Gallery: ASUS has shown off next year's range of P67 motherboards in Singapore, and Atomic was there, camera in-hand!
So, as various idiots on the forums (I say it with love!) are aware, I was in Singapore last week. ASUS flew Atomic over for a preview of its new P67-powered, Sandybridge-ready motherboards, and who are we to say no to a sneak peak like that.
The event was relatively low-key, hosted in a local hotel for Asia-Pac media and a lot of ASUS types to ooh and aah over the juicy new tech. The show opened with an interesting trivia point - ASUS, apparently, have sold enough motherboards over the years that if they were laid end to end, they'd circle the world over three times. Which is kinda impressive, but also just as alarming.
I mean... that's a lot of volatiles produced over the years - but that's another story.
During the event, as well as showing us the individual brands and boards - check the gallery for more deets - ASUS was keen to push the three things it believes will set its products apart from the pack. First up, DIGI+ VRM, which, we must admit, is not our idea of a cool feature.
Ideally it helps deliver completely flat power to the CPU, but we've always felt it gets in the way of serious overclocking. Indeed, it's the kind of thing we'd normally turn off. But ASUS was keen to point out that it also delivered health benefits, by reducing EM emissions to such a degree that the PC chassis can contain them completely.
So, if you're worried about your uber-rig turning you into some kind of Super Mutant, this might be your schtick.
The next big thing ASUS covered off was just how much work the company's put into revising its BIOS UI. In fact, the new EFI BIOS can be accessed in an entirely graphic interface, with complete mouse support. It gets even simpler in EFI BIOS-EZmode, which cuts down system data to just the essentials. Its hardly an enthusiast-grade option, but we do like anything which makes getting into a PC's guts easier for beginners.
Finally, ASUS is continuing to push its remote Bluetooth connectivity options. Anyone who attended this year's ASUS forum at Atomic HQ would have seen some overclocking demos using an iPhone, but the new boards will take this a step further, allowing file sharing and direct access to smartphone contents.
It's hardly a killer app, but it's kinda neat.
We've been told we'll be getting hardware for review purposes very shortly, so keep an eye out for a more detailed first look. In the meantime, get a close look at the shiny new tech itself in our gallery.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012