayPort interface is USB type-C, and supports Thunderbolt 3 daisy-chaining (one port in, one out). The company didn't reveal pricing.

ASUS has seemingly revised the PCB design of their ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti graphics card in such a way that it has introduced compatibility issues with already-released custom waterblocks. The warning from Ek WaterBlocks (a silent one as well) comes via an update to their EK-MLC Phoenix GPU Module FC1080 GTX Ti, and EK-FC1080 GTX Ti waterblock modules product pages, where EK wrote that "Due to changes in the PCB design, ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards in the following S/N range are not compatible with EK-FC1080 GTX Ti Strix full cover water blocks: HBYVCM064817- HBYVCM999999; HCYVCM000001- HCYVCM059975".

Product revisions are a dime a dozen (particularly in motherboards). However, it's relatively rare that changes are enough to render cooling solutions completely incompatible with the new design. Granted, ASUS saw something worth some additional engineering, and went on to do it, so users looking towards the acquisition of a new GPU waterblock for their ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti graphics card should just look closely to the serial numbers on their graphics card packaging. Based on the range of serial numbers, graphics cards manufactured on or after November 2017 are the ones rendered incompatible with EKWB's purpose-built GPU waterblocks, so users purchasing graphics cards after this time-frame should take particular heed.

ASUS is looking to increase the appeal of its ROG (Republic Of Gamers) brand beyond just the aesthetics and specifications of its products. Through the launch of ROG Arena's Elite Rewards program, ASUS is looking to materialize users' belief in their ROG products through rewards and a loyalty system, which should a) get ROG customers even more into ASUS' products and b) increase user recognition of ROG as a brand.

Elite Rewards, as the name implies, is a reward program for users, with a scoring system that differentiates customers between Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond tiers, each with increasing rewards. Users can increase their ROG Elite score through Battle (gaming) feats, Adventuring (going to ASUS' events), Craft (earning points through ASUS' content creation contests) and by purchasing select ROG products. All of these activities give a player points towards their Elite rewards tier and the rewards they can redeem, while also increasing a player's standing in the ROG Arena leaderboard.