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ASUS demos Immensity X58 Hydra mainboard with integrated ATI Radeon HD 5770 GPU
ASUS had a fairly big showing here at Computex, and while mobile computing was obviously the highlight of the show, the desktop gamers were thrown a bone with this gem. Dubbed Immensity, this concept X58 mainboard has plenty of room for an ultra-speedy Core i7 processor, but what makes this one unique is the built-in GPU. Nah, it's not some lame-o integrated chip that chokes up when playing back 480p versions of last night's Glee -- it's a full-fledged ATI Radeon HD 5770. Thankfully for you, that's not where the fun ends. There's also an integrated Lucid Hydra chip fused onto the PCB, which means that you're free to slap another pair of PCIe-based GPUs in and get a three-way CrossFireX setup going. Representatives at the booth were fairly confident that the concept would turn commercial by the end of this year (or early 2011 at worst), though they're still trying to hammer down what exactly the final GPU will be. We're sure there's a good bit of "dealing with thermals" going on in the labs, but here's hoping ASUS really can pull this off and change the way we think about IGPs. Have a look at the monster below, and try your best to not get those hopes too high.%Gallery-94373%
ASUS showcases ROG CG8490 gaming desktop: Core i7-980X, dual OC'd Radeon HD 5870s
ASUS' ARES line of gaming PCs has been kicking for a few years now, but regardless of how many iterations we see, we're still a wee bit terrified when approaching a chassis this gargantuan. Just after the outfit's press conference in Taipei, we daintily hurried over to the newest member of the family in order to snag a few shots and get the low-down on what users could expect when it ships between now and next century. Aesthetically, we're told that the CG8490 was inspired by "ancient and modern armor of both Eastern and Western cultures," likely a politically correct statement with no actual meaning. Regardless, this monster can overclock itself by as much as 20 percent without boiling over, and the six-core Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU is suited for slicing up even the most complex of tasks. There's also 12GB of DDR3 memory, 2TB of hard drive space, a standard DVD burner and a pair of overclocked ATI Radeon HD 5870 GPUs to handle DirectX 11 and Eyefinity duties. Mum's the word on a price or release date, but we're going with "too much" and "not soon enough." 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. %Gallery-93980% %Gallery-94008%
