• DreamHack TV
• Twitch TV

• TV6

• ROG Nordics Facebook page 
• ROG Nordics Twitter

All upcoming ROG laptops and desktops will have this wallpaper pre-installed. If you want to create your own official ROG rig: click-for-big on the picture to get 1080p!

For more desktop wallpapers, visit our gallery!

We're a little late posting this up - sorry! - but here's the official word on the new Rampage IV Black Edition - the ultimate LGA2011 motherboard - which is (finally) available. Hit the PR button below and in addition, also check out our previous article, and the official video for more info!

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Here's a taster of our new ROG graphics card below, to see how we designed its shape and styling. You'll see more very soon (especially those of you attending Dreamhack Winter!)

What is Realbench?

Realbench is a benchmark that uses open source applications and simple scripting to simulate real-world performance of a PC system. It's designed for to show the difference:

• Before and after a PC upgrade
• To gauge the real effect of an overclock
• To gauge the real effect of BIOS tweaks

Who can use it?

Anyone! As long as you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, any PC or laptop can run the benchmark to get a score!

Who can upload scores?

• PCs with ASUS motherboards
• G series laptops

Both can upload scores to the leaderboard and compared directly with other, similar systems to show you how to improve your performance. Achievement badges can be won as well!

The Tests

Realbench features several open source software's with the latest CPU extensions, which each test a different part of the system:

• GIMP Image Editing

This focuses on single threaded CPU and memory performance, therefore CPU clock speed and memory efficiency (timings + frequency) are the keys to a good score. It uses up to SSE4.2 CPU extensions.

• Handbrake h.264 video compression.

This focuses on multi-threaded CPU and cache performance, therefore the more CPU threads, cache and clock speed you have the better the score. It uses up to AVX CPU extensions.

• LuxMark rendering

This focuses entirely on OpenCL performance. It will check for GPU accelerated OpenCL first, before defaulting to CPU if it isn't present. It is also compatible with AMD's upcoming hUMA between APU and GPU. It scales perfectly across all available resources, so the more OpenCL capable GPUs installed the better the score. OpenCL driver efficiency is also key to this test, with some components performing better than others. The test runs for a fixed period and is calculated on the sustained KSample/sec the system can generate.

• Heavy Multitasking.

Test uses a combination of the above tests to simulate a heavy multitasking scenario that loads the entire system.

Note: All the tests need to be selected in order to get a final score!

Uploading Your Score

Once you have a score, click the Upload button in the menu bar. Firstly login using your ASUS VIP email address and password (the same you use for ROG forums) and then select the Upload menu again and hit upload! The red text along the bottom of the app will tell you the status.

Note: Uploading a result can only be done straight after the benchmark has been performed. The 'save for later' option is currently under development.

General Benchmarking Notes

When benchmarking there are some common practices that will help maximize your score. These include:

• Running Realbench after a fresh system boot-up or restart.
• Close as many background applications and taskbar services as possible as these take up resources.
• Run Realbench from the fastest storage possible. Try the ROG RAMDisk software if you have this, or simply an SSD is better than HDD for performance.
• Make sure your drivers are up-to-date.
• Serious benchmarkers will want to use a fresh Windows/driver install.

Stress Test

Like the benchmark, the stress test is designed to push every part of the system - CPU, cache, memory, GPU and storage with the real-world apps - to find any element of instability or weakness in your PC build.

It's system load is even higher than that of the heavy multitasking. The benchmarks run in the background and loop asynchronously, providing both a very high sustained load and momentarily load change challenges for your system. This is better than an synthetic apps that provide sustained, iterative heavy loading like MemTest or Prime95.

The stress test can be set to test 4-16GB of system memory and can be set to run for 15 minutes to 8 hours. Unlike the Realbench benchmarks, the PC system can still be used while the stress test is running. Instead it is stopped by the stop button within the app.

Our fans have been asking for a DirectCU II version of the R9 290X, so here’s an exclusive sneak preview of the ASUS R9 290X DirectCU II!

ROG Swift PG278Q (extended spec list)

• Display: 27-inch (16:9) wide screen
• Resolution: 2560 × 1440 WQHD with 1ms response rate.
• Brightness: 350cd/m²
• Connectivity: DisplayPort, USB 3.0 ports (upstream x 1, downstream × 3), 3.5mm earphone jack
• Ergonomic Tilt (+20° ~ -5°), swivel (+60° ~ -60°), pivot (90° clockwise), height adjustment (0 ~ 120mm)
• VESA wall mountable (100 × 100mm)

ASUS Exclusive

• ASUS GamePlus
• 5-way menu controller, 
• Minimum bezel, Maximum ROG design!

Quick QnA:

What is ASUS GamePlus?

The crosshair overlay and timer-count down - the VG248QE (the one Nvidia originally used to demonstrate G-Sync) which also includes this feature!

What is the 5-way menu control?

On the right-hand side of the monitor, a tiny joystick with 5-way movement is used to control the OSD. This makes any monitor adjustments extremely easy and quick, greatly improving the user experience!

Why only a single DisplayPort connection?

Nvidia’s G-Sync input currently requires DisplayPort in order to function, so this is the only input available.

Does it come bundled with a DP cable?

Yes! ROG will bundle a high-quality DisplayPort cable.

Minimum graphic card requirement?

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost or more recent equivalent is required.

Why is the display TN rather than IPS/PVA/MVA, etc?

When can I buy one?

The PG278Q Swift will be available in the next few months - keep an eye on ROG site for updates!

ROG just announced its Swift PG278Q premium gaming monitor at CES 2014. We've got a few pictures and quick QnA in our other post, but if you're looking for the official word of ASUS, hit the PR button below for more details!

I love Boost My PC episodes, and the Czech team along with Hitpoint.cz always make for interesting viewing beyond just nipping to someone’s house to dish out an upgrade. This time it’s Mulder and Scully to the rescue…

[Note: There's English subtitles]

If you’ve missed out on the other Boost My PC episodes, our new ROG YouTube channel has a playlist for you to catch up on.

Related articles:

1. Video: Boost My PC – Czech Episode 2
2. Video: Boost My PC – Czech Episode 3
3. Video: Boost My PC – Singapore Episode 1

North American gamers can now buy the VG248QE G-Sync upgrade kit direct from Nvidia for around $200. Nvidia also has a how-to video shown below. 

For those who don’t yet own the VG248QE, here’s a few North American stores to have a look at! 

• Newegg.com 
• Newegg.ca
• Tigerdirect
• BestBuy

(Notice anywhere else, please let us know and we’ll add it to the list!)

Please note: The VG248QE G-Sync user upgrade is unwarranted by ASUS. It’s entirely performed at your own risk and voids the VG248QE warranty, regardless if the fault is directly related to the G-Sync module or not. While we appreciate people want to upgrade their monitors at the earliest opportunity, for those who want the security of a warranty, the bigger ROG Swift PG278Q with G-Sync will be available in a couple of short months!

Related articles:

1. NVIDIA shows off G-SYNC at BlizzCon 2013
2. Nvidia Announces G-Sync For Monitors
3. Video: ASUS VG248QE 144Hz Gaming Monitor

Debuted at Computex 2013, the Poseidon concept card was redesigned over the course of 6 months to better its performance and core design. That pre-release Poseidon is shown below.

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Why show you this card when we've just launched the final design? We feel it's a demonstration of ROG's ongoing process of testing and design refinement. Fundamentally both featured a copper vapor chamber that efficiently lifts the heat from the GPU core and spreads it evenly over the DirectCU II heatpipes, aluminum fins and water-channel - however, the new version (as in, the one you buy, shown below) significantly grew its air cooling stack with more fins and fatter heatpipes, which provide a superb air cooled DirectCU experience its fans (*pun-cough*) have come to expect.

Add water, and the temps drop up to 24C further, depending on factors like radiator size, other components in the loop and the ambient air temperature. The connectors are standard G1/4, which means they accept all common type of barbs to match the dimensions and aesthetics of your water cooling loop.

The heatsink is still kept dual-slot as well, meaning that it'll neatly fit SLI setups (on ROG motherboards, we hope!) and is compatible to work with other GTX 770 or GTX 780 cards (matching the one you use), if you need.

The key element is the Poseidon's DirectCU H2O is a hybrid cooler: it can be either air or water cooled at any time, so if you do change your cooling setup you don't have to add to the expense of an upgrade, or, void your warranty replacing the cooler.

ROG accepts it won't be quite as high performance as a full waterblock - and we will still work with great water cooling designers like EK to make full-cover blocks - but what the Poseidon offers is a much lower cost jump into water cooling. Typically full cover blocks can cost up to $100, which is an expensive upgrade for only a few degrees extra performance. Since you can already cut up to 24C from air cooling, the Poseidon's Direct H2O - like the Maximus VI Formula's CrossChill - offers a genuinely good-enough interim of better performance and more potential OC overhead.

On the outside it has ROG's trademark angular design, with a mix of red, dark grey and the white Poseidon name proudly stamped on the shroud. Underneath this there's a lick of orange copper, but the shine of nickel-plated heatpipes and aluminum fins dominates the view. While during installation that disappears into the depths of a dark PC case; plugged in and fired up you'll find the ROG logo is immediately noticeable as it pulses red.

The PCB is entirely custom designed by ROG engineers, with upgraded power hardware that's a combination of long life, lower temp and more total power hardware for overclocking stability. This is the Super Alloy Power hardware and those familiar with the DirectCU range will have used it before. As a testament to its reliability, it's been a relied on feature for several generations of graphics cards now.

It specifically consists of 10k black metallic caps, "SAP branded" solid ferrite chokes, large fuses at the power input as over current protection and more recently POSCAPs on the direct opposite side of the GPU to give it additional power at minimum distance, reducing EMI and any potential voltage drop.

The ROG Poseidon is available in GTX 780 and (~Feb 2014) GTX 770 models and for more information please refer to the product pages.

For PQ321 owners, or anyone with a smaller screen (they will downscale!), we've got eight Poseidon Ultra HD wallpapers for you to download for your PC desktop!

RealBench v2 FAQ Index:

• What is ROG Realbench
• What is new in version 2?
• It's "ROG" Realbench, so there must be ASUS favoritism, right?
• What isn't allowed?
• Why 64-bit only?

Benchmarking and Scores

• How do I use it?
• My CPU isn't being fully loaded - is there a problem?
• The OpenCL score remains the same - is there a problem?
• I got a great score! What now?
• I didn't get a great score, how do I get a better score?

Stress Test

• What is the stress test?
• How does it compare to other 'stress tests'?

Problems

• Why does the benchmarking run keep stopping?
• Where is that sound coming from?
• The CPU usage counter is stuck at 0.

Cost and Downloading

• Is it free?
• If it's free, can I put it on a file-sharing website/P2P?

Is your question not listed above? Try this further tips & tricks thread or join us in the RealBench forum.

What is ROG RealBench?
RealBench uses real, open source applications to test your PC as it would perform in productivity apps. The RealBench application simply wraps and scripts these open source productivity apps to time how long they take at image editing, video encoding or multi-tasking, or how powerful the hardware is for rendering via OpenCL.

Although it can be used competitively (with its score upload function to our online leaderboard), it's primarily designed as a benchmark for everyone. Compare your results against others, or, compare to your own pre/post overclocks, before/after upgrades; all to understand how to get the best PC.

Select the four tests and run the benchmark to get your result. Each test uses different combinations of a PC subsystem, so all areas are covered.

What’s new in version 2?

Version 2 has superseded 2013’s v1.1 with additional features such as:

• New OpenCL test (which scales perfectly across all available GPU or CPU)
• Updated open source benchmarks with the latest features and functions
• New PC stress test with selectable timed runs and memory loads
• Score upload function with online leaderboard and achievements
• PC settings auto-detection
• Launch ROG CPU-Z directly from the app!

It's "ROG" Realbench, so there must be ASUS favoritism, right?

By using open source apps there is absolutely no ASUS-bias.

• Why did ASUS ROG bother to make it then?

Listening to our community we found no free, modern (e.g. using SSE4 and AVX extensions, and testing DXVA) single benchmark that tests productive apps anyone can use. This performance knowledge gives a sense of real value to an upgrade, overclock or simple BIOS tweak, so we took it on ourselves to create one. Please share it and compare with anyone looking to evaluate their system!

What isn't allowed?

1. Cheating, obviously. The only prize you win is the lemons you suck.
2. Disassembling/reverse engineering the app, replacing the images/video, re-branding it as another is all strictly forbidden. By all means share it as a whole between trusted friends, but don't take it apart. Thanks!

Why 64-bit only?

We made the conscious choice to focus on a 64-bit version only. We believe everyone should be running a 64-bit OS these days considering modern GPU/DDR3 memory capacities. Equally, we've not tested it on antiquated XP-64, and since less than 1% of our site visitors use Vista, we've solely focused on Win 7 and Win 8/8.1.

How do I use it?

Download it from the link on the RealBench page, extract the contents of the RAR file to any directory of your preference and then run RealBench.exe.

There is no install function, so no services or registry entries are installed and you can copy the folder freely; even running it from an external drive or USB stick! However, the storage medium performance will affect the score - so we strongly recommend running it from your fastest storage medium (usually an SSD)!

My CPU isn’t being fully loaded – is there a problem?

Your CPU is not the only indicator of system performance. Synthetic benchmarks often isolate one part of the system and load it fully to express ‘maximum performance’, but this is not how your PC works day-to-day in applications. Since RealBench uses real-world apps, these react to the total system performance that includes every component AND the software/driver layer on top. This may be single-threaded CPU and memory performance as much as multi-threaded CPU, storage and driver performance.

The OpenCL score remains the same - is there a problem?

As the OpenCL benchmark scales perfectly across all available GPUs, we found during beta testing that those with more GPUs ultimately ruled the leaderboard. Thus, we took the conscious decision to de-weight the OpenCL result in the overall score in order to balance its result among all the system components.

OpenCL is dependent on driver performance as much as hardware, and the result is based on the amount of KSample/second that can the generated. If your score does not change at all, even after significant hardware changes, check your OpenCL driver is installed correctly.

I got a great score! What now?

Awesome! If you have an ASUS motherboard or ROG G series laptop, you can upload the result to the leaderboard from within the app. Simply login using your ROG forum information. If you don’t have the correct motherboard/gaming notebook, please still feel free to come share it in our RealBench forum.

I didn't get a great score... how do I get a better score?

Please read our benchmarks tips and insights.

What is the stress test benchmark?

What it says on the tin! If you want something less synthetic than Prime95, our Blender stress test will iteratively load your system with varying data-sets. Use this to 'burn in' an overclock or test long-term stability.

How does it compare to other ‘stress tests’?

While other stress tests may load up a certain part/limited parts of the system solidly, the RealBench stress test loads the whole system (except HDD/SSD significantly, to avoid wear) combining the multi-tasking test with Blender rendering (another open source app). Each app finishes asynchronously causing the load to occasionally drop and shift between system components, as each of the tests restarts. We have found this pseudo-random oscillation pushes the system harder.

Why does the benchmark keep stopping?

If you move the mouse or touch the keyboard while it's running, the benchmark will automatically abort. This is an anti-cheat mechanism to prevent tampering with the settings or apps while it runs.

Where is this sound coming from?

During the multi-tasking test we play a video, so please note it has sound - watch your speaker volume before you run the test as any mouse movement or keyboard activity activates the anti-cheat mechanism to auto-exit the benchmark.

The CPU load counter is stuck at 0.

If your CPU load counter does not work, it means that Windows performance counters in your Windows installation are corrupted. You will find perfmon and/or perflib related errors if you check your Event Viewer. To fix, open a command prompt window as admin and run "lodctr /R". Then reboot. This will rebuild the performance counters. If you still find they are corrupted there is likely more serious corruption in your Windows installation, so a clean Windows re-installation is strongly advised.

Is it free?

100% free to download, use and share between friends. Imagine if we made games!

Can I put it on a file-sharing website/p2p?

While we do want it shared, we encourage this only happens directly between trusted friends. Why? We can only guarantee it is safe to use by hosting the original ourselves on ROG. If you are unsure, please only use and link to the download link from this website. Thanks for your understanding!

The ROG Front Base is a control panel that fits in two 5.25-inch bays within your PC case. While the OC Panel is aimed at more extreme users, with its liquid nitrogen-styled support for features such as VGA Hotwire and Subzero Sense, the Front Base is aimed at gamers who want all this;

• Ultimate audio companion - Awesome front 3.5mm jack sound quality
• One-click overclocking - Press for instant extra performance
• Hit the button, hide your game - ‘Escape Mode’ instantly hides your gaming activity — any time
• Monitor your system and control multiple fans – real-time management of the CPU cooler and up to four other case fans. All of them can be controlled individually.
• Always-on USB charger - Quick charge in sleep, hibernate and shutdown modes

First things first though - on with the unboxing! If you're surfing the shop shelves you'll easily spot ROG gear in its red livery.

Pop the lid and take out the Front Base. Underneath you'll find the cables and manuals.

In the box you get:

• Front base panel
• User manual, quick start guide and safety info
• Driver disc
• ROG case badge!
• High quality front audio cable
• Internal connector to compatible motherboards

The internal connector cable is required to active the special features on the Front Base, and naturally you'll need a compatible motherboard (Maximus VI series or Rampage IV Black Edition) for them to function.

The internal cable that passes front audio/microphone between motherboard and front 3.5mm jacks are actually two separate high-quality, shielded audio cables strapped together beneath the cable braid, separating headphone audio from microphone input. Usually this cable is integrated into the PC chassis, but it's a low-quality, unshielded steel cable, which undoes the benefit of SupremeFX's high-quality audio. By using a high-quality, shielded cable the interlink retains the sound quality between motherboard and headset.

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Around back and there's three connectors (left to right): (SATA) power, internal motherboard data cable, front panel audio cable.

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Powered up and the Front Base looks like this:

Along the bottom there are the front headphone/microphone ports, (always on) USB port, three buttons for Escape Mode, One Click OC and power. The silver knob controls the settings such as fan speeds.

Read-outs include the time, motherboard in use, CPU frequency, fan speeds, temperatures, Sonic Radar mode (along the bottom) and whether the One Click OC has been activated.

We want to see your Front Base's installed in your case - so please share with us in the forums!

• DirectCU II heatsink technology: 20% cooler. 3X quieter. New black fins and heatpipes
• CoolTech Fan Technology: Hybrid design for multi-directional cooling.
• Memory Defroster: Instant defrost for LN2 overclockers. Say goodbye to cold bugs!
• LN2 Mode / STD Mode Jumper Switch: Unleash the maximum GPU power.
• Safe Mode: One-press VBIOS restore
• DIGI+ VRM with Black Metallic Capacitors and 14-phase Super Alloy Power: 30%-less power-noise and 5X-greater durability
• ROG Color-coded Load Indicator: At-a-glance GPU load level

The overall design of both the MATRIX cards includes combination fan system with CoolTech fan, with new black heatsink fins and heatpipes.

Upgrades! Get your upgrades now!

The 17-inch ROG G750 has three new models: G750JZ, G750JS and G750JM, which correspond to GPU upgrades GTX 880M (JZ), GTX 870M (JS) and GTX 860M (Maxwell version) (JM) respectively. Relative performance gains versus the previous generation are up to 50% extra FPS for the GTX 860M and 870M, and 15% for the 880M.

It's more than just a GPU swap-out though, as the cooling hardware has been upgraded with copper infused cooling gear (as below) giving it more heat capacity to overclock via the new 'ASUS TurboMaster' technology.

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The new copper GPU heatsink is on the left, versus the previous G750's heatsink on the right. This is the second generation of design enhancements made to the ROG notebook GPU heatsink specifically; we covered the first generation's custom design by ROG engineers here.

The Nvidia GTX 800M series hardware also supports the latest Battery Boost and ShadowPlay technologies. Battery Boost lets the user set a target frame-rate in the GeForce Experience, meaning the GPU doesn't work harder than you need, saving the juice, while in the same app ShadowPlay records your gaming in the background for sharing online in things like Let's Play videos.

Hit the PR button below the pics for the full info.

Revealed last week in our picture filled expose, ROG has now officially launches the Matrix R9 290X and Matrix GTX 780 Ti graphics cards. A brief overview of the new features are listed below - and we'll have an unboxing on site soon!

Finally, hit the PR button below the pictures for official word and specs.

• DirectCU II heatsink technology: 20% cooler. 3X quieter. New black fins and heatpipes
• CoolTech Fan Technology: Hybrid design for multi-directional cooling.
• Memory Defroster: Instant defrost for LN2 overclockers. Say goodbye to cold bugs!
• LN2 Mode / STD Mode Jumper Switch: Unleash the maximum GPU power.
• Safe Mode: One-press VBIOS restore
• DIGI+ VRM with Black Metallic Capacitors and 14-phase Super Alloy Power: 30%-less power-noise and 5X-greater durability
• ROG Color-coded Load Indicator: At-a-glance GPU load level