CES 2017 is underway, and the hardware OEMs are out in full force. Asus is showing off a number of products from its Republic of Gamers enthusiast line, and we have to say, they're pretty cool. Most of the ROG products feature Asus's Aura Sync RGB lighting system, but more importantly, they look to offer excellent features and performance. Here's what we saw:
The ROG Maximus IX Extreme is one of Asus's new top-end gaming motherboards. This beastly board features a built-in CPU water-cooler block (equipped with RGB lighting, of course). The cool part is the board can detect leaks in the water-cooling system and immediately cut the power automatically, making sure to minimize any damage the leak might cause.
Another of the new Maximus IX boards, the Apex, features two DDR4 DIMM slots as well as a third 'DIMM' slot that can be fit with a module to take dual M.2 SSDs. If that sounds crazy, well, it's technically not a third DIMM slot—it just looks like one. It's a proprietary slot that routes PCIe lanes to a riser card with two M.2 x4 slots. Putting the M.2 drives on the riser card gets them away from hot components like the graphics card(s), and it also allows the use of RAM coolers (like those Corsair ships with some of their memory), which can keep your fast M.2 SSDs from throttling.
Several new monitors are on display, including the ROG Swift PG258Q, which features a blisteringly fast 240Hz native refresh rate, and the Designo Curve MX38VQ, a 38-inch curved IPS panel with a 3840x1600 resolution. And don't forget about the ROG Swift PG27UQ, the everything-you-could-ever-want monitor that boasts a 27-inch IPS display, HDR support, 4K resolution, and 144Hz refresh rate (with Nvidia G-Sync, of course).
Here you can see three new gaming mice: the ROG Strix Evolve, ROG Gladius II, and ROG Strix Impact, all of which feature customizable Aura Sync RGB lighting. The Evolve features an interchangeable top cover design that enables four different ergonomic shapes, while the Gladius II has an "easy-swap switch socket design." Finally, the impact is lightweight, designed for marathon gaming sessions.
The ROG Strix Magnus is another peripheral adorned with Asus's Aura Sync lighting. We're not quite sure that a gaming/streaming microphone really needs to have RGB lighting, but when the rest of your system glows, why not go all-in.
Asus also has plans to enter the mesh router market with the HiveDot and HiveSpot, a three-access-point system that provides omnipresent Wi-Fi across multiple rooms or in multi-story homes.
Here's a look at some of the other cool stuff on display:
