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ASUS' ROG G751 review: a properly oversized gaming laptop
So, you noticed that NVIDIA has trotted out its latest GPU architecture and you're wondering if you should retire your old gaming laptop for something with a little more... pep. You aren't alone. Every time NVIDIA downsizes its flagship GPUs for the notebooks, manufacturers flood the market with new and improved laptops promising to give desktop gaming rigs a run for their money. The phrase "desktop-class" usually gets thrown around with reckless abandon, but the new machines never quite match the performance of their fully grown counterparts. Will this year's Maxwell-based 980M GPUs fare any better? Let's find out: The ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) G751 just landed in Engadget's bullpen, and it's aching to be reviewed.
Acer shows off the first 4K monitor with NVIDIA's stutter-reducing G-Sync tech
It's been nearly eight months since NVIDIA unveiled G-Sync, a new technology for game monitors that reduces lag, stuttering and screen tearing. In that time, none of these displays has been widely available, though we have been treated to an in-person demo or two. Finally, though, Acer is on the verge of releasing a G-Sync monitor, and it appears to be the first with 4K resolution, to boot. The XB280HK (pictured above) is a 28-inch display with a 3,840 x 2,160 TN panel -- a big improvement over the Philips 1080p model we saw back at CES. Separately, ASUS just announced the ROG Swift PG278Q, here at Computex; that's a 27-inch G-Sync monitor with 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. See? They don't all have to be capped at 1,920 x 1,080.
ASUS crams 4K gaming into a sleek and distinctive laptop
What should a company do immediately after unveiling an incredible 4K laptop that's only 19 mm thick? Why, repeat the feat while throwing in some gamer-level GFX from NVIDIA on the way. You might have heard that we were particularly impressed with ASUS' Zenbook NX500: Besides the specifications, it was quite the looker too. However, if brushed-metallic finishes aren't your thing, maybe the moody black and red undertones of the ROG GX500 will be more to your liking. Has the Razer Blade finally got competition in the slimline gaming laptop market? We prodded and poked ASUS ROG's new beast earlier today, and we reckon it's a yes.
ASUS has two Steam Machines and one is incredibly compact
Computex has a heavy PC gaming flavor to it in places. Between the likes of NVIDIA and ASUS' ROG brand, it acts as a gentle primer to PC-based gaming hardware ahead of E3 -- which is next week, if you forgot. Alongside a frankly ridiculous 4K gaming laptop, ROG's announced two new Steam Machines with varying footprints and specifications. The GR8 takes up just 2.5 liters of space, and ASUS ROG is talking up the size/power ratio as the best it's ever made, with a Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti inside. Meanwhile, 4K output and Miracast support could well make this a plausible, portable "console" PC -- you'll just need to provide the screen.
ASUS' RAIDR Express PCI-e SSD is compatible with both legacy and UEFI BIOS
These days, it's fairly easy to find a PCI Express-based SSD to transform one's desktop -- Angelbird, Fusion-io, Micron and ASUS will sell you one, just to name a few. That said, the last of those three has just revealed a new entrant that will certainly catch the eye of many, as the RAIDR Express claims to be the first PCI-e SSD to be compatible with both legacy and UEFI BIOS. The so-called DuoMode feature is joined by 240GB of storage space, sequential 830MB/s read and 810MB/s write speeds and a reported 620,000 hours mean time between failure (MTBF). You'll also find the latest LSI SandForce controller, Toshiba-built 19nm MLC flash, and 100,000 4K read/write input/output operations per second (IOPS). The bundled RAMDisk utility allows users to dedicate up to 80 percent of a computer's available RAM for use as a high-speed virtual drive, and if you needed any further proof that it's fast, look no further than in the video after the break. Curiously, ASUS isn't talking pricing just yet, but it should start shipping in the very near future.
Asus ROG unveils 'Poseidon Formula 1' gaming PC at Computex
If you've always wanted your gaming rig to look like a weird mix between a diesel generator and a flux capacitor, Asus' Republic of Gamers imprint may have just the thing. Unveiled earlier this week at Computex in Taiwan, Asus' "Poseidon Formula 1" gaming rig is an intimidating mass of metal, tubes and, reportedly, power. The unit gets its name from its "ROG Poseidon" graphics card, which sports an Nvidia GTX 700 GPU and Asus' proprietary hybrid "DirectCU H2O" cooling system. DirectCU H2O combines multi-directional "CoolTech" air-cooling with liquid-cooling systems to reduce the GPU's operating temperature by as much as 31 degrees Celsius, or nearly 88 degrees Fahrenheit. That graphics card is plugged into Asus' "ROG Maximus VI Formula" motherboard, a unit that comes equipped with its own fancily-named hybrid cooling technology: "CrossChill," a system that combines heatsinks and liquid cooling. The motherboard also includes a "SupremeFX" onboard audio card, which can pump out jams through a 600 ohm headphone amplifier shielded for electromagnetic interference. No word yet on when the rig will be available, what it will cost or what processor/HDD/SDD/RAM configurations will be offered.
Visualized: Intel's Haswell Core i7 overclocked to 6.88GHz on an ASUS motherboard
After winning yesterday's Corsair Overclocking competition at Computex, the same folks were brought over to ASUS' ROG event earlier today, where they overclocked an Intel Haswell Core i7-4770K from its typical 3.5GHz to a staggering 6.88GHz -- just a tad less than yesterday's 6.98GHz -- on an ASUS Maximus VI Extreme motherboard. As a bonus, the DRAM frequency was also pushed to 4.1GHz, which is believed to be the fastest yet on Haswell. As usual, the overclockers poured liquid nitrogen onto the chip every now and then to keep it cool, thus giving us the above photo opportunity. %Gallery-190236%
ASUS ROG reveals 'the ultimate gaming machine', the Poseidon Formula One
ASUS cannot get enough of Computex, and today its PC gaming arm is rolling out some high powered new kit. This is the Poseidon Formula 1, housing the apex of ROG's gaming hardware know-how and brandishing its new Poseidon GTX 700 series GPU. It pairs NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 700 graphics series with a hybrid cooling system, with ASUS' CoolTech combing blower and axial fans into one design, forcing air over the heatsink in multiple directions. Augmenting this is a liquid cooling system that ROG promises can reduce operating temperatures by up to 31 degrees Celsius, likely ensuring some impressive overclocking feats. The system is built upon ROG's new Maximus VI motherboard that packs even more thermal cooling assistance, as well as the company's SupremeFX audio card which will give gamers 120dB headphone output with a 600 Ohm headphone amplifier to improve volume and clarity. If that didn't quite satisfy your thirst for specs, check out the slide show below and the press release after the break. Richard Lai contributed to this report. %Gallery-190235%
ASUS teases upcoming mechanical ROG 'Armor Keyboard' for gamers
ASUS' ROG presentation here at Computex wasn't all meaty graphic powerhouses -- it also displayed a new mechanical keyboard for discerning typists gamers, albeit underneath a piece of black cloth. We were told that the temporarily named "Armor Keyboard" wasn't quite ready to show off its design just yet, but when it comes out towards the end of Q3 this year it will, surprisingly, boast the title of ASUS' first in-house-designed mechanical gaming keyboard. As you'd expect, this backlit device will feature "ultra-responsive" mechanical key switches, as well as dedicated media and programmable hot keys located along the periphery. We'll be keeping an eye out for more information about it later this year, naturally. Richard Lai contributed to this report. %Gallery-190232%
ASUS ROG announces G750 gaming laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700M series graphics
ASUS ROG has finally gone official with its new gaming rig. The ROG G750 ties together one of NVIDIA's latest mobile graphics card (on stage, it was the GeForce GTX 765M) with a stylish brushed aluminium keyboard surround. Since its last gaming laptops, ROG has added an amplifier within the headphone socket to really crank up in-game sound effects and music. It'll pack in 4th generation Intel Core i7 processors, while the backlit keyboard includes a gamer-friendly isolated arrow key cluster and large multi-point touchpad. We've added an official press shot and some close-up slides below. Richard Lai contributed to this report. %Gallery-190233%
ASUS adds liquid-cooled Haswell to its ROG TYTAN G30 gaming desktop (video)
It's fair to say that Haswell doesn't do much for desktop enthusiasts -- a few percentage points of compute performance perhaps, but nothing like the major improvements for mobile SKUs and integrated graphics. Nevertheless, those questing after every extra FLOP probably ought to take note that ASUS is about to bring out a Haswell-equipped version of its ROG TYTAN desktop. We have no pricing or availability yet, just an official video that popped up on ASUS's official YouTube channel during the weekend. It promises a water-cooled Core i7-4770K with one-button overclocking to 4.1GHz, alongside an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680. That choice for graphics seems a bit strange, given the launch of the GTX 770 and 780 last week -- but it's possible the spec will be updated, or that more expensive options will have the newer cards. We won't know either way until ASUS puts out some info pricing and availability, and we'll update this post if that happens.
ASUS announces ROG Ares II video card, dual Radeon HD 7970 GPUs, 1050MHz clock speed
The original ROG ARES graphics card was a head spinner, and the just announced sequel seems to follow suit. ASUS' ARES II features two AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition GPUs, and has a slimline two-slot design. The manufacturer claims it's the fastest graphics card available, outperforming the GeForce GTX 690 reference card by some 13 percent. There's 6GB of video memory, 1,100MHz boost clock, 1,050MHz base clock and 2 x 384-bit memory interface. If this sounds like something you just gotta have, then you'd better keep them eyes peeled, as upon release (no exact details on this just yet) it'll be a limited edition. Also limited are the details on price. Spin up the source for more info. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
ASUS' Sandy Bridge motherboards are pretty, come with Bluetooth and USB 3.0 as standard
We already got an early glimpse at what ASUS is bringing to Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge party, now how about some glamor shots of the actual hardware? The Taiwanese company has taken the shroud of mystery away from its latest range of motherboards and the first thing that stood out to us was the TUF-looking Sabertooth P67 above. It comes with an extended five-year warranty, "military-grade" electrical components, a litany of thermal sensors, and of course that Tactical Jacket up top. Beyond its obvious visual appeal, the Jacket serves to channel airflow throughout the board, aiding the cooling of more peripheral components. On the more diminutive front, ASUS is showing off a Mini-ITX board, the P8P67-I, that fits everything but full-sized RAM slots within a minuscule footprint. Check it out after the break. Oh, and ASUS is sticking USB 3.0 and Bluetooth connectivity on almost all its future boards. Yay!
ASUS upgrades G53 and G73 gaming laptops with 1.5GB NVIDIA GTX 460 grunt
Ready to splash the cash on NVIDIA's fresh new mobile Fermi graphics cards? ASUS is the first company to take the veils off its GTX 460M offering, which it has seasoned with a most welcome addition: 1.5GB of dedicated GDDR5 graphics memory. The ROG G53JW and G73JW machines are the beneficiaries of this upgrade, with both capable of 3D work should you ask them nicely, and offering such tasty options as quad-core Core i7 CPUs, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 750GB of storage, 16:9 displays (1,366 x 768 on the 15.6-inch G53 and up to 1,920 x 1,080 on the 17.3-inch G73), Blu-ray-writing optical drives, and 8-cell 5,200mAh batteries. The lighter of the two laptops weighs in at 3.6kg, but if that doesn't put you off, both are available right now at online retailers. [Thanks, LifeBringer]
ASUS debuts WirelessHD-equipped G73JW and G53 laptops, we go eyes-on
We already took a closer look at ASUS' minty fresh ROG G53 gaming laptop earlier in the week, but it was the outfit's 17-inch version (the G73JW, predictably) used to showcase a new partnership with SiBEAM. The aforesaid rigs are the world's first laptops to integrate SiBEAM's 60GHz WirelessHD technology, essentially doing exactly what Intel's WiDi does. For those unfamiliar with either technology, it enables the laptop to beam 1080p content directly to a receiver box (that tube you see above, which will be attached via HDMI in theory) from up to 30 meters away. Both machines are slated to be slinging HD sans cabling this Fall, though pricing for the upgraded beasts wasn't available just yet. Still, we were treated to a demonstration over at the outfit's Computex booth, and while it was dangerously close to the receiver, HD content still was streaming without a hitch. Granted, we've seen nothing but great things from other WirelessHD applications in the past, but it's still lovely to see it humming along so nicely within a full-fledged computer. Have a look yourself just past the break.%Gallery-94278%
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%
ASUS debuts 15.6-inch ROG G53 3D gaming laptop at Computex
Hope you're not burned out on ASUS introductions yet, 'cause they're far from over. During the outfit's Computex press conference, a new multimedia monster was unveiled in the ROG G53. ASUS didn't bother sharing too many specifications, but that didn't stop us from hunting down a placard with the deets we were craving. Whenever the company decides to ship it, it'll be available with Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 options, up to 16GB of DDR3 memory on the quad-core machines (8GB of DDR3 on the dual-core rigs), a LED-backlit "HD" display, NVIDIA "Enthusiast" graphics, room for a pair of hard drives (or an SSD / HDD combo system), an optional Blu-ray drive, USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI 1.4 port for piping those 3D signals to your 3D HDTV. Per usual, there's no mention of a price tag, but hopefully we'll be clued in sooner rather than later. Update: Two other gaming lappies were slipped in today by ASUS: the 17.3-inch G73Jw and G51 3D, neither of which have their specs sheets in public view. %Gallery-93959%
Seagate pairs 7200RPM HDD with 4GB of NAND in 2.5-inch Momentus XT hybrid drive
Just as we surmised, Seagate is taking the wraps off its new hybrid drive, with OEM shipments of the Momentus XT starting today. Hailed as the fastest 2.5-inch laptop drive on the planet, this here device marries a 7200RPM hard drive (250/320/500GB) with 4GB of SLC NAND flash memory and 32MB of cache, and the company's Adaptive Memory technology allows it to store frequently used information on the latter for ultra-speedy access. It can boot up to 100 percent faster than a conventional 5400RPM hard drive, and thankfully for us all, it utilizes a standard 9.5mm-high form factor that the vast majority of laptops use. Seagate also affirms that the drive "operates independently of the operating system and the motherboard chipset," but we're going to hold tight until we see the first real benchmarks (it'll soon be an option in ASUS' ROG G73Jh gaming laptop) before getting all hyped up. In related news, the outfit also announced the world's highest capacity 7200RPM drive at 750GB, with the Momentus 750GB boasting SATA 3Gbps support, an NCQ interface, 16MB of cache and "silent acoustics." No price is mentioned, but you can bet a hefty premium will placed on something this capacious. The full presser, another image and a specs sheet awaits you beyond the break. Update: The reviews are already pouring in, and at just $155 for the 500 gigger, it's receiving a fair amount of praise.
Seagate's 'game-changing' storage tech coming to ASUS ROG G73Jh laptop
Well, well -- what's this? Wouldn't you like to know. What it is, fine people, is the "device that becomes you, so you become faster." Seriously, that's the teaser line that Seagate's feeding the press this fine morning, inviting us to join the company as it reveals the next "game-changing" device meant to boost system performance by a staggering 150 percent. Judging by the image above and the fact that ASUS' ROG G73Jh gaming laptop will be first to house it, we're guessing it's a breed of SSD this world has never seen. We're told that the mystery product will be 20 percent quicker than a 600GB 10,000rpm SATA drive, 80 percent faster than a conventional 7200rpm HDD and able to boot "within six seconds of an SSD drive." It'll also be able to "learn about its user to dynamically decrease disk time, boot time, and application load time," and if you're lucky, it may just cleanse that work coat of yours, whip up a nutritious breakfast and convert your clunker into a hovercraft. We'll be finding out a lot more come May 26th -- till then, try not to gnaw your nails past the cuticle. Update: Sounds like Seagate may finally be ready to launch that "pie in the sky" mutant hybrid SSD technology that we first caught wind of back in 2008. Dare we say, the Momentus XT Hybrid? Thanks, Sneakz and Khattab! [Thanks, Michael]
ASUS CrossHair IV Extreme mainboard supports mix-and-match GPU setups
Scouting a new mainboard for that fancy new Phenom II X6 CPU you just picked up? You might want to hold off a minute, particularly if you're also planning on shopping for a few new GPUs as well. Hot Hardware has managed to get their paws around an upcoming motherboard from ASUS, the CrossHair IV Extreme. Much like the Maximus III Extreme that we spotted last November, this one also ships with the RoG Connect feature, enabling a secondary Bluetooth device (like a netbook or smartphone) to tweak overclocking settings from the sidelines. What really makes this one stand out, however, isn't the compatibility with all Socket AM3 Phenom and Athlon CPUs, nor the fancy new 890FX chipset. No -- it's the inclusion of Lucidlogix's nearly-forgotten Hydra solution, which allows users to mix-and-match GPUs (makes and models are no matter here) in order to create the most from whatever graphics cards you have sitting around. There's no mention of when this fellow will ship, but we'll be keeping an eye out at Computex just in case.
