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

ASUS Republic of Gamers Motherboards:

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

Graphics cards:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The ROG MATRIX 7970 wasn't the only new Republic of Gamers graphics card on display at Computex, it was sitting next to the MARS III. This monstrosity is a dual-GeForce GTX 680 graphics card, it packs two 28 nm GK104 GPUs with clock speeds that match or exceed those of the GeForce GTX 680. ASUS stopped short of revealing the clock speeds. The card draws power from three 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors, next to it is an instant fan-override button that revs up the card's fans to 100%. The card gives out three dual-link DVI display outputs, and is capable of driving 3D Vision Surround using three >1920x1200 pixels displays. Unlike the MATRIX 7970 and countless recent examples of ASUS' ugly fixation with triple-slot cooling solutions, it's a pleasant surprise seeing that the triple-fan cooling solution of the MARS III needs just two expansion card slots. The MARS III will be manufactured in limited quantities, and will probably cost more than a GeForce GTX 690.

ASUS showed off its newest high-end single-GPU graphics card, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Matrix 7970. The card will be ASUS' addition to a new wave of highly-overclocked Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards (we're talking ≥25% factory-OC), by AMD AIB partners, to compete with GeForce GTX 680. ASUS did not disclose the clock speeds the Matrix 7970 ships with, but listed out its exclusive features, such as VGA Hotwire (read and control voltages at a hardware level), TweakIT (hardware voltage-speed control using buttons, one-push fan override), ProbeIT (voltage fan-speed monitoring points), a 20-phase Digi+ VRM with software control using GPUTweak software, and the software itself, which comes with a plethora of tweaking options.

ASUS displayed a nerdtastic motherboard design concept, at Computex. Called the Republic of Gamers ZEUS, ASUS' creation is a socket LGA2011 motherboard with a dual-GPU graphics hardware soldered onto the board, in the place otherwise assigned for expansion slots. The top half of the ZEUS resembles that of a conventional LGA2011 motherboard, with the processor being powered by a 10-phase Digi+ VRM, and eight DDR3 DIMM slots. ASUS somehow made the platform support up to 128 GB of unregistered DIMM DDR3 memory (double the 64 GB limit of the Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform).

The second half of the motherboard has the X79 PCH, and two PCI-Express 3.0 GPUs in dual-GPU configuration. ASUS hasn't revealed which GPUs these are, but sources predict it's a pair of AMD Radeon HD 7970 (Tahiti XT) or HD 7870 (Pitcairn XT). Each GPU system has its own set of memory, and a set of 8-pin + 6-pin PCIe power connectors. The display outputs of this dual-GPU setup are given out on the rear panel, as two mini-DP + Thunderbolt ports, and one each of HDMI and standard DP. The ZEUS even has as many as 8 SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and 12 USB 3.0 ports, besides two Thunderbolt 10 Gb/s ports. For now, ASUS' monstrosity is a design concept, and the company is undecided about launching it to the market. If nothing, the ZEUS serves as a testament of ASUS' mammoth engineering potential.

For various reasons, ASUS confined its Z77 Express-based Republic of Gamers (ROG) lineup to just the micro-ATX Maximus V Gene, and although we've got to see its ATX sibling, the Maximus V Formula on several occasions, ASUS didn't officially launch it. According to a new report by VR-Zone, ASUS will be offering two SKUs of the Maximus V Formula. The company is known to offer these tiny sub-variants with its ROG products. Sometimes the differences between such sub-variants are as major as inclusion/exclusion of a component (eg: Crosshair V Formula/ThunderBolt), and as minor as inclusion of a game (eg: Rampage IV Extreme/Battlefield 3). In this case, it's the inclusion/exclusion of a component called ThunderFX, which makes up the two variants.

ThunderFX is a USB sound card and headphones amplifier. Backed by the C-Media CMI6631 chipset, the device could be used for headphones amplification. The CMI6631 has been implemented on several other solutions for console headset noise-cancellation. It is possible that ThunderFX does the same, using an external microphone array. That aside, the motherboard has a headphones amplifier of its own. The motherboard's onboard audio is backed by a TI 6120A2 amplifier, the same kit found on high-end sound cards such as ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX. Find other fine details about the Maximus V Formula in our previous article.

ASUS launched a trio of Republic of Gamers TYTAN series gaming desktop models. These include the CG8580, CG8270 and CM6870. The TYTAN CG8580 utilizes ASUS' signature ROG chassis. It is powered by Intel Core i7-3770K quad-core processor overclocked to 4.60 GHz, with ROG Turbo Gear function that handles on-the-fly overclocking. Handling the graphics is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680. Up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, and up to 10 TB of storage are available as options. A Blu-ray ROM + DVD-RW combo drive is part of the package.

Next up is the CG8270, with a refreshing new slanted chassis design. It comes with a variety of Core i5 and Core i7 "Ivy Bridge" processor options. NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 comes standard, higher GeForce GTX models can be opted for. Up to 4 TB of storage, and BDR+DVD-RW combo drive can be opted for. Lastly, there's the CM6870, which is designed to strike a balance between gaming and media creation/consumption. It packs similar hardware loadout as the CM8270, but with a media-optimized chassis that packs a multi-format card reader; and apart from NVIDIA GeForce, AMD Radeon graphics options are available. With the latter two, ASUS-branded monitors, keyboards, and mice can be opted for.

ASUS is excited to launch the Republic of Gamers (ROG) G75VW and G55VW notebooks. Featuring Intel 3rd generation Core i7 processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M/670M GPUs with up to 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, up to 16 GB of DDR3 DRAM and support for dual hard drives in RAID 0/1 operation, the new G-Series redefines what is possible in a gaming notebook. The dual-fan intelligent thermal technology ensures the system runs cooler, optional Active shutter glasses with NVIDIA 3D LightBoost technology in 1080P resolution, a built-in subwoofer and ASUS SonicMaster audio capabilities provides a rich and immersive gaming experience.

Intelligent Thermal Design

An abundance of performance is useless without adequate cooling. The new G Series has an intelligent dual thermal system that keeps heat away from the gamer with a unique rear-venting design. The G55VW utilizes a pair of fans to improve thermal efficiency, while the G75VW features dedicated fans for the CPU and GPU, complete with detachable fan filters to increase thermal efficiency.

Entry by the Republic of Gamers into the dedicated sound product arena brings PC enthusiasts ROG Xonar Phoebus, a high fidelity audio component that directly addresses the needs and concerns of contemporary gamers. The Xonar Phoebus features the exclusive ROG Command technology which reduces up to 50% of ambient noise thus providing authoritative voice quality during online multiplayer gaming sessions. And with its clear 118 dB SNR, and a powerful 600 ohm headphone amplifier, the Xonar Phoebus delivers precise positioning and lifelike immersion audio for a distinctly impactful gaming environment. Its dedicated control box extends convenience and puts more intuitive functions within easy reach for a more ergonomic desktop gaming environment.

Now in its fifth generation, ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) has launched its Maximus V Series motherboards with the Maximus V GENE. This micro-ATX powerhouse is built using the latest Intel Z77 chipset, which supports Intel's latest LGA1155 processors. Featuring full PCI-Express Gen-3 capabilities with Intel's 3rd Generation processor the Republic of Gamers team equips the Maximus V GENE with exclusive features such as the Extreme Engine DIGI+ II power control design, SupremeFX III gaming audio, Intel Ethernet with ROG GameFirst software and the newly added mPCIe Combo card.

Give Your PC A Power Up With The ROG Exclusive mPCIe Combo Card

The mPCIe Combo card is a new innovation by the ROG team, combining the twin functions of mPCIe with mSATA into a single, extensible add-in card that still allows full use of the PCI-Express slots for multi-GPU graphics. With the addition of an mSATA SSD for use with Intel Smart Response Technology or simply installing the entire OS, this frees up standard SATA ports for other uses. The combination of a standard mPCIe socket on the other side allows unique upgrades such as WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G/4G, GPS and other connectivity.