ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming A2 SSD enclosure for gamers seeking a superfast and reliable storage solution. The enclosure features USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 connectivity to deliver data transfer speeds of up to 20 Gbps—twice that of TUF Gaming A1. With IP68-rated water- and dust-resistance plus durability that meets U.S. MIL-STD-810H standards, TUF Gaming A2 keeps the SSD safe in almost any environment. Additionally, its silicone-rubber exterior provides superior on-the-go protection for the SSD. The Q-Latch mechanism allows for easy, tool-free SSD installation, while an efficient thermal management system ensures outstanding cooling to ensure consistent performance. With broad compatibility across PC, Mac, mobile devices, and the latest game consoles, TUF Gaming A2 is perfect for anyone looking to maintain an extensive library of games.

Exceptional SSD performance
TUF Gaming A2 doubles the data transfer speeds of its predecessor, TUF Gaming A1, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connectivity delivering up to 20 Gbps of bandwidth. Even though the latest AAA titles often exceed 100 GB in size, it takes just 90 seconds to transfer an entire game from the SSD to a console such as ROG Ally, or to any other popular gaming platform. When it comes to installing or removing the M.2 SSD, the innovative Q-Latch makes it easy, without requiring specific tools. The latch design employs a simple locking mechanism to secure the drive, so there's no need for screws. Additionally, TUF Gaming A2 features both PCIe NVMe and SATA interfaces, and can accommodate various 2242/2260/2280 SSD form factors while providing up to 4 TB of storage capacity.

Yesterday, we got a leak about Intel's "Arrow Lake" Core Ultra 200 series CPUs official public announcement on October 10 and the review embargo and official retail launch on October 24. However, today, we are able to look at some of the upcoming motherboards powering Core Ultra 200 CPUs, based on the Z890 chipset. Thanks to VideoCardz, we can look at ASUS high-end motherboard pictures and decipher some of the common features that will be present on high-end boards, like a hefty VRM configuration, along with some new color schemes. We notice that there are new GPU slot reinforcement and M.2 release mechanisms, alongside WiFi 7 and Thunderbolt 4. Some leaked pricing also suggests that ASUS ROG Maximus boards could be retailing for more than the highest-end Core Ultra 9 285K SKU, while there are more budget "Prime" series of motherboards present as well. Here are all leaked ASUS boards:

ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Extreme:

ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming GT502 Horizon, a mid-tower PC case with a seamless panoramic view, exceptional cooling and unbeatable style. The front pillar that separated the front and side tempered glass panels on the original GT502 has been removed to give users a seamless window into a build that stretches nearly halfway around the entire case.

Advanced reinforcement techniques strengthen the TUF Gaming GT502 Horizon to maintain its structural integrity without the support of a front pillar. It can comfortably withstand up to 30 kg of weight from above, and its sturdy fabric handles are perfectly capable of helping users adjust the position of their PC, as they could with the original GT502. The TUF Gaming GT502 Horizon is also available in two colors: Classic Black and Snowy White, with color-matched modular cables.

ASUS and GIGABYTE have registered a large number of Intel Z890 motherboards with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). For ASUS, the registrations suggest that these will be released on October 10, followed by an official market launch on October 24. ASUS has added no less than 29 Z890 motherboards to its ROG MAXIMUS, ROG STRIX, TUF GAMING, PRIME, and other series, while GIGABYTE has added 18 models to both its AORUS and non-AORUS series.

ASUS Z890 Motherboards

• ROG MAXIMUS Series
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 EXTREME
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 FORMULA
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 APEX
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 APEX ENCORE
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 HERO
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 DARK HERO
  • ROG MAXIMUS Z890 HERO BTF

EK, the leading manufacturer of premium liquid cooling gear, is doing a mid-life upgrade of its Quantum Vector² water blocks by releasing five new products. These new EVO version water blocks are compatible with Strix and TUF 4080 and 4090 series graphics cards. The new Vector² EVO water blocks efficiently tackle the excessive heat generated during high loads on the GPU. These water blocks, an evolution of the Quantum Vector² GPU water blocks from EK's premium Quantum Line, feature a 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine that has been tweaked to maximize cooling power. They cool not only the GPU die, but also the voltage regulation module, voltage controllers, and VRAM, providing comprehensive thermal management.

The main upgrades of the EVO water blocks include:

• A new stand-out end-piece design to shorten the water block
• A custom-made inner O-ring that prevents coolant from seeping between the channels and improves flow across the entire water block, focusing more coolant through the cooling fins
• New, high-performance pre-cut thermal pads
• A better-performing thermal paste

ASUS is readying a limited edition TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7000 series graphics card themed after Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2. AMD last week announced the Q3-2024 edition of its "This is Why We Game" bundle that sees the company give away the latest Warhammer 40000 title and Unknown 9 Awakening with select RX 7000 series graphics cards, select Ryzen 7000 series desktop processors, and prebuilts. The ASUS TUF Gaming Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2 Radeon RX 7000 sees the card draped in colors of the Space Marine armor, including the backplate, and cooler shroud. This isn't a sticker job, but actual metal embellishments. Even the fan impellers come in Space Marine blue, and bear insignia on the impeller hubcaps. At this point we don't know which exact GPU model ASUS is using—our guess looking at the level of detail into the board design, is the very top-end RX 7900 XTX, so ASUS can get the most margins out of it to cover the product design costs. ASUS will launch this graphics card (which will include the game), on August 20, 2024.The teaser trailer follows.

ASUS today announced an exclusive collaboration with Boosteroid, a global cloud gaming provider, to offer a 50% discount on the first month of a Boosteroid subscription, empowering gamers to level up their gaming experience at a fraction of the cost. The promotion will apply to selected ASUS and ROG gaming products, which includes routers, a range of motherboards, graphics cards, peripherals, displays, cases and power supplies in the Prime, TUF Gaming and ROG families, plus the ROG NUC. The offer runs from August 1 to December 31, 2024.

Beyond this bundle promotion, ASUS and Boosteroid share a deep-rooted partnership. Since 2019, ASUS has been a vital technology partner for Boosteroid, providing the high-performance server solutions that power the platform's infrastructure. The partnership ensures that Boosteroid can deliver smooth, low-lag gameplay for its users. "This partnership leverages our complementary strengths to propel gaming to new heights," states Ivan Shvaichenko, CEO of Boosteroid. "The ASUS dedication to cutting-edge hardware is a perfect match for Boosteroid's innovative cloud gaming solutions. Together, we empower the highest levels of performance and flexibility."

ASUS today announced that selected routers in designated countries in the APAC region will bundle a complementary trial subscription to GearUP Console Booster, a service that optimizes the network connection for more than 1,000 online games, reducing latency and improving overall gaming experiences for popular game consoles and smart handhelds. The ASUS RT-AX86U Pro and RT-AX82U routers will include a three-month subscription, while the TUF-AX6000 and TUF-AX4200 routers will include a two-month subscription. Existing owners of these routers can add support for GearUP Console Booster with a firmware update. The RT-AX86U Pro is available in the APAC region now, and the other routers in this promotion are currently scheduled to be available starting in July 2024.

Accelerate gaming with GearUP Console Booster
Through the in-house Adaptive Intelligent Routing (AIR) system, GearUP Console Booster quickly determines and activates the fastest connection to a game server. Adaptive QoS on a compatible ASUS router can prioritize this connection over others on the network to ensure that it remains fast and stable. The ASUS Router mobile app and web interface includes an intuitive setup wizard to get GearUP Console Booster running.

ASUS today announced TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB case fans, which offer exceptional airflow and polished aesthetics from every point of view. Next-gen refinements boost the cooling power of TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB fans. The redesigned fan blades are extra-wide, and are now housed in a 28 mm frame - up to 12% thicker than the previous generation. Combined, these elements increase airflow by up to 77.4 CFM and static pressure by up to 3.3 mmH2O. When dialing in a tough workload, these 120 mm fans make sure that a build has the steady stream of cooling air that it needs.

TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB case fans are primed to perform, and they're also built for quiet operation. At most, they produce 29 dB(A) of noise. In the heat of battle, users are unlikely to hear them at all. When standard case fans are used as intakes in a panoramic chassis, they are not always displayed to advantage, as users can only see their sides and rear. This means that elements like structural supports, wires, and visible parts of the motor get the front-and-center treatment instead of RGB LED illumination and any front-facing decorations.

ASUS today announced that the TUF Gaming Capture Box-4K Pro has won a prestigious iF Design award. This high-performance device allows users to capture and broadcast their gaming, video or live events in stunning 4K resolution. With seamless compatibility, variable refresh rate and up to 4K 60 FPS capture, it's the essential tool for content creators and streamers. Thanks to HDMI 2.1, the TUF Gaming Capture Box-4K Pro has the bandwidth to support lossless high-resolution and high-refresh-rate passthrough of up to a 4K 144 Hz HDR signal, in addition to 4K 60 FPS capture. Or, for users who want to high-refresh-rate experiences, both 1440p and 1080p capture resolutions support 120 FPS, with passthrough of 144 Hz and 240 Hz, respectively.

At all resolutions, the TUF Gaming Capture Box-4K Pro also supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) passthrough, ensuring a local video signal never has lag or screen tearing. It also features an onboard processor to support up to 4K upscaling and downscaling, ensuring that users can play at whichever resolution they prefer and send their stream at any resolution the platform supports. And thanks to support for both consoles and PC graphics cards, it's easy for users to stream their adventures to the world, however they choose to play.

ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming GT302 ARGB chassis, a case that makes it easy to build a high-performance PC with great cooling. Prepped and ready for great out-of-the-box cooling, equipped for wide compatibility with high-performance parts, and thoughtfully constructed inside and out for an easy PC DIY experience, the GT302 ARGB resets expectations for a mainstream case.

Great cooling - right out of the box
Most PC builders go big on cooling to ensure an excellent balance of performance and quiet operation. From the moment it is pulled out of the packaging, the TUF Gaming GT302 ARGB gives users a superb foundation for high-end cooling. This starts with a front panel designed first and foremost to maximize airflow efficiency. It is constructed of a wide-open, high-porosity square-type mesh that leaves ample room for fresh air to enter a PC. Four pre-installed 140 mm ARGB case fans move cool air through the chassis. These fans are exceptionally thick, measuring 28 mm in depth. These fans deliver up to 3 mmH2O static pressure and 115 CFM airflow for excellent cooling with quiet operation.

ASUS today introduced its custom design Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics cards for a wider product launch outside China. These include the RX 7900 GRE DUAL OC, and the TUF Gaming RX 7900 GRE OC. Given the nearly identical 260 W total board power (TBP) and ASIC pin-map of the RX 7900 GRE to the RX 7800 XT, ASUS appears to be reusing its RX 7800 XT custom-design board designs for these cards. The RX 7900 GRE DUAL OC features a 27.9 cm length, triple-slot thickness, and 13.39 cm height, and uses an aluminium fin-stack heatsink with two 100 mm Axial Tech fans—hence the name. There is no RGB lighting or other such frills to speak of, but you get dual-BIOS. The default P-BIOS runs the card at factory-overclocked 1927 MHz Game clock (vs. 1880 MHz reference); while the quieter Q-BIOS runs it at reference speeds, with a more tame fan profile.

The TUF Gaming RX 7900 GRE features the same version of the company's DirectCU III TUF Gaming cooling solution that the company uses with its RX 7800 XT TUF Gaming product, it's 31.9 cm in length, 3-slot thick, and 15 cm tall (about a 1 cm added due to the stub toward the tail-end). The cooler features a trio of 100 mm Axial Tech fans, and as is characteristic of TUF Gaming cooler designs, is well ventilated, exposing more of the heatsink underneath; than competing cooling solutions. You get a minimal amount of RGB lighting, in the form of a diffuser near the tail-end. You also get dual-BIOS, and a more pronounced factory OC than the DUAL OC card, with the P-BIOS enabling 1972 MHz Game clocks. The Q-BIOS again sticks to reference clocks for quieter fan settings. ASUS didn't release pricing, but given that both are factory-overclocked cards, we expect the RX 7900 GRE DUAL OC to be priced around the $570-mark; and the TUF Gaming OC at $600, if not more.

European buyers are facing a baseline MSRP of €1109 for the upcoming GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics card family, thanks to extra sales taxes affecting purchases in the region's various countries. North American customers are set to "enjoy" a more reasonable entry point of $999 come January 31, including various custom options from NVIDIA's board partners—ZOTAC lead the charge with their non-overclocked offerings matching Team Green's Founders Edition MSRP. A small selection of brave retailers have already delivered GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics cards to customers, while others have simply gone live with their asking prices.

Germany's Notebooksbilliger (translation: cheaper laptops) online store has produced product pages for all sorts of custom GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER cards—prices start off at NVIDIA's €1109 baseline, and ramp up to a maximum of €1379 for the fanciest option (ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 4080 SUPER OC). A VideoCardz report focuses mostly on the cheapest products listed by Notebooksbilliger.de. Five non-overclocked custom designs sits at the bottom of the webshop's RTX 4080 SUPER pricing pile: ASUS TUF GAMING, GIGABYTE SUPER WINDFORCE, SUPER WINDFORCE V2, Inno3D X3 and ZOTAC's Trinity Black Edition. At the time of writing, Notebooksbilliger's customers cannot pre-order any of the listed GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER cards—the full checkout process could be unlocked early next week, a few days ahead of the official January 31 launch day.

Cooler Master's research and design team seems to be up to all sorts of shenanigans lately—company representatives at CES 2024 had the joyful experience of hyping up a curiosity/prototype bearing the moniker "Project VGA Cooler." It certainly is a tough sell to explain to punters how an aftermarket part can usurp the performance offered by a manufacturer's standard fitting of triple-fan arrays on already pricey custom high-end GeForce RTX 40xx cards. The plucky Project VGA Cooler was showcased in white or dark silver forms, accompanied by twin Mobius 120 mm fans. The spec sheet states that these utilize special loop dynamic bearings, although we are not certain whether the special Mobius fans are customized for this project specifically.

TPU staff witnessed an ASUS GeForce RTX 4090 TUF graphics card getting the refit treatment—its original triple-fan array was removed, and the experimental aftermarket part was attached to the TUF's remaining heatsink and shroud. Cooler Master's demonstration proceeded smoothly, but this publication questions whether these prototype GPU cooling units are truly prepared for a universal fit across a wide variety of expensive current generation GeForce RTX models, or Radeon RX equivalents. Cooler Master's design team likely has to be careful in choosing specific or popular GPU models, once "Project VGA Cooler" exits the conceptual phase of development and approaches final retail form.

ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT and the ASUS Dual AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics cards, two new members of the Radeon RX 7000 product family. Featuring 16 GB of high-speed GDDR6 memory, the new graphics cards offer fast, smooth, and visually stunning gaming and ray tracing experiences at 1080p and beyond, ready to unleash users' creativity in next-gen AI and content creation workloads. These cards offer excellent gaming performance and serious affordability, making them the perfect addition to a new or current gaming PC build.

The TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card is an incredible addition to any gaming arsenal, thanks to its large heatsink, vented backplate, and tri-fan design. With its incredible cooling efficiency, gamers will never be distracted in-game, and the fans even turn off entirely during light loads like web browsing for truly silent operation with our 0 dB technology. A Dual BIOS switch allows gamers to easily prioritize performance or silent operation, and an all-aluminium backplate offers bold TUF styling and additional structural support, for a card that will stand the test of time in any gaming rig.

Patriot Memory brought their latest ware to the 2024 International CES that use recent advancements in tech on both the SSD and memory fronts. On the SSD front, this year sees 14 GB/s capable PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSDs thanks to Phison's E26 Max14um controller; and a new crop of USB4 portable SSDs; while the memory front sees DDR5 speeds go far north of DDR5-6000, thanks to on-module CKDs. Patriot showed us examples of each.

First up, there's the Patriot Viper PV573 Gen 5 NVMe SSD. This thing comes in capacities of up to 4 TB, and combines a Phison E26 Max14um controller with Micron's latest B58R TLC NAND flash chips that offer 2400 MT/s per flash channel. The controller also gets some incremental thermal optimizations, which means the cooling solution for the PV573 is a 16.5 mm-tall fan-heatsink. The drive offers up to 14 GB/s sequential reads, with up to 12 GB/s sequential writes. There's also a slightly de-rated version of this drive, the Viper PV553, which has the same combination of controller and NAND flash, but with transfer speeds of up to 12.4 GB/s reads, with up to 11.8 GB/s writes.

ASUS over the weekend introduced the China-exclusive Radeon RX 7900 GRE TUF Gaming White graphics card. The card shares a lot in common with the other RX 7900 series TUF Gaming custom-design cards, but swaps out the gunmetal-gray cooler shroud and backplate combo for one that's matte white. The whitewash even extends to the impellers of the three Axial Tech fans. The PCB remains black, but due to the 3-D design of the shroud and backplate, is largely concealed. The card draws power from a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and uses a 14-phase VRM to condition it for the "Navi 31 XL" ASIC.

The Radeon RX 7900 GRE (golden rabbit edition) is based on a "Navi 31 XL," a unique package that combines the 5 nm graphics compute die (GCD) of "Navi 31," with the 4-MCD (memory cache die) setup of the smaller "Navi 32" package. AMD designed this primarily to drive the mobile RX 7900 series SKUs, but it found its way to the desktop platform to fill the gap between the RX 7800 XT and RX 7900 XT, and possibly undercut the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. It is configured with 80 out of 96 available compute units on the GCD, giving it 5,120 stream processors, 160 AI accelerators, and 80 Ray accelerators, the Infinity Cache size is reduced to 64 MB, since there are only 4 MCDs, driving its 256-bit memory bus that handles 16 GB of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory (576 GB/s bandwidth).

Patriot Memory, a leading manufacturer of high-performance enthusiast memory modules, SSDs, flash storage and gaming peripherals, has announced the upcoming release of Viper Gaming's first-ever collaboration with ASUS' gaming division, TUF Gaming: The Viper Elite 5 TUF Gaming Alliance RGB DDR5 series.

As a bold new take on the recently released Viper Elite 5 performance memory series, the Viper Elite 5 TUF Gaming Alliance RGB DDR5 series is certified by ASUS' TUF Gaming Alliance and features high-performance transfer speeds of up to 6,600MT/s, capacities of up to 48 GB and tuned overclock support for XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO on select models. The Viper Elite 5 TUF Gaming Alliance RGB DDR5 series offers the latest in top-tier performance for gamers, tech enthusiasts and creatives alike. The Viper Elite 5 TUF Gaming Alliance RGB DDR5 series also features unique branding and design combining Viper Gaming and TUF Gaming alongside the Viper Elite 5's one-of-a-kind matte white heatshield with an RGB lightbar.

V-COLOR Technology Inc. is proud to announce the launch of a new TUF Gaming Alliance Memory, available in both DDR5 XPrism and DDR4 Prism Pro series, showcasing a striking design and exceptional performance. This collaboration with the ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance ensures that components bearing this badge undergo testing that surpasses the industry's standard norms. This rigorous testing is implemented to ensure superior compatibility, stability, and durability, catering to the specific needs of gamers and PC enthusiasts globally.

The new memory kits are offered in configurations of 32 GB (2x 16 GB) with speeds ranging from 5600 MHz to 6400 MHz for DDR5, and 16 GB (2x 8 GB) to 32 GB (2x 16 GB) with speeds ranging from 3200 MHz to 3600 MHz for DDR4 memory. The memory modules are equipped with powerful SK Hynix chips. DDR5 memory is compatible with Intel XMP, and DDR4 is compatible with both INTEL and AMD platforms.

ASUS has expanded its TUF White lineup with the new TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti White OC Edition graphics card. The new graphics card is pretty much the same version of the popular TUF Gaming 4070 Ti OC Edition, just with a white color scheme, which includes the shroud, fans, the backplate, and even the standoffs.

In terms of specifications, the new TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti White is still an OC Edition graphics card, which means the GPU is factory overclocked to 2,730 MHz Boost clock in default mode and 2,760 MHz in OC Mode. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is based on the AD104-400 GPU with 7,680 CUDA cores and it comes with 12 GB of 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit memory interface, leaving it with a maximum memory bandwidth of 504 GB/s.

Intel has officially pulled back the curtain on its 14th Gen Core CPUs, giving gamers, creators, enthusiasts, and everyday users a new tier of processors that elevate everything they do. We've already teased several of our Z790 motherboards purpose-built for the latest Intel Core CPUs, but now we're ready to share all the details. In total, we're releasing seven new Z790 motherboards for your consideration as you hunt for the best motherboard for your 14th Gen Intel CPU. Our cutting-edge ROG Maximus motherboard family is expanding with the ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore, and the ROG Maximus Z790 Formula. For gamers everywhere, we're expanding our ROG Strix lineup with three new models, and fans of our TUF Gaming series will be pleased to see the TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi make its debut. These new motherboards join our existing Z790 and Z690 motherboards, which also support Intel's latest and greatest chips through a simple firmware update.

There's a lot to go over with the new additions to our Z790 motherboard family: they mark the debut of our first WiFi 7 motherboards, for one, and we're increasing the number of models with onboard PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots. They offer our latest game-changing innovations like DIMM Flex, and they make the process of building a PC easier than ever with their DIY-friendly features.

ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT White Edition and TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT graphics cards, a triple treat of graphics cards engineered to deliver cutting-edge experiences to gamers who value durability, low noise and smooth framerates. All three cards are designed to pack more performance and cooling than the previous generation, while still offering the same low noise levels and power draw.

TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7800 XT
The TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card leads the pack with a potent arsenal of improvements. This 2.96-slot card packs an eye-popping 3840 stream processors. Plus, with 16 GB of GDDR6 operating on a 256-bit bus, it has an ample and lightning-fast memory subsystem. A White Edition version of this card is also available, marking the first time this color scheme appears in the TUF Gaming family.

With Intel about to launch its 14th generation of Core processors, the motherboard makers are refreshing their LGA-1700 motherboards, as Intel won't be releasing a new chipset for the 14th gen CPUs. ASUS has now revealed three new boards that will come ready out of the box for Intel's 14th gen Core CPUs. This kind of meagre lineup is likely what we'll be seeing from all of the major board makers, since it doesn't make sense to overhaul all of their boards for the new CPUs, since only a BIOS/UEFI update is needed for the new CPUs to function in just about any 600- or 700-series motherboard. ASUS' lineup of new boards consist of the ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, the ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi II, and the TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi.

Apart from a design overhaul of all three models with some minor changes to slot placements, which includes new, improved M.2 heatsinks with a much more refined look, ASUS has added WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support to two of the three new models. On the ROG Hero board, ASUS has dropped the Hyper M.2 Card in favour of an onboard M.2 slot with a taller heatsink, looking much like what we've seen on some AMD X670E boards. ASUS has also added support for USB PD 3.0 and Quick Charge 4+ to the front USB Type-C ports and even made an app that shows how much power is being delivered by the port in question. Furthermore, ASUS has added support for AEMP II which the company claims makes it easier to optimise memory performance on the boards. ASUS did not reveal when the new boards will be available or what they'll cost. Specs of all three boards after the break.

ASUS has added a new addition to its TUF Gaming series of monitors, which goes under the model name VG34VQL3A. The new monitor is a 34-inch ultra-wide model with a WQHD or 3440 x 1440 resolution. It features a 180 Hz refresh rate panel that has a 1500R curvature and a peak brightness in both SDR and HDR mode of 400 cd/m². The panel itself is of VA type and features a common LED backlight and delivers a 1 ms GtG response time, a 4000:1 contrast ratio and finally covers 125 percent of the sRGB colour gamut.

When it comes to gaming features, ASUS has added support for Freesync Premium Pro as well as Adaptive Sync and the VG34VQL3A also sports support for ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur) and variable overdrive, which are two features you normally only find on higher-end gaming monitors. Included are of course ASUS typical gaming features like shadow boost, FPS counter, crosshairs etc. as well as various presets for different modes. When it comes to connectivity, ASUS has somewhat unusually equipped the VG34VQL3A with two DP 1.4 inputs, as well as two HDMI 2.0 inputs. There's also a three port USB Type-A hub that supports speed of up to 10 Gbps. The supplied stand supports tilt, swivel and height adjustment and also has an integrated quarter inch tripod mount for mounting webcams or lights. ASUS claims a mere 27 Watt power usage for the VG34VQL3A, which almost sounds too good to be true. The VG34VQL3A is expected to launch sometime later this quarter.

During the Computex 2023 show, ASUS had some interesting designs to showcase. Specifically, ASUS has made a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU concept without an external power connector. With NVIDIA's reference 16-pin power connector melting due to an insufficient connection, ASUS has decided to experiment by removing the connector from its GPU and placing the power source as an extra bus connector on the motherboard. Called GeForce RTX 4070 Megalodon, ASUS has made a custom power connector that goes hand-in-hand with the ASUS TUF Gaming Z790 BTF motherboard that supports this connector, and the PSU cables go on the backside of the board.

Similarly to NVIDIA's 16-pin 12VHPWR connector, this custom design is also rated for up to 600 Watts of power delivery. This results in a design that facilities the user error of not correctly pushing the 16-pin connector and causing melting. For now, the connector is referred to as GC_HPWR, but there will be an official name at launch as the company plans mass production of this concept. You can see the design of the RTX 4070 Megalodon alongside the accompanying ASUS TUF Gaming Z790 BTF motherboard.