ASUS Teases its Next-gen DirectCU III Cooler

btarunr · May 23, 2016

It looks like RGB multi-color LED lighting on graphics cards is here to stay, with ASUS teasing its next-generation DirectCU III graphics card cooling solution. The animated image (embedded after the break, below), shows LED strips lining the cooler shroud, with multi-color LED lighting. This cooler could feature on upcoming ROG STRIX graphics cards running NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and perhaps even some of AMD's upcoming GPUs, given how ASUS captions the image as "The Future Looks Bright." ZOTAC is the other partner with multi-color LEDs lining its GTX 1080/GTX 1070 graphics cards.

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Caring1 · May 23, 2016

By big they mean the usual 3 slot wide card.
Now with LED's.

Xzibit · May 23, 2016

Asus said:
The Future Looks Bright

Really? cause that picture is dark AF :laugh:

Basard · May 23, 2016

LED's are getting old.... I say they should put a butane tank on there and shoot colored flames out the sides! Maybe a fog machine, with strobe light.... And... confetti guns, yeah! CONFETTI GUNS! Shooting little green "N's" everywhere!

Chaitanya · May 23, 2016

Basard said:
LED's are getting old.... I say they should put a butane tank on there and shoot colored flames out the sides! Maybe a fog machine, with strobe light.... And... confetti guns, yeah! CONFETTI GUNS! Shooting little green "N's" everywhere!

Hahaha... seriously this whole rgb thing is getting too old quickly.

rtwjunkie · May 23, 2016

Caring1 said:
Now with LED's.

You have to make sure you can see it in a dark case...so you don't accidentally bump the GPU power cable.

Octopuss · May 23, 2016

What genius thinks we need even more fans?
I might buy a Kraken after all. This is bullshit.

Caring1 · May 23, 2016

Be prepared for all the stupid threads about LED's not working, or flashing or the wrong color.

Keullo-e · May 23, 2016

Chaitanya said:
Hahaha... seriously this whole rgb thing is getting too old quickly.

Yup, I prefer the traditional blue lighting.

Vayra86 · May 23, 2016

Basard said:
LED's are getting old.... I say they should put a butane tank on there and shoot colored flames out the sides! Maybe a fog machine, with strobe light.... And... confetti guns, yeah! CONFETTI GUNS! Shooting little green "N's" everywhere!

Instant buy tbh

Dethroy · May 23, 2016

Real fansy

ZoneDymo · May 23, 2016

Dethroy said:
Real fansy

LEDs not do that

GC_PaNzerFIN · May 23, 2016

How bout you reduce noise levels by 10dB and forget about the LEDs? Just look at MSI Lightning or Gigabyte Xtreme cards. Honestly I am disappointed by Asus always using same noisy coolers over and over again. This looks like DC3 with few extra LEDs so not expecting silent operation from this either...

PcFixer · May 23, 2016

Led's make it faster......

Joking.

buggalugs · May 24, 2016

I can see why they want to go RGB LED. They dont have to decide of which colour scheme to use.

Whatever colour scheme they use, some people will always by unhappy, with RBG LED, everyones happy.

silapakorn · May 24, 2016

Great. More useless crap.
Gigabyte it is.

Slizzo · May 24, 2016

silapakorn said:
Great. More useless crap.
Gigabyte it is.

You mean the minor detail of adding LEDs to their current Direct CU II design and calling it Direct CU III?

I don't know, my ASUS Direct CU II card has been working perfect since I've gotten it....

Caring1 · May 25, 2016

Slizzo said:
You mean the minor detail of adding LEDs to their current Direct CU II design and calling it Direct CU III?

Minor detail that they retained an old design that I personally think is too fat and needs to slim down.
Mounting a card in a bottom slot is impossible in some cases because they need to go to Jenny Craig.

Slizzo · May 25, 2016

My Direct CU II only takes up the standard 2 slots that any video card does. How big do you think this thing really is?

Caring1 · May 26, 2016

All the cards I have seen are 2.5 slots wide, and it's not "think" I know.

Slizzo · May 26, 2016

Caring1 said:
All the cards I have seen are 2.5 slots wide, and it's not "think" I know.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...rectcu_ii_oc_video_card_review/1#.V0Zf9b7LrWM

Huh, looks to me that the card that I have is 2 slots. Go figure.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Black Box
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1260L v5
Motherboard	MSI E3 KRAIT Gaming v5
Cooling	Tt tower + 120mm Tt fan
Memory	G.Skill 16GB 3600 C18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 Mini
Storage	Kingston A2000 512Gb NVME
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Case	Corsair 450D High Air Flow.
Audio Device(s)	No need.
Power Supply	FSP Aurum 650W
Mouse	Yes
Keyboard	Of course
Software	W10 Pro 64 bit

System Name	ChoreBoy
Processor	8700k Delided
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Master
Cooling	420mm Custom Loop
Memory	CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 2x8GB @ 3000Mhz
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1080 SC
Storage	1TB SX8200, 250GB 850 EVO, 250GB Barracuda
Display(s)	Pixio PX329 and Dell E228WFP
Case	Fractal R6
Audio Device(s)	On-Board
Power Supply	1000w Corsair
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	A million on everything....

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

Processor	Ryzen 5800X
Motherboard	Asus TUF-Gaming B550-Plus
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S
Memory	32GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon Rx 580 Nitro+ 8GB
Storage	HP EX950 512GB + Samsung 970 PRO 1TB
Display(s)	HP Z Display Z24i G2
Case	Fractal Design Define R6 Black
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster AE-5
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650W Gold
Mouse	Roccat Kone AIMO Remastered
Software	Windows 10 x64

ASUS Teases its Next-gen DirectCU III Cooler

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

Caring1

Xzibit

Basard

Chaitanya

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Octopuss

Caring1

Keullo-e

S.T.A.R.S.

Vayra86

Dethroy

ZoneDymo

GC_PaNzerFIN

PcFixer

buggalugs

silapakorn

Slizzo

Caring1

Slizzo

Caring1

Slizzo

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X up to 5.05GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550M Aorus Elite
Cooling	Custom loop (CPU+GPU, 240 & 120 rads)
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury @ DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	PowerColor RX 6700 XT Fighter OC/UV
Storage	~4TB SSD + 6TB HDD
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis remastered at 4K

Processor	i7 8700k 4.6Ghz @ 1.24V
Motherboard	AsRock Fatal1ty K6 Z370
Cooling	beQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3
Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200/C16
Video Card(s)	ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 830 256GB + Crucial BX100 250GB + Toshiba 1TB HDD
Display(s)	Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case	Fractal Design Define R5
Audio Device(s)	Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	XTRFY M42
Keyboard	Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
Software	W10 x64

System Name	Perf/price king /w focus on low noise and TDP
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H
Cooling	Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A (BW)
Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance LP Black
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 670 OC
Storage	525GB Crucial MX300 & 256GB Samsung 830 Series
Display(s)	Home: LG 29UB65-P & Work: LG 34UB88-B
Case	Fractal Design Arc Mini
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX /w Sennheiser HD 598
Power Supply	be quiet! Straight Power CM E9 80+ Gold 480W
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD optical
Keyboard	SteelSeries Apex M500
Software	Win10

System Name	Cyberline
Processor	Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory	Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD RX480 -> ... nope still the same :'(
Storage	Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s)	Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case	antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply	Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse	Elecom EX-G
Keyboard	Rapoo V700
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	RGB-PC v2.0
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7950X
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair X670E Extreme
Cooling	Corsair iCUE H150i RGB PRO XT
Memory	4x16GB DDR5-5200 CL36 G.SKILL Trident Z5 NEO RGB
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix RTX 2080 Ti
Storage	2x2TB Samsung 980 PRO
Display(s)	Acer Nitro XV273K 27" 4K 120Hz (G-SYNC compatible)
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragon Red + Sennheiser HD 650
Power Supply	Asus Thor II 1000W + Cablemod ModMesh Pro sleeved cables
Mouse	Logitech G500s
Keyboard	Corsair K70 RGB with low profile red cherrys
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Chronos
Processor	Amd Ryzen 7 1700 @ 3.8 Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte AB350 Gaming
Cooling	Cooler Master Evo 212
Memory	Corsair 16 GB DDR4 3200 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Amd Radeon RX 480 4GB
Storage	WD 1 TB HDD + 128 GB SSD cache + Seagate 4tb HDD
Display(s)	Aoc 27 in
Case	Antec 302
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 5 Rx
Power Supply	Antec Platinum 850 Watt
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

Processor	Intel i7 4790K
Motherboard	Asus Z97 Deluxe
Cooling	Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120
Memory	Corsair Dominator 1866Mhz 4X4GB
Video Card(s)	Asus R290X
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro SSD 256GB/Samsung 840 Evo SSD 1TB
Display(s)	Samsung S23A950D
Case	Corsair 850D
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair AX850
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G710+
Software	Windows 10 x64

Processor	Intel i7 10700K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Pro AX
Cooling	Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4
Memory	DDR4 Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHZ (2X16GB)
Video Card(s)	Palit GTX1080ti Super JetStream 11GB
Storage	Trandscend 370s 256GB / WD Caviar Black 2+1TB
Display(s)	Acer XB270HU 144hz Gsync
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P600S White
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster ZXR
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000X 1000W 80 Plus Gold

Processor	Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard	MSI X670E MPG Carbon Wifi
Cooling	Custom loop, 2x360mm radiator,Lian Li UNI, EK XRes140,EK Velocity2
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill DDR5-6400 @ 6400MHz C32
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra OC Scanner core +750 mem
Storage	MP600 2TB,960 EVO 1TB,XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB,Micron 1100 2TB,1.5TB Caviar Green
Display(s)	Acer X34S, Acer XB270HU
Case	LianLi O11 Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G-Pro X Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA P3 1200W
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard	Logitech G512 Carbon w/ GX Brown
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2 (V2)
Software	Win 11