ASUS implemented an interesting design with its high-end P7P55D Premium motherboard, that makes use of a PLX PEX8613 3-port/12-lane PCI-E 2.0 bridge chip across its PCI-E 1.1 x4 from the PCH to drive the Marvell 88SE9123 2-port SATA 6 Gbps controller to its full-potential. Apparently the company plans to provide SATA 6 Gbps support using essentially the same design, for all its Intel P55 series motherboards by means of an optional addon card. Much larger than the SATA 6 Gbps card from ASRock, the card from ASUS uses the same basic design that involves PLX PEX8613 as a PCI-E x4 device. The card uses the same SATA 6 Gbps controller to provide 2 internal SATA ports. From the looks of it, the card has placeholders for two controllers, with the second (absent) NEC µPD720200 controller providing USB 3.0 ports. Perhaps a future revision makes use of it. Planned to be offered as an optional accessory, this card could make for a premium over the base models.

ASUS today announced the launch of a series of specially-developed motherboards that lets theater-sound aficionados and audiophiles build their dream home-theater PC. The ASUS Absolute Pitch Series features three audio technologies for different forms of aural enjoyment. The DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC delivers theater-like sound on modest equipment for an affordable, full-range sound, ENVY HD delivers a comprehensive 10 channels of audio output for a professional audio experience, and BD 192/24 delivers high-fidelity Blu-ray decoding for a dynamic sound output similar to a live entertainment experience.

The new ASUS EeeTop PC ET20/22 Series is a range of touch-enabled, all-in-one PCs that provides users with the fundamentals of everyday computing and multimedia entertainment in an elegant space-saving design. Its forte lies in its ability to provide users with the ultimate home entertainment experience. The EeeTop PC ET22 and EeeTop PC ET20 feature a flushed 22-inch and 20-inch touch-enabled display respectively that provides high definition images through the use of state-of-the-art graphics processors. The resulting visual spectacle is complemented by a surround sound experience delivered by the Dual Hi-Fi speakers with SRS Premium Sound. The ASUS EeeTop ET20/22 Series also lets users communicate via the easy-to-use Eee Cam, while the Eee Bar gives them access to their commonly-used applications. Users can also organize their photographs with FotoFun, and leave notes for their family and friends with Eee Memo. Simply put, the new ASUS EeeTop PC ET20/22 Series is the ideal all-in-one communications and entertainment PC for the family.

As an established manufacturer of high performance audio cards, ASUS has always been at the forefront of delivering the best in audio entertainment technology to its consumers. Today, ASUS is proud to announce the launch of its first ever multimedia speaker series. The ASUS uBoom and uBoom Q sound-bar speakers are designed to provide high fidelity audio and heart-thumping bass via a maze-like reflex port, which is then channeled through speakers designed to place the user in the audio sweet-spot. For added convenience and mobility, both the ASUS uBoom and uBoom Q sound-bar speakers feature USB 2.0 connectivity for audio output. The uBoom Q also draws its power via the USB 2.0 port, effectively eliminating the need for an adapter and the numerous wires often associated with conventional speaker set-ups and providing high fidelity audio reproduction while on-the-move.

Here's our ASUS LGA-1156, Intel P55 motherboard for the day: TUF Series Sabertooth 55i. As a short history lesson, ASUS' TUF series motherboards was touted as a parallel to its Republic of Gamers (ROG) series, and was unveiled back in March as the "Marine cool" design, although no products made it to the market. The selling points of TUF series is unparalleled durability and next-generation motherboard components, including "breakthrough innovations in materials--ceramic and metal--for exceptional Cooling". Here's hoping this one does. The Sabertooth i55 comes across as fairly mid-range within the P55 motherboard lineup, as far as features go, but banks heavily on design innovations.

For starters, the CPU is powered by a 12+2 phase VRM, while the four DDR3 DIMM slots rely on a 2-phase VRM. For the greater part of its features, the Intel P55 chipset pithes in. Additional storage controllers provide extra SATA ports, supporting ASUS DriveXpert technology. Expansion slots include two PCI-E 2.0 x16 (arrange as x8, x8 in SLI and CrossFireX), two PCI-E x1, and two PCI. Here's where the unique features start: metal heatsinks with ceramic coating that boosts surface area by 50% for better heat dissipation. On the components front, it features durable "TUF-branded" MOSFETs, and capacitors. The DDR3 DIMM slots lack retention clips on one end, a feature implemented by ASUS with several recent motherboards, that makes sure the clips don't interfere with installed graphics cards. Although there's adequate clearance on this board, it is utilised by providing a placeholder for a fan dedicated to memory cooling. In a short presentation, ASUS describes its innovations. There's no word on its availability and pricing.

The newest entry into ASUS' already huge lineup of socket LGA-1156 motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, is the new Republic of Gamers Maximus III Gene. Unlike the Maximus III Formula, this one is based on the micro-ATX form-factor, with four expansion slots in all, to spare. The LGA-1156 socket is powered by a high-grade 10-phase digital PWM circuit. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. With two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electically dual x8 when both populated) wired to the CPU, the board utilizes the feature-set of the P55 PCH completely. An open-ended PCI-E x4 is located between the two x16 slots, and a legacy PCI slot below. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, Firewire, USB, eSATA, and 8-channel ASUS SupremeFX X-Fi, implemented in the same way as on Rampage II Gene and Maximus II Gene. The ASUS Maximus III Gene motherboard is expected to start selling by the end of this month, its pricing is yet to be known.

ASUS' swiftly growing ULPC lineup has a new member in the form of EeeTop ET200T all-in-one nettop PC. The most district features of this machine include its 20 inch touchscreen, and being based on the NVIDIA ION platform that breathes life into an otherwise potent Atom processor. The main unit takes care of its aesthetics with glossy, glassy piano-black looks. The touchscreen comes with a native resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. A fixed 1.3 megapixel webcam neighbours it on the top. A low-noise keyboard and optical mouse are part of the package.

Under the hood are an Intel Atom 330 1.60 GHz dual-core processor, NVIDIA ION chipset that embeds GeForce 9400M graphics, 2 GB of dual-channel memory, a 5400 rpm 250 GB hard drive, and a slot-in DVD writer. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and four USB 2.0 ports. Each unit comes with Windows Vista Home pre-installed, and a coupon that facilitates a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it's out. The ET2002T 20" releases in Europe soon, for under 600€.

Here's our ASUS P55 motherboard of the day: the P7P55D Premium. Positioned in the high-end segment of socket LGA-1156 motherboards, this board boasts of support for SATA III 6 Gbps. Associated with the SATA III controller, is also an interesting feature. To begin with, the CPU is powered by a digital PWM circuit with "32+3" phases. Sure there are that many chokes, but we do suspect choke redundancy here. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots to support dual-channel memory.

Unlike the P7P55D Deluxe, this board makes do with two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, each of which arrange to 8-lanes PCI-E when both are populated. Other expansion slots include two PCI-E x1 and two PCI. Connectivity options include two gigabit Ethernet controllers, 8 channel audio, and a number of USB and Firewire ports. From the looks of it, there's also a place-holder for the NEC µPD720200 USB 3.0 controller, and its marked blue-coloured USB ports, though it's MIA.

ASUS, known for its single-socket workstation motherboards, is preparing the first enterprise-grade socket LGA-1156 motherboard. The ASUS P7P55 WS SuperComputer builds on the features of its socket LGA-1366 cousins, by offering as many as five PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, a massive 16+3 phase CPU VRM, support for DDR3-2133 by overclocking, and the latest multi-GPU standards support.

Based on the Intel P55 chipset, the P7P55 WS SuperComputer makes use of a PCI-E bridge chip that allows it to hold at least four PCI-E 2.0 x16 devices (electrical 4x PCI-E x8), with a PCI-E x16 electrically x4. Both 3-way SLI and 4-way CrossFireX are supported. Connectivity is care of two gigabit Ethernet controllers, 8 USB 2.0 ports on the rear-panel, and another six internal, Firewire, and 8-channel audio with digital IO ports and DTS support.

ASUS includes its own design enhancements, including XtremePhase VRM, TurboV EVO voltage management, and a probe microchip. It doesn't look like ASUS will add this to its first wave of motherboard launches that coincide with those of Intel's first LGA-1156 processors, but expect this to be out at least in October.

ASUS finally decided to roll out an NVIDIA ION platform based mini-ITX motherboard, with the AT3N7A-I A330. As the name suggests, this motherboard embeds a dual-core Intel Atom 330 processor running at 1.60 GHz. With two DDR2 DIMM slots, the chipset supports dual-channel DDR2-800 memory. Located at the center of the board is a big, fan-heatsink that is common to the chipset and CPU. The chipset embeds GeForce 9400M mGPU, which connects to its displays using D-Sub and HDMI. Storage is care of three SATA II ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, JBOD support.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI. Connectivity options on this board include gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, eSATA, and ten USB 2.0 ports in all. Audio is handled by a VIA 8-channel HDA codec that also provides optical and co-axial SPDIF outputs. The AT3N7A-I A330 hits stores in this month, at an expected price of 112 Euro.

ASUS' pixel-crunching monstrosity, the dual-GTX 285 MARS 4GB was unveiled earlier this year at Computex. It claims to be the most powerful graphics card ever made, as it packs two fully-loaded GeForce GTX 285 GPUs which are factory overclocked, and equipped with 2 GB each of GDDR3 memory (4 GB total memory). The card further edges GeForce GTX 295, by using 512-bit memory interfaces for each GPU. The card further carries the clock speeds of GeForce GTX 285, at 648/1476/2400 MHz (core/shader/memory).

Fresh information suggests that that this limited-edition graphics card is another week away from shipping. 1000 units are produced in all, and the company doesn't plan on making any more. What's interesting however is that most, if not all, of these 1000 units have been pre-ordered and paid for. Enthusiasts don't seem to have a problem paying US $1250 (1250 EUR) for a piece, its price. Below are some tasty press-shots of this really tall accelerator, fully assembled. Pictures of its PCB and components can be viewed in our older article here.

ASUS today announced the launch of the ASUS M4A785D Series motherboards with the new AMD 785G chipset for enhanced graphics performance through new features such as DX10.1 and UVD 2.0 support, dynamic contrast, and high-quality video scaling. Additionally, the M4A785D Series supports up to 16GB of DDR2 memory, CrossFireX, and high-definition, 8-channel audio output. Developed under ASUS' rigorous "Xtreme Design" methods, the ASUS M4A785D draws on 20 years of design excellence to deliver the best in motherboard performance, safety, and reliability.

ASUS seems to be just about ready with a full-fledged lineup of motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, that supports LGA-1156 socket CPUs. The newest entry in the company's P7P55 series is the high-end P7P55D Deluxe. The model is placed above the P7P55 EVO and P7P55 Pro, which descend in the same order in the lineup. The P7P55D stands apart with some high-grade components and overclocker-friendly features. The CPU is powered by a lavish 19-phase digital PWM circuit, cooled by chunkier heatsinks that distribute heat among each other using a heatpipe.

The four memory slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory are powered by a 4-phase circuit. The user is given greater control of voltages and clock speeds using the TurboV technology. This board even bundles a pop-out wired remote that provides some on-the-fly controls. The expansion slot layout is identical to that of the P7P55 EVO, with three PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots (two of which are electrically x8 when populated, and one is electrical x4). The P55 chipset provides six SATA II ports, while external controllers give out three additional ports. Connectivity and other expansion options include two gigabit Ethernet controllers, over a dozen USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, and audio with digital output. The P7P55D Deluxe could feature in the first wave of P55 motherboards released by ASUS.

Active Media Products, maker of unique storage solutions including the WWF endangered species USB drives, today announced immediate availability of their new SaberTooth SSDs that are custom designed for Asus Eee PC upgrades.

This new line of SaberTooth SSDs is built with MLC NAND flash to deliver exceptional performance. These SSDs have been tested with and are guaranteed to operate with Eee PC S101, 900, 900A and 901 models. The SaberTooth SS, offered in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, is the fastest available SSD upgrade for the Eee PC, supporting sequential read speeds up to 155 MB/sec and write speeds up to 100 MB/sec. The SaberTooth S is offered in 16 and 32GB capacities, and supports sequential read speeds up to 90 MB/sec and write speeds up to 55 MB/sec. All these products use standard 3Gbps SATA-II signaling and a Mini PCI express connector, as used in compatible Eee PC models.

Motherboard mogul ASUS is ready with a new premium motherboard for the LGA-1366 platform. The P6X58 Premium breaks away from the "P6T" nomenclature the company used for its Intel X58-based motherboards, and flashed "X58" in the model name. This motherboard brings two new connectivity standards to the platform: USB 3.0 "SuperSpeed", and SATA III 6 Gbps. It uses additional controllers onboard to expand the chipset's feature-set.

The board looks similar to the P6T Deluxe series at a glance, but uses a different layout of its expansion slots, rear-panel, and connectors in general. Unlike with the P6T Deluxe, the three PCI-Express x16 are spaced-out, with the first two (blue) slots providing full x16 lane bandwidth, with the third (white) one sharing 8 lanes with the second slot (x16, x8, x8, when all three slots populated). The chipset+VRM cooler is nearly identical to the one on the P6T Deluxe. The CPU is powered by a 16-phase circuit.

ASUS today unveiled the TV Monitor T1 Series that combines the best in desktop monitor and LCD TV technology to deliver HD TV broadcasting and Full HD Blu-ray Disc playback for the ultimate entertainment and work experience. Featuring inbuilt TV tuners, these large screen monitors-available in 22", 24" and 27" sizes-allow users to watch digital (DVB-T) and analog (PAL/SECAM) channels and enjoy all common TV functions in Europe. The T1 Series also boasts surround sound with a pair of 7-Watt speakers, a rich complement of I/O ports catering to various connectivity needs and ASUS' exclusive Splendid Video Intelligence Technology for spectacular color reproduction.

ASUS today announced the Xtreme Design series motherboards featuring ground-breaking design innovations and offering the best in performance and reliability. The Xtreme Design series motherboards delivers exceptional overall system compatibility and enhanced reliability by proficiently managing and reliably controlling core processes operating in the PC. Drawing on two decades of engineering excellence, ASUS believes a genetically superior motherboard DNA will provide the winning formula to surpass current user expectations and industry benchmarks. ASUS leads the industry with designs that optimize overall performance and reliability of PC hardware. In the new Xtreme Design series motherboards, ASUS further raises the bar in motherboard designs for the ultimate in performance, reliability, and safe operations.

A day into its announcement, Google's ambitious new venture, the Chrome operating system, is receiving support from some of the biggest players in the IT industry. The company also confirmed that Chrome OS will be a free of charge software, requiring no purchase of license to use it. To ensure the OS gets adequate momentum, Google is working with the likes of HP, Acer, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm (some of the most relevant names in the netbook industry). The company also detailed about the developer support it plans to spread, with possible pre-release versions towards the end of the year. To the consumer, this means that major computer manufacturers could sell netbooks with Chrome OS preinstalled, with seamless support for their hardware. Early community software development will ensure a good selection of software for the netbook by the time the OS becomes release-grade, ready to be shipped with millions of netbooks.

ASUS' P7P55 series includes the company's mainstream-thru-premium motherboards based on Intel P55 chipset, supporting LGA-1156 socket processors. Following the recent exposé of its little sibling the P7P55 Pro, XFastest took the higher-end P7P55 EVO for a photo-shoot. This motherboard retains its lesser sibling's feature-set for the most part, except for additional connectivity. The CPU is powered by a 14-phase power circuit. Additional power management is provided by the ASUS EPU chip. The expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16 slots.

The first two arrange as (x8, x8) electrically, while the third one is electrical x4. Two PCI-E x1 and two legacy PCI slots make for the rest of the expansion. The connectivity options of this board will include support for SATA III. Apart from the six SATA ports the P55 PCH provides, an additional Marvell 88SE9123 two-port PCI-E SATA III controller is present, which also provides an IDE connector. Apart from the 8-channel audio, Firewire, and 14 USB ports in all, there are two gigabit Ethernet controllers. More pictures can be found at the source.

ASUS, a leading producer of innovative networking solutions, today announced the ASUS RT-N16, a technologically-advanced wireless router with a host of intuitive, easy-to-use features. Engineered for the future, the ASUS RT-N16 is a Wireless-N Gigabit Router offering three "S's" that fulfill users' all-around networking needs that no other brand can provide-Speed for ultra-fast data transfers, Simplicity for unparalleled ease-of-use and ease-of-setup, and Security for absolute peace of mind when performing online tasks. Such an unprecedented integration of powerful performance and user-friendly operation makes the RT-N16-and ASUS' full range of routers-the best choice on the market.

ASUSTeK today also announced that it will be starting an upgrade program that will allow users who have purchased a qualifying ASUS desktop PC, notebook, EeeTop PC or Eee PC to upgrade their existing Windows Vista OS to the better and yet to be finalized Windows 7 operating system. From June 26, 2009 through January 31, 2010 owners of the below listed ASUS products may visit this webpage here, complete the registration process and wait for their upgrade kit after the general availability date of Windows 7 which is October 22nd. The ASUS Windows 7 Upgrade offer will be free in the USA, while users from other parts of the world will have to pay a nominal shipping and handling fee. Below is the full list of ASUS products that are eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade program.

ASUS, the leader in motherboard innovation, has launched a comprehensive range of SMB-ready motherboard solutions to help Small-and-Medium-Sized-Businesses (SMBs) refresh their technology environment, improve customer service provision, and boost operational performance. Developed in partnership with Intel, the solutions are grouped into secure, productive, and smart categories to meet different SMB requirements. The specially-designed motherboards come with all the industry-leading innovations synonymous with ASUS as well as extensive service support, including one year supply of product availability and conditional advance swap support.

ASUS, a leading producer and innovator of notebooks, today announced the launch of its 15.6-inch G51 notebook, a gaming powerhouse which snared the 'Best Choice' award in the Digital Entertainment Products category at the recently-concluded COMPUTEX 2009. Sporting a futuristic, robot-inspired 'mecha' design, the ASUS G51's use of seamless gamer-centric interface elements and scorching gaming performance-both in the visual and audio departments-are a fitting recognition of the Republic of Gamers' tireless and extensive efforts to deliver on its promise: "Designed for gamers". The ASUS G51 also boasts industry leading audio technologies that combine to envelope users in true-to-life surround sound for added gaming realism. Users who appreciate the G51's gaming pedigree but prefer a slightly larger screen can opt for its 16-inch cousin, the ASUS G60.

Disney Consumer Products (DCP) and ASUS, maker of the pioneering Eee PC netbook, have collaborated to develop the Disney Netpal, a netbook computer for children that's fun, web-safe and easy to use. Developed with parents and kids in mind, the Disney Netpal by ASUS is durable, with a reinforced mechanical design, and offers a truly magical and engaging computing experience with a unique Disney user interface. Features include more than 40 robust parental control options, an 8.9-inch LCD display, Wi-Fi capabilities, Windows XP Home, and kid-friendly software featuring Disney characters and icons in stunning visual environments. Browsers and email have extra filters to assure that parents are able to control online safety and content for their children, and can easily select with whom their children can correspond via email. The Disney Magic Desktop "gadget tray" offers a creatively designed 2D menu displaying Disney-themed email, Disney-themed browser and a robust suite of Disney-themed parental control options.

Here's a good example of what can be born in times of recession. ASUSTeK is planning on asking $1700 for its latest ASUS R.O.G. (Republic of Gamers) Mars limited edition graphics card. Well the card is an eye catcher for sure, but it's up to you to decide if it's worth the cash after all. On paper specs look almost too good to be true, the card will carry two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 (G200b) GPUs on a single PCB. Each main graphics proccessor will be complemented by 2 GB DDR3 memory for a total of 4 gigs working at 2484MHz with 512-bit memory bus width. Each of the graphics processors will operate at 648 MHz with 480 stream processors, meaning that R.O.G. Mars will be as fast at two GeForce GTX 285 graphics boards in SLI mode and faster compared to a standard NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 graphics solution. ASUSTeK engineer estimate that the card will offer 23% higher performance compared to the reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295. The ASUS R.O.G. Mars limited can also be paired in SLI, for a total of four GeForce GTX 285 graphics cores and whooping 8 GB video memory on a single desktop system. There will be only one thousand of ASUS ROG Mars graphics boards ever built, each will be marked with its own unique number. English Scan.co.uk is now taking pre-orders of the card for £1030.98, which is approximately $1700 or €1222.