Since teasing its next-gen flagship motherboard design—at CES 2025—the ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) team has spent time finalizing an option that is even more extravagant than their hardcore overclocking-oriented Crosshair X870E Apex model. Naturally, the premium sub-brand did not reveal pricing during preview events—instead, premature European e-tail listings suggested a €1200 (~$1350 USD) tag. Tony Wu and colleagues at ASUS China introduced an impressive swath of brand-new products at an official in-person showcase last week, in Changsha.

During proceedings, company representatives introduced their top-flight E-ATX format board with a hefty day one price: 9999 RMB ($1360 USD). The ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme is expected to launch later this month; likely starting off with the Chinese domestic market. At the time of writing, the manufacturer's various global branches have not disclosed localized details—be it pricing or availability. Last week's presser did not produce any surprises, since plenty of specification details (and promo shots) leaked out late last month. One interesting and very over the top feature is the model's integration of an adjustable full-color 5-inch LCD screen. The primary M.2 storage solution will be cooled by an "innovative" 3D vapor chamber heatsink. Well-heeled customers will be relieved to know that ASUS has outfitted the AAA board design with their revamped Q-Release Slim mechanism.

Chinese tech company GMKtec is preparing to unveil a new Mini-PC powered by an AMD Ryzen processor, featuring an enhanced cooling system. The company's product lineup already includes a variety of AMD and Intel-based compact computers, with their K-series representing their most powerful offerings. Now, GMKtec teased a new addition to their lineup on Weibo, China's popular social media platform. The upcoming model will support a 70 W TDP and is likely to feature the Ryzen 9 8945HS processor, based on the "R9" mentioned in the post title. This distinction is important as the next-generation processors (Strix Point) use "Ryzen AI 9" branding.

A standout feature of this upcoming model is its vapor chamber cooling system, which is uncommon in the Mini-PC market. However, GMKtec hasn't mentioned the use of a secondary fan or other cooling features, which some competitors employ. The new Mini-PC will include an OCuLink connector for external device compatibility, including graphics cards. Other features include dual 2.5GbE networking, USB ports, HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.0 outputs. While full specifications are yet to be disclosed, more details are expected to be revealed in the near future. GMKtec has not announced a specific release date or price for this new Mini-PC.

Noctua, known for air cooling solutions, revealed a prototype for a "liquid" cooling product at Computex. However, this "liquid" cooler has no pump, Noctua's design aims to provide effective cooling without it. We got the chance to see it during our visit to the Noctua Computex booth, and we can say that even in its early prototype stage, it looks good.

Instead of a traditional pump, Noctua's design uses a two-phase thermosiphon. This technology works by heating a fluid, causing it to evaporate and circulate through density differences. The evaporated fluid moves through a vapor tube to a condenser, where it cools down and returns to liquid form. The liquid then flows back to the evaporator, and the cycle repeats.

The XMG PRO 16 Studio is receiving a significant upgrade as part of a model update. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX Studio-certified laptop, which includes graphics cards up to the GeForce RTX 4070, previously came with a conventional H-series laptop CPU. It now features an Intel Core i9-14900HX based on the design of desktop processors. Additionally, the laptop, which continues to be cooled by a massive vapor chamber in a 19.9 mm thin, predominantly aluminium chassis, is now lighter at only 2.3 kg. The 240 Hz IPS display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels is colour-calibrated and X-Rite certified. Furthermore, the otherwise identical chassis retains the extensive connectivity of the predecessor model.