The arrival last year of Intel's 8th Generation Core processors alongside a high-end Z370 platform meant increased horsepower for people who do more with their PCs, whether it's serious work like content creation and video editing, or recreational tasks like live-streaming gaming sessions. But extra cores aren't limited to flagship territory. They extend all the way down to the entry-level Core i3, and today they're joined by new H370 and B360 platforms that bring additional connectivity to affordable price points. We've deployed these chipsets across a complete family of ASUS 300-series motherboards that are loaded with exclusive technologies, feature unparalleled durability and a focus on ease-of-use that help everyone get the most out of their PCs.

ASUS DNA is the Foundation of Your Build: Every build and user is different, so we have developed a deep lineup across ROG Strix, TUF Gaming, and Prime lines. While each family has distinct aesthetics and personalities, all three draw from core ASUS DNA that has been carefully refined over nearly 30 years of making motherboards. Signature features can be found throughout, from DIGI+ VRM circuitry that delivers reliable power to the CPU, to OptiMem trace routing that improves signaling for your memory resulting in increased stability and performance.

The folks at VideoCardz received a picture of a soon-to-be-released ASUS X470 motherboard from an unnamed sender. Judging by the motherboard's aesthetics and design, we suspect that it belongs to the Strix Series. Although there are no signs of the Strix branding on the motherboard, the rear I/O cover and the 8+2 phase VRM resemble the ones used on the ASUS ROG Strix X370-F Gaming motherboard. Initially, the "Republic" marking threw us off as ASUS isn't known for placing the Republic of Gamers branding on their previous Strix motherboards. The "Hybrid" marking remains a mystery though. The Chinese characters 玩家 that are located beside one of the memory slots literally translates to "Players", which certainly suggests that this will be a gaming-oriented motherboard. As of the time of this article, there are five confirmed X470 motherboards from ASUS: Prime X470-Pro, ROG Strix X470-F Gaming, ROG Strix X470-I Gaming, ROG Crosshair VII Hero, ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WI-FI), and TUF X470-Plus Gaming.

ASUS today rolled out the MG248QE, an entry-level 24-inch gaming monitor. This monitor misses out on the coveted Republic of Gamers (ROG) branding by ASUS, but is still targeted at gamers, albeit on a tight budget, owing to is sub-$300 pricing. Don't stop reading at Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution just yet - you get 144 Hz refresh-rate, 1 ms (GTG) response time, and support for AMD FreeSync. Many of ASUS' GamePlus features are carried over from its ROG monitor lineup, such as GameVisual game genre-specific display presets, OSD crosshairs, timers, frame-rate counters, and monitor-based bezel-compensation adjustments for multi-monitor setups.

Other vital specs of the ASUS MG248QE include a TN-film panel with 16.7 million-colors, 170°/160° (V/H) maximum viewing-angles, LED backlit illuimation with low blue-light, 350 cd/m² maximum brightness, 100000000:1 "ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio," and passive anti-ghosting that takes advantage of the panel's high refresh-rate. Display inputs include HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2a, and dual-link DVI. Since this monitor is succeeding the company's VG248QE with a slightly refreshed feature-set (FreeSync and low blue-light), we expect it to sell at a similar price-point $250-$280.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced Strix GL12, a gaming desktop with a unique combination of extreme gaming performance and striking, unconventional design. Strix GL12 is powered by up to a factory-overclocked 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics for unmatched gaming prowess. It features an esports-ready, easy-swap 2.5-inch SSD tray that can be taken out and replaced in seconds, all without having to shut down the system. Strix GL12 has aggressive, angular 'slashes' across the front of the chassis, a transparent side panel, and customizable ASUS Aura Sync lighting effects.

Strix GL12 is powered by up to an 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8700K processor, with every processor having been tested and handpicked by ROG engineers to ensure the very best performance. When combined with Turbo Gear, these top-of-the-line processors can be overclocked to speeds of up to 4.8 GHz (hexa-core) - that's up to 50% faster than previous-generation processors. It's also even faster than Intel Turbo Boost, which overclocks to a maximum speed of 4.3 GHz (hexa-core).

ASUS introduced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix Fusion 500 gaming headset, a step up from the Strix Fusion 300 the company launched last September. The headset essentially retains the design of the Fusion 300, but steps it up with gold-metallic body panels around the cans, RGB multi-color LED diffusers replacing the red LED accents, which you can control via ASUS Aura Sync RGB software; and under the hood enhancements.

The headset uses a higher quality ESS Sabre 9018 DAC combined with ESS 9601 amplifier. The DAC has a high SNR, and puts out 24-bit/96 kHz audio. The enhanced audio setup is mated with 50 mm ASUS Essence drivers, and improvements made to the passive acoustic dampening material around your ears. ASUS included game-specific virtual-7.1 surround DSPs with this headset. Available now, the ASUS ROG Strix Fusion is priced at USD $179.99, about $50 pricier than the Fusion 300.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that it will unveil the new ROG Swift PG65 big format gaming display (BFGD) with NVIDIA G-SYNC at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. The 65-inch 4K UHD ROG Swift PG65 is the world's largest gaming display format, and is designed to bring uncompromising performance and a giant screen experience that's ideal for PC gaming. The new monitor will be on display at the ROG Showcase Room at Encore Las Vegas, Fairway Villa, from January 9-12, 2018.

ASUS over the weekent, also introduced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix XG32VQ 32-inch curved gaming monitor. The monitor features an 1800R curved VA panel with WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, bolstered further by 144 Hz refresh-rate, 4 ms (GTG) response time, and AMD FreeSync technology. The panel boasts of 125 percent coverage of the sRGB palette, and features 300 cd/m² maximum brightness, with 178°/178° viewing angles.

The monitor features ASUS GameFirst, a set of nifty features such as OSD crosshairs, frame-rate counters, and display presets optimized for the various game genres. An RGB LED ornament is positioned behind the panel, around the stand mount, with the signature laser projected ROG emblem below the stand. Display inputs include DisplayPort 1.2, mini-DisplayPort 1.2, and HDMI 1.4a. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ASUS rolled out a special variant of its Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card commemorating "Assassin's Creed: Origins." The card features a special cooler shroud with bronze-gold die-cast color forming the top half, and a groovy hieroglyph print with ROG and Assassin's Creed logos, on the back-plate, again in bronze-gold. The SKU includes a coupon to the standard edition of "Assassin's Creed: Origins," redeemable on UPlay.

The card is otherwise identical to the ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti OC, including its out of the box clock speeds of 1569/1683 MHz (core/boost), and an untouched 11 GHz (GDDR5X-effective) memory. It also retains the RGB LED lighting along inserts on the cooler shroud, and the ROG logo on the back-plate. This card could be priced at a slight premium over the ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti OC.

ASUS today rolled out the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix Radeon RX 560 DirectCU II EVO graphics card (model: ROG-STRIX-RX560-O4G-EVO-GAMING), a variant of its custom-design RX 560 4 GB DirectCU II graphics card, which relies on the PCI-Express slot entirely for its power, and lacks any additional PCIe power inputs. ASUS seems to have made some pretty big hardware-level trade-offs to achieve slot-only power ability for this card.

The card comes with clock speeds that are below AMD-reference clocks, with 1149 MHz core, with a restrained 1187 MHz boost, and a software-enabled OC mode, which runs the GPU at 1197 MHz, against AMD-reference clocks of 1175 MHz core, 1275 MHz boost. The memory ticks at 6.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective), which is below the 7.00 GHz reference clock. What's even more curious about this card is it features just 896 stream processors, and not the 1,024 that are standard to the RX 560. The card features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory across the chip's 128-bit wide memory interface. The company didn't reveal pricing.

With its new Intel 300-series chipset-based motherboard family, ASUS is redoing the segmentation of its various motherboard brands, with the objective of avoiding too many similarly-priced products that bloat the lineup and confuse buyers. The company articulated its segmentation using a triangle (pictured below). At the bottom of this triangle is the mainline "Prime" series, and interestingly, the TUF (The Ultimate Force) series. The TUF series has until now been attributed to moderately expensive motherboards that are designed with very high durability. They are now relegated to the bottom of ASUS' product-stack, targeted at first-time builders and entry-level gamers. These boards are still built "tough" in that they feature high-grade components, but not as many CPU VRM phases as some of ASUS' more expensive boards.

Another revelation is that the company's mainline "Prime" series, which has served as the bedrock of the company's motherboard lineup before sub-brands such as ROG came along, is now entry-mid range, with just two SKUs based on the Z370 chipset. The Prime Z370-A is recommended for those users who want to cut through the marketing clutter and pick a board that maxes out this platform without too many frills. This move also ends the possibility of higher Prime-series SKUs such as "Deluxe" and "Premium," which were previously associated with SKUs bursting at the seams with onboard connectivity options.

ASUS today rolled out the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Swift PG27VQ curved gaming monitor. This 27-inch monitor with an 1800R curved TN-film panel, offers a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. Bolstering its gaming credentials are a high refresh-rate of 165 Hz, response time as low as 1 ms (GTG), and support for NVIDIA G-SYNC technology. If the 16.8 million colors put out from the display panel itself aren't "RGB lit" enough for you, the monitor features RGB LED elements illuminating a motif behind the panel, and below the monitor stand's pivot; which can be controlled using ASUS Aura Sync RGB software.

Besides putting up a show, the RGB LED elements can be made to work as ambient lighting, which adapts to the display. The GamePlus technology lets you draw OSD crosshairs and frame-rate counter; and GameVisual, which are display presets for various genres of games (FPS, RTS, RPG, etc.). Other key panel specifications include 400 cd/m² maximum brightness, 170°/160° viewing angles, and dynamic mega-contrast ratio. Display inputs include DisplayPort 1.2 (needed for G-SYNC), and HDMI 1.4 (lower than standard refresh rate). The stand offers basic tilt adjustments. The company didn't reveal pricing.

GeIL - Golden Emperor International Ltd. - one of the world's leading PC components & peripheral manufacturers announced EVO X ROG-certified RGB Gaming Memory. As world's first fully RGB illuminated DDR4 memory module with an ASUS ROG certification, EVO X ROG-certified RGB Gaming Memory combines a significant performance boost with RGB lighting effects to give enthusiasts an excellent overclocking and gaming experience.

ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) is recognized as the leader in PC gaming and overclocking performance with a record for delivering the most innovative hardcore hardware for gamers and enthusiasts. GeIL is proud to work with ASUS ROG to provide gamers the most innovative gaming memory, GeIL EVO X ROG-certified RGB Gaming Memory. When paired with certain ASUS ROG motherboards, an automatic performance boost will be enabled for a better overclocking experience.

ASUS today rolled out its latest socket LGA2066 motherboard under its Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix brand, the ROG Strix X299-XE, hinting at "readiness" for 18-core i9-7980XE processors, which Intel plans to launch before the end of this year. This board is 99.999% identical to the ROG Strix X299-E Gaming, except for one difference that should make it to the "Spot the Difference" puzzle of your favorite tabloid - the VRM heatsink.

ASUS has given the X299-XE Gaming a slightly heavier CPU VRM heatsink, and has rigorously tested the VRM to not run into thermal throttling issues, especially when powering high core-count Core i9 processors. The Core X socket LGA2066 platform has already been criticized by professional overclockers as being "a VRM disaster." As we mentioned earlier, the Strix X299-XE is otherwise identical to the Strix X299-E, and it would be disappointing if ASUS attaches a premium for a few extra grams of aluminium and quality-control that should have been done for the Strix X299-E in the first place.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) announced Strix Fusion 300, the first gaming headset in the brand-new ROG Strix Fusion series. Featuring an exclusive, airtight chamber design, 50mm ASUS Essence drivers, built-in virtual 7.1-channel surround sound and ROG Hybrid ear cushions.

Strix Fusion 300 lets users enjoy fully immersive gaming experiences with uncompromising comfort and sound quality. Strix Fusion 300 is compact and lightweight to provide maximum comfort during marathon gaming sessions, and features a futuristic, metallic design accented by stylish lighting effects. Compatible with a wide range of devices - including PC, Mac, game consoles and smartphones - Strix Fusion 300 delivers immersive gaming and media enjoyment at home or on the go.

ASUS today rolled out the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Horus GK2000 RGB mechanical gaming keyboard. A revision of the Horus GK2000 the company launched back in early-2016 with red LED lighting, the Horus GK2000 RGB, as its name suggests, updates the original with RGB LED lighting. The lighting can be controlled by ASUS Aura Sync RGB software, with which you can set color, brightness, and lighting patterns for each individual key. The keyboard features Cherry MX RGB series switches, with 16.8 million-color RGB diodes. ASUS bumped up the keyboard's onboard storage to 8 MB, to locally store not just your macros, but also your lighting settings. Available now, the ASUS ROG Horus GK2000 RGB is expected to be priced at USD $199.

ASUS today introduced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) STRIX Radeon RX Vega 64 O8G graphics card, among its first (and probably the first) custom-design RX Vega 64 to hit the markets (model: ROG-STRIX-RXVEGA64-O8G-GAMING). The card combines a custom-design PCB by ASUS, with the company's latest generation DirectCU III cooling solution the company deploys on its STRIX GTX 1080 Ti graphics card. The cooler features a heat-pipe direct-contact base, from which the heat-pipes pass through two aluminium fin-stacks on their two ends, which are ventilated by a trio of 100 mm spinners. The fans stay off when the GPU is idling. The cooler features RGB multi-color LED lighting along inserts on the cooler shroud, and an ROG logo on the back-plate.

Moving over to the sparsely populated PCB (thanks in part to AMD's HBM2 move), the card draws power from a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors, conditioning it for the GPU with a 13-phase VRM. The O8G variant features factory-overclocked speeds that are close to those of the RX Vega 64 Liquid Edition, although ASUS didn't specify them. There's a "non-O8G" variant that sticks to reference clock speeds, boosting to around 1495-1510 MHz. What ASUS is really selling here is better clock sustainability under load, lower noise, and zero idle-noise; besides all the ROG STRIX bells and whistles. The card also drives two 4-pin PWM case fans in-sync with the cards, like most ROG STRIX graphics cards from this generation. ASUS also rolled out the ROG STRIX RX Vega 56, which features the same exact PCB, and sticks to AMD reference speeds. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ASUS today introduced its flagship socket LGA2066 motherboard for Intel Core X processors, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage VI Apex. Originally announced alongside the Rampage VI Extreme, the Apex is positioned above it in the company's product stack; and is targeted at professional overclockers chasing down CPU and VGA performance records. Although built in the ATX form-factor, the PCB of the Rampage VI Apex features an asymmetric polygonal design. It draws power from a large number of connectors to stabilize each of its power domains; these include the 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, a 4-pin ATX, and a 6-pin PCIe power.

Power is conditioned for the CPU using a high-current VRM, which is cooled not just by the VRM heatsink, but also a secondary heatsink block under the I/O shroud, to which heat is conveyed by a heat-pipe. The board may not be as heavy as the Rampage VI Extreme in expansion, in featuring just four DDR4 DIMM slots (one per channel), for example; but makes up for with higher overclocking headroom. It features a plethora of overclocker-friendly features, including onboard buttons for key OC functions, voltage measurement hard-points for every voltage domain around the board, and diagnostic LEDs all around. The company didn't reveal pricing or availability.

More pictures emerge of ASUS' flagship socket TR4 motherboard for AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Zenith Extreme X399. Halfway between the width of a standard ATX and an E-ATX motherboard, the Zenith Extreme doesn't appear as crowded around the CPU socket as some of the other socket TR4 motherboards showed off at AMD's Computex 2016 reveal, this June. The CPU is powered by a high-current 8-phase VRM, and to preempt VRM overheating issues as seen on Intel X299 platform motherboards, ASUS deployed an active VRM cooling solution. Heat drawn by the VRM heatsink is transported to a secondary heatsink under the rear I/O shroud by a heat-pipe, which is ventilated by a 40 mm fan, which vents hot air through the rear.

The TR4 socket is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 128 GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory; and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. Interestingly, these slots are wired x16/x8/x16/x8, even though the Ryzen Threadripper processor features 64 PCI-Express lanes, according to AMD. Other expansion slots include an open-ended PCI-Express 3.0 x4, and an x1 slot. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and an optional 4-pin Molex input. Storage includes four 32 Gb/s M.2 slots (two under the detachable chipset heatsink cover, and the other through the included DIMM.2 accessory), a 32 Gb/s U.2 port, and six SATA 6 Gbps ports. The metallic chipset heatsink cover features thermal padding, so it can draw heat from at least one stacked M.2 SSD.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is excited to launch Pugio, an ambidextrous gaming mouse that offers ultimate customizability to meet the needs of most hardcore gamers. Its configurable side buttons let you decide on your own side button layout, while exclusive push-fit switch sockets offer variable click resistance. The push-fit design makes it easy to replace worn out switches to extend the lifespan of the mouse. The Pugio features stunning, aggressive aesthetics to match its performance - including angular ASUS Aura RGB light channels with Aura Sync support.

Ambidextrous mice with side buttons usually feature a mirrored button layout to accommodate both right- and left-handed gamers. The drawback of this design is that it often results in side button misclicks. Even with the buttons disabled, they can still be distracting. With the ROG Pugio, there's no need to change your grip style to avoid the buttons. The Pugio has configurable magnetic side buttons on both flanks to give you a truly ambidextrous and ergonomic gaming mouse. Simply swap the buttons out and replace them with the side button covers: use four, two, or no side buttons - the options are all yours.

ASUS showed off its flagship gaming headset, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Centurion 7.1. This headset lets you have true 7.1-channel audio even when you don't have 8-channel analog jacks, the headset takes input from HDMI ports. Almost all modern graphics cards and motherboard integrated graphics solutions these days come with 7.1-channel digital audio routed through HDMI. This headset lets you plug into those, so you can enjoy some of the DSPs exclusive to those solutions, instead of ASUS having to certify its USB DACs with them. NVIDIA, for example, recently added Dolby Atmos to its GPU-integrated audio through a recent driver update. Both NVIDIA and AMD support top of the line DSPs.

The headset feature 10 independent sound drivers - 40 mm fronts, 40 mm (low-tuned) sub-woofer, 30 mm centers (there have to be one in each ear), 20 mm sides, and 20 mm rears. ASUS guarantees at least 90% environmental noise cancellation, although it didn't mention if it was an active setup (using destructive interference) or just good insulation. The drivers are powered by an ESS 9601 amplifier chip. Don't have an HDMI port to spare? No problems, just use the included DAC pod with a USB connection. You might not get access to the GPU's DSPs, but you still have good quality audio.

ASUS, through its ROG (Republic of Gamers)brand, has started teasing what is to be one of the first Ryzen-powered gaming laptops. Other than Ryzen's circular orange logo and the ROG brand, the video doesn't offer any specifics of what hardware rests under the hood. The clip includes the words "something has awakened," and the post is accompanied by the hashtag #Computex2017.

ASUS today introduced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) STRIX X370-F Gaming motherboard, positioned below its flagship ROG Crosshair VI Hero, but above its Prime X370-Pro upper mid-range motherboard. Based on the AMD X370 chipset, and ready for socket AM4 Ryzen processors, the board is characterized by its RGB LED lighting chops. The VRM and chipset heatsinks feature RGB LEDs with diffusers, the board is peppered with status LEDs, and features RGB LED headers. The included ASUS Aura Sync RGB lets you orchestrate your LED setup.

Built in the ATX form-factor, the STRIX X370-F Gaming draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. A 10-phase VRM conditions power for the AM4 SoC, which is wired to four reinforced DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory; and two reinforced PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x8/x8 with both populated), with NVIDIA SLI support. The third x16 slot is electrical x4 and wired to the chipset. Three other x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion.

ASUS today introduced a variant of its flagship socket AM4 motherboard, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Crosshair VI Hero, featuring an onboard WLAN module. The new Crosshair VI Hero Wi-Fi AC, as its name suggests, features 802.11ac WLAN. The module also features MU-MIMO, and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. ASUS includes a dual-MIMO antenna the company bundles with several of its Wi-Fi enabled motherboards. Besides the wireless networking module, the board is identical to the original ASUS launched its socket AM4 motherboard lineup with. The included ASUS GameFirst IV software lets you distribute Internet connectivity between two interfaces, the WLAN, and the wired gigabit Ethernet connection, letting you task latency-sensitive tasks such as your game and video stream to the wired network, and low-priority background Internet tasks to the WLAN. The Crosshair VI Hero Wi-Fi AC could be priced at a $25 premium over the original's list price of $249.

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd is proud to announce the PC-O11WGX, certified by Asus Republic of Gamers and updated with USB 3.1 Type-C connector on the front panel. The new PC-O11WGX also comes with the popular O11-1 accessory kit with PCI-E riser cable for vertical graphics card mounting in the box! Furthermore, the front panel features exquisite ROG silk screen detailing and improved liquid cooling compatibility.

The ROG branded PC-O11WGX has been built with feedback from Lian Li PC-O11 users. This is evident by optimized layout for disks on the rear of the chassis, it can fit three 2.5" drives. This puts more focus on liquid cooling and with space for three 360mm radiators for liquid cooling (or three 120mm fans) there is enough capacity for any thermal challenge inside the PC-O11WGX.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced Gladius II, the successor to the popular ROG Gladius optical gaming mouse. Gladius II features an ergonomic right-handed design that is optimized for first-person shooter (FPS) games. It has an exclusive push-fit switch socket design for varied click resistance, and durable switches rated to at least 50 million clicks. In addition, it features a dedicated DPI target button for more accurate sniping, an advanced 12000 DPI optical sensor and ASUS Aura RGB lighting technology with Aura Sync support.

ROG Gladius II was designed with input from professional gamers to ensure the right look and feel. The result is a comfortable gaming mouse that's optimized for FPS shooters and designed for right-handed gamers and all grip types. It features the ASUS-exclusive push-fit switch socket design that allows gamers to vary click resistance, and extend the lifespan of the mouse by replacing worn switches. Gladius II uses durable Omron mouse switches that are rated to at least 50 million clicks, and is bundled with an additional pair of high-quality Japanese-made Omron switches should gamers want a different click feel.