ASUS showcases ROG CG8490 gaming desktop: Core i7-980X, dual OC'd Radeon HD 5870s
By Darren Murph 
posted May 31st 2010 7:11PM
posted May 31st 2010 7:11PM
Oh, and be sure to peek the limited edition ARES GPU as well as the company's Rampage III Extreme motherboard in the gallery below.
ASUS Republic of Gamers CG8490 Desktop and G53 Notebook, Leading Choice of Champions
Throughout its full product line of desktops, notebooks, motherboards and graphics cards, ASUS ROG maintains unwavering dedication to meeting the needs of the community with constant attention to developing extreme products that bring to life gaming's most exciting aspects.
The ASUS ROG leadership role in gaming has been established through close contact with gamers around the world, with team members themselves enthusiasts. This has made bringing the finest products to market intuitive, resulting in great success.
Built to Dominate the Battlefield-CG8490 Desktop
Committed to a wide panorama of hardcore gaming, ASUS ROG motherboards and graphics cards have been the choice of gaming champions since the brand's inception in 2006. Now ASUS brings users the ultimate gaming station to combine a tradition of winning performance with uncompromising reliability. The new ROG CG8490 unleashes over 20% balanced overclocking capability* compared to reference on absolute high-end components optimized to perfection – the all new for 2010 Intel Core i7-980X six-core CPU starts proceedings, followed by a massive 12GB of fast DDR3 memory, while the dual overclocked Radeon HD5870 graphics cards not only immerse your gaming reality in three-display Eyefinity, but also do DX11 visuals justice. The unique design draws inspiration from ancient and modern armor of both Eastern and Western cultures, built tough to withstand punishment and resist degradation, while the leading-edge thermal design with multiple oversized fans banishes heat quick and gives the system superior stability.
This desktop provides reminders of how good full-on desktop gaming can be.
Notably Superior Gaming-G51 3D, G53 and G73 Notebooks
The ROG approach has led to gaming notebooks with unrelenting performance. Brand new 15.6" G53 comes hot on the heels of international sensation G73Jh, with further refined features. It has full support for 3D gaming and the new HDMI 1.4 revision, resulting in spectacular action. G53 is also the world's first 15" gaming notebook with NVIDIA's 3D Vision-enabled next generation GPU.
The distinctive F117 stealth bomber design is inherited from the G73Jh, and also deploys aggressive cooling and an illuminated keyboard to ensure prolonged gaming enjoyment.
The new 17.3" G73Jw model features the worldwide premiere of NVIDIA's new generation mobile GPU platform on a 1080p 3D-ready notebook, adding full 3D support and sheer graphics muscle to the popular king of notebook gaming, the G73 range. It stands as one of the most powerful gaming machines available, and together with the G51 3D, sets the standard for 3D excitement in the home and on the move. The new G73Jw also packs NVIDIA's next generation GPU for smooth, realistic three dimensional gaming action.
For true aficionados, these are the ultimate extreme performance portable gaming choice.
Immensity Shows ROG Leadership-Lucid and onboard GPU
ASUS ROG leads the market for both Intel and AMD gamers with motherboard solutions that bring out the best in hardcore performance. New super-motherboard Immensity, now still in the concept stage and to be shown at Computex, will display Lucid, a technology that makes it possible to bridge at least two graphics cards regardless of chipset or vendor. Immensity will also deploy with the incredible addition of an onboard GPU, the first motherboard in the world to do this in conjunction with Lucid technology. This guarantees unequalled performance and flexibility for serious users.
The Rampage III Extreme features Intel's X58/ICH10R chipset, plus exclusive overclocking tools such as ROG Connect, OC Kit, RC Bluetooth and now all-new iPhone-based overclocking control. These have made it an official benchmarking record breaker, while the Extreme Engine Digi+ thermal design ensures stability even under extreme stress, so overclocking can be done safely.
Likewise, the Crosshair IV Formula brings gratuitous gaming and tuning enjoyment to AMD builds, including the world's first dual-channel 2000MHz DDR3 for AMD, adding the benefit of Core Unlocker to the mix – users can tap hidden cores on new AMD CPUs. Turbo Key II makes for complete overclocking control, while GameFirst guarantees better performance in online gaming.
Rampage 3 is definitely my next MOBO
@SteveyAyo
Absolutely, I have been itching to buy this motherboard myself, and the price is almost reasonable. Almost.
It looks ... amazing for a motherboard. The Feature list is out of this world, kind of. My only problem with it is the lack of secondary Ethernet port, but who uses those anyways...
@kapanak
I've read a few reviews on the R3E and it's not worth the money. There's no major improvement or anything of sort. Hit bit-tech.net for full review and judge for yourself.
@hero785
You do not comprehend. At this point, most high end x58 motherboards perform just about the same. It is all about the looks... :D
I am joking though. Still, when it comes to a choice between EVGA X58 Classified, THIS, and a Gigabyte equivalent, the choice should be pretty clear. Of course, I would not buy it anyways, as I already have the Classified from 6 months ago.
Alienware
@wookieecrisp screw alienware, custom built is the way to go
@SteveyAyo Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!
What do you think Alienware is?
As in:
@SteveyAyo
What do you think Alienware is
Sorry for lack of clarity
@wookieecrisp
I wouldn't recommend alienware for two reasons:
- Owned by dell now
- Poor build quality
I'm sure fellow engadgeteers can think of more.
@Seb6554 not custom build?
@Seb6554 i think its much more expensive than custom built and of lesser quality... alienware =/= Custom Built
@PCG
Overpriced? Restricted? Slow when customized? Comes with Windows?
@SpacedOut so you are building a gaming rig to run linux on it?
I wish it had a transparent side panel to show off all of those good-looking insides...
Wow. They should so offer two of their Ares GPU's as an option with this, especially with a case that huge.
that thing's a monster!
*cough*
@jmnmic27
firstly, thats what she said.
secondly, if its that mighty powerful, WHY are they demonstrating it on a single, 22 inch, non 1080 display!? get the 6 x 40 inch screens out!!
holy crap. i'm still here with my centrino core 2 duo laptop. meh.
Why are so many companies throwing in the Core i7-980X into gaming machines? The two extra cores and clock speed increase do not justify the quadrupling of price over a 920/930. 3D rendering/video editing rig maybe, but gaming?
@r3loaded
These are OEMs we are talking about. They throw in anything for bragging rights and price increase.
Why does engadget not understand nobody gives a shit about OEM gaming desktops? Nobody who knows about hardware buys these things.
No SSDs?
@kapanak
I noticed this too, I mean if you are going to build a super computer don't cut corners.
This sure beats my Acer 5532. I'm holding for something amazing in the summer before I go to college..
@JJS Wait for as long as you can, I'm going to college soon too and I built my first fully new computer. I went with an i7 920 and a 5850 and it's great, but the prices sure did drop, not to mention all the new hardware. It just hurts to see so many new things I don't have released so quickly. Seeing the technology curve first hand hurts...
@septentriones How did you custom build it, is there a specific website.
But how much does it cost..to make
That's the million dollar question
doesn't matter what you throw in it, it's gonna be cheaper than an Alienware.
Nice, cool, awesome. But what use is it when developers for Red Dead Redemption, Uncharted 2, FIFA, and many others are pulling away from PC thanks to rampant piracy? I am a hardcore PC gamer, but it sucks how every day I hear about an awesome game exclusively on consoles.
@TareG I feel the same way. I wish someone made a dedicated Xbox or PlayStation 5.5 drive that you could pop in your PC and use to only play console games. They could probably make special anti pirating software for it. Probably not going to happen, but one can wish.
Not a big fan of ASUS but thats kind of sexy.
@Jaylittles531 Not a fan of Asus? May I ask why? They have always been great to me. Just curious.
I want multiscreen NVIDIA 3D... :(
@bravokiloromeo
Also, I wish it had dual i7-980Xs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQH8wAp8OQU
@bravokiloromeo I'm pretty sure they have to use two Xeons on that thing so that they can communicate with each other but that doesn't decrease the beauty of it.
@summerboy18
lol
@summerboy18
Not really, but thanks for trying. Weirdo.
@summerboy18
umm...NEGATIVE.
that MacBook has a quad core, that system has a 6 core.
and your system has less than a THIRD of the graphics power.
this system would make your cute little MacBook its bitch.
haha my beast rivals this gargantuar =P
@kyle shappley
Actually, that MacBook has a dual-core i7, which makes it even weaker.
Asus has got some of the top hardware out there. Nothing comes near to some of the stuff they are up to.
@fast yea man gotta love ASUS. My custom built desktop has one amazing ASUS Motherboard, and I have the UL30A-X5 as my laptop, which is also incredible.
@summerboy18 You are out of your freaking mind.
what's the prcing on this one?
@deepen03 An arm and a leg, plus your firstborn son.
@meepmeep i'm thinking around $2-3000?
@kyle shappley Not too mention Windows7 was actually built to handle ssd's properly and adapt for better performance, MacOSX kitty kat or whatever it is was not
@SteveyAyo uh wtf this thing doesnt have SSD... never mind i guess and fail on lack of SSD