Asus :

Asus having one of the biggest booths at CeBIT. This due to their activity on numerous fronts. I'm expecting to see the latest Asus airco or car soon. It's amazing how diverse the Asus range is. From motherboards, multimedia boxes, graphics cards,...,to notebooks and even screens. However, me and Massman are not that multimedia hardware, we only want the fast stuff, no in-betweens :)

Most enthusiast were awaiting the final version of the Rampage Extreme III and the new overclocked limited edition Asus ARES card. From the latter, initial production stops at 1000. Though Milan Rado said if demands are high enough and if they can get these cherry picked GPU's it could be a possibility that Asus keeps on producing this high end card. With 4Gb onboard and extreme cooling this card will be set some new records soon on HWBot.org. We didn't get any info on the price, but expect to survive on water and bread to get one of these at your place.



Let's hope Asus learned some lessons of the MARS adventure. Continuing the Matrix range, Asus also added the 5870 to the line-up. This card will remain more affordable then the ARES, yet highly tweakable again compared to a reference version. Gpu clocks at 900Mhz, 2Gb ram running at 1200Mhz (stock 5870 cards only got 1Gb onboard). A 5 heat pipe equipped cooler keeps everything cooler than the reference design. Voltage measuring points are also foreseen for the heavy benchers.



The Rampage Extreme III was only at display in a running demo unit. Pretty hard to shoot decent pictures. It seems Asus added again an abundance of features to power that brand new Gulftown to new levels. An extra 8 pin connector for the CPU and an extra molex for the GPU's. Only time will tell if it will be a Classified breaker. Retail price is estimated around 390 euro's and samples will be sent out end of march to the reviewers. Better save up again, sigh.



Asus didn't forget the AMD fanboys either in their ROG lineup. Enhancing the range with the 890FX Crosshair IV Extreme and Formula. The Extreme being the ultimate board with too many new features to mention. If it's eg feasible to start OC'ing from ya cellphone or other mobile devices I have my doubts, yet the RC bluetooth makes this all possible. The Extreme also got slightly more spaced GPU slots. The Formula will be the cheaper variant due to fewer gimmicks and is more gamer orientated.



Some more medium range boards, funny enough we spotted a Nvidia variant (980a SLI) too on the wall.



If all this wasn't enough Asus surprised us with 2 more ROG gaming laptops Being inspired by the stealth fighter for design and thermal management. The G73HJ is powered by an I3/5/7 CPU of choice. Build onto a PHM55 motherboard with DDR3 support up to 8Gb. For ultimate gaming pleasure, the mobility Radeo 5870 stuffed with 1gb DDR5 will show it's crisp images to a 17 inch HD monitor. Its little brother is the G51JX3D. CPU choices there between the I7-720/820QM CPU. Graphics power with 3D effects via the Nvidia GTS360M with 1Gb DDR5. Monitor size is also reduced to a 15.6 inch HD monitor. Question is how long can you enjoy gaming with 3D glasses before going bezerk. But as more and more games and movies are popping up with 3D effects it’s normal for Asus to give it a shot.