manufactures had by far the most interesting
booths. Before you conclude that this sentiment
is expressed by way of only appreciating the
booth babes, know that it would still hold true
even if all the eye candy was absent. This is
simply because despite our appreciation for all
things aesthetically pleasing (as made evident
with Issue 19’s front cover) when it comes to
the hardware we are all about the functionality
and performance. To that end we were actually
pleased by what we saw on most stands.
We didn’t get to cover each and every square
meter of the showroom floor but are but a few
of the places where we spent some time and
this is what we observed.
ASROCK
Asrock showed off several of their
motherboards at the show as you’d expect but
we’d say that the biggest attraction of the booth
were celebrated overclockers Nick-Shih and
Suicide Phoenix showing what the OC-Formula
board could deliver under the right hands.
Needless to say we were impressed with the
numerous records they broke with the board
and if it doesn’t say anything about the quality
of the board. It does say that it’s as capable
as any other overclocking board out there,
so that’s one to watch out for in future. Dual
post LEDs and direct clock adjustments look
to be the order of the day. If it’s not Asrock’s
best board yet, it is at least their best looking
motherboard. As for the appeal of OC-Formula
board, we aren’t sure how many will sell based
on a signature alone, we do think Nick-“Pimp
Hand” Shih would sell a little more.
ASUS
ASUS showed up in a massive way, with
what seemed to be an entire booth dedicated
solely to their impressive ROG products.
All their champion products were present
form their DirectCUII parts to their latest
ROG motherboards and more. There was no
overclocking at any of the booths themselves
but nobody doubts ASUS when it comes to
manufacturing anything component wise.
Their acclaimed and celebrated Xonar cards
were present as well, along with newer entries
such as the ROG Xonar Phoebus, sporting some
nifty technologies for the dedicated gamers. We
didn’t get to spend too much time with it, but
suffice to say it’s looking mighty impressive.
The ASUS ZEUS made a showing as well,
featuring on board dual GPU graphics centered
around the X79 platform. Be it, it ends up
coming into production or not, the fact that it
actually exists is impressive. It’s one of those
products that do more to show engineering
ability and prowess more than anything else.
Even behind the glass it looked like serious
32 The OverClocker Issue 20 | 2012
ASUS
BITFENIX