Last October 16, gamers from all over the Metro convened at the Crowne Plaza to witness the launch of Asus’ Gamer series motherboards, and the Strix line of graphics cards and gaming accessories. A total of three motherboards were launched by the tech giant, namely the: H97-Pro Gamer, the B85-Pro Gamer, and the A88X-Gamer. The event was held in partnership with popular MMORPG Dragon Nest publisher, Cherry Credits.
Michelle Lim, Asus Marketing Manager – Singapore, addresses the gamers in attendance
Think of the newest Gamer series as budget versions of the premium Republic of Gamers motherboards. The former are more affordable but sports less gaming features than the latter. Still, they bring enough to satisfy the needs of nonprofessional gamers.
Jose Gamaliel Felongco, Asus Philippines Technical PR Specialist explains the new Gamer motherboards
Besides being built from high-quality materials, the Gamer motherboards support the means for great graphics, immersive audio, and reliable networking, on top of creature comforts that will make your video game life easier.
For audio, you have a SupremeFX channel with ELNA premium audio capacitors which provides headphone amplification, jack-detection, multi-streaming, and shielding; Sonic Radar which provides a graphical overlay of in-game sounds, helpful for first person shooters. The H97-Pro Gamer features an improved Sonic Radar II with a better user interface and support for 64-bit games.
NBA 2K15 running on a rig with a Gamer motherboard, Strix graphics card, and Strix accessories
For connectivity, the Gamer motherboards have built-in Intel Gigabit Ethernet with GameFirst II technology which prioritizes video game bandwidth for lesser ping and lag in multiplayer games; and numerous USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports for peripherals. Additionally, the H97 comes with M.2 and Sata Express Support for interfacing speeds up to 10GB/s.
Asus-built computers with Dragon Nest
There are also various features designed to improve your system’s life, like Gamer’s Guardian for protection against power influxes; Fan Xpert2 for controlling fan speeds; and AI Suite III software for controlling every component of the motherboard. Meanwhile, the A88X-Gamer contains most of the features above, and is specifically made for AMD processors and chipsets.
Finally, two new graphics cards were introduced during the event, the Strix GTX 750Ti and Strix GTX 980 OC. Both are overclocked out of the box and come with DirectCU II cooling solution and dual fans to keep all that temperature in check. Also, they remain off up to 65-degrees Celsius so you won’t be bothered by buzzing when you’re doing non-graphics intensive tasks such as processing documents, watching movies, and even some light gaming.
Dragon Nest cosplayers with the Asus products
The Gamer series motherboards sell for PHP 4,950 (B85-Pro Gamer), PHP 6,890 (H97-Pro Gamer), and PHP 5,490 (A88X-Gamer); while the Strix GTX 750Ti OC is tagged at PHP 8,720. The Strix accessories, the GTX 970 OC, and the GTX 980 OC will be priced and released in the coming months.
SPECIFICATIONS:
H97-Pro Gamer |
|
| CPU socket | LGA1150 socket for the 4th, new 4th & 5th-generation Intel® Core™ i7/ Core™ i5 / Core™ i3, Pentium®, and Celeron® processors |
| Chipset | Intel H97 Express |
| Memory | 4 x DIMMs, up to a maximum of 32GB, DDR3 1600MHzSupports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
| Expansion slots | 1 x PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x16 slot1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (x4 mode maximum)2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots3 x PCI slots |
| Graphics (VGA) | Integrated Intel HD GraphicsMulti-VGA output support: HDMI, DVI-D, RGB ports |
| Multi-GPU | AMD quad-GPU CrossFireX™ technology |
| Storage connectivity | 1 x SATA Express connector1 x M.2 socket 3 (with M key — 2260/2280-type storage devices supported, in both SATA and PCI Express mode)4 x SATA 6Gbit/s connectors |
| Networking/LAN | Intel Gigabit Ethernet with ASUS GameFirst II |
| USB | 6 x USB 3.0 ports (4 on back panel, 2 mid-board)8 x USB 2.0 ports (2 on back panel, 6 mid-board) |
| Audio | SupremeFX Formula 8-channel high-definition audio- Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel MIC Jack-retasking- High quality 115dB SNR stereo playback output- ELNA® premium audio capacitors- SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology- Sonic Radar II- Headphone AMP- Optical S/PDIF out port at back pane |
| Dimensions / form factor | ATX, 12-inch x 9.6-inch (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| B85-Pro Gamer | |
| CPU socket | LGA1150 socket for the 4th, new 4th & 5th-generation Intel® Core™ i7/ Core™ i5 / Core™ i3, Pentium®, and Celeron® processors |
| Chipset | Intel B85 |
| Memory | 4 x DIMMs, up to a maximum of 32GB, DDR3 1600MHzSupports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
| Expansion slots | 1 x PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x16 slot1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (x4 mode maximum)2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots3 x PCI slots |
| Graphics (VGA) | Integrated Intel HD GraphicsMulti-VGA output support: HDMI, DVI-D, RGB ports |
| Multi-GPU | AMD quad-GPU CrossFireX™ technology |
| Storage connectivity | 4 x SATA 6Gbit/s connectors2 x SATA 3Gbit/s connectors |
| Networking/LAN | Intel Gigabit Ethernet with ASUS GameFirst II |
| USB | 4 x USB 3.0 ports (2 on back panel, 2 mid-board)8 x USB 2.0 ports (4 on back panel, 4 mid-board) |
| Audio | SupremeFX 8-channel high-definition audio- Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel MIC Jack-retasking- High quality 115dB SNR stereo playback output- ELNA® premium audio capacitors- SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology- Sonic Radar I- Headphone AMP- Optical S/PDIF out port at back pane |
| Dimensions / form factor | ATX, 12-inch x 9.6-inch (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| A88X-Gamer | |
| CPU socket | AMD® Socket FM2+ for up to four-core AMD A-series / Athlon™-series processorsAMD Turbo Core Technology 3.0 supported |
| Chipset | AMD A88X FCH (Bolton-D4) |
| Memory | 4 x DIMMs, up to a maximum of 64GB, DDR3 2400MHz (OC)AMD Memory Profile (AMP) memory supported |
| Expansion slots | 1 x PCI Express 3.0[1]/2.0 x16 slot1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (x4 mode maximum)2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots3 x PCI slots |
| Graphics (VGA) | Integrated AMD Radeon™ R / HD 8000 / HD 7000-series graphics in A-series accelerated processing unit (APU)Multi-VGA output: HDMI/DVI/RGB ports |
| Multi-GPU | AMD quad-GPU CrossFireX™ technology supported |
| Storage connectivity | 8 x SATA 6Gbit/s connectors |
| Networking/LAN | Intel® Gigabit Ethernet |
| USB | 4 x USB 3.0 ports (2 on back panel, 2 mid-board)10 x USB 2.0 ports (4 on back panel, 6 mid-board) |
| Audio | SupremeFX 8-channel high-definition audio- High-quality stereo playback with 115dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)- SupremeFX shielding technology- ELNA® premium audio capacitors- Jack-detection, multi-streaming, front-panel mic jack-retasking- Headphone amp- Optical S/PDIF-out port on back panel |
| Exclusive ASUS gaming features | Gamer’s Guardian, with 10K black metallic capacitors, ESD Guards, Digi+ voltage-regulator module (VRM), DRAM overcurrent protection, stainless-steel back I/O. ASUS AI Suite 3, USB 3.0 Boost, GPU Boost, TurboV Processing Unit (TPU), Energy Processing Unit (EPU), Fan Xpert2, Disk Unlocker, AI Charger, HomeCloud Media Streamer, Q-DIMM,Q-Slot and Q-Shield. |
| Dimensions / form factor | ATX, 12-inch x 9.0-inch (30.5cm x 22.9cm) |