Intel’s Raptor Lake processors brought one surprise: breaking the absolute extreme OC record. There were doubts it would ever happen, as today’s CPU architectures are not optimized for the high clock speeds at all costs like the past record holders Pentium 4 and AMD FX. But Raptor Lake and Intel 7 Ultra manufacturing process have shown they are capable of even more and have conquered a milestone never-beaten before, now. Read more “Breakthrough overclocking record: Raptor Lake achieves 9 GHz”
New motherboards for Intel Raptor Lake processors are again a bit more expensive in the same class than the previous generation Z690, but they are also better equipped. This also applies to the ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi, which now has more M.2 slots than SATA ports. What’s also neater is the mechanism for removing graphics cards from underneath the big tower coolers and overclocking the CPU using machine learning. That’s also an option. Read more “Even more features. Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi test”
An expensive but a very effective motherboard. Thus, the high purchase price of the Maximus Z690 Hero can be gradually returned in lower operating costs after fine-tuning. First and foremost, however, it is a proper support for the most powerful processors, which can be safely overclocked well beyond the capabilities of the most powerful coolers. The board also comes with an SSD expansion card, unusually. Read more “Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Elite board with extreme VRM”
Over the past week you have sent us many encouraging messages, but you have not been afraid of constructive criticism either. All suggestions have been extremely useful feedback for us. We know what you are missing and we can gradually respond to these things and incorporate them into the site. Thank you! Traditionally grimmer is the announcement of only one of our readers, decided by a random number generator. Read more “Winner of the HWC competition for mobo, CPU and cooler”
It’s been quite a while since you had a chance to win something, so let’s make up for it a little bit now. With a three-in-one package where one of you gets half of a working PC – Intel Core i5-12400 processor with integrated graphics, Asus TUF Gaming B660 Plus WiFi D4 motherboard and SilentiumPC Spartan 5 cooler. These are all attractive components that have been awarded the Smart buy! award in our tests, which we don’t give out “just like that”. Read more “Win a Core i5 on Asus mobo (B660) with SilentiumPC cooler”
The Asus Networking Division offers routers for just about every application and environment. Whether you’re looking for an affordable WiFI router or as an avid gamer, you can’t do without RGB LED lighting. The same is true if you need to cover a larger area, for example a house, for which Mesh solutions are already needed, and it is the AiMesh function that is one of the main strengths of this manufacturer’s routers. Read more “We tested three available Asus routers. Pick your favourite”
Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own. Read more “Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate: Switches? Whichever wherever”
Routers, for the most part, are not among the design-appealing devices you’d want to show off. They are usually white or black boxes with antennas sticking out of them and you hide them somewhere behind your computer, TV or in a closet. But that doesn’t have to be the rule, and the new Asus ZenWiFi Pro XT12 is proof of that. In addition to the unconventional design, the tested model impresses with its focus on mesh networking, which Asus routers are known for. Read more “Asus ZenWiFi Pro XT12 – tower router with WiFi 6 and 2.5 Gb LAN”
On Tuesday, AMD officially announced new AM4 desktop processors: the gaming Ryzen 7 5800X3D with 96 MB V-Cache and new “mainstream” Ryzen 4000 and 5000 SKUs for cheaper PCs. But there is one more important news associated with these processors. After more than a year, AMD has changed its policy and is officially allowing support for the latest CPUs in boards with X370 and B350 chipsets. BIOSes for such boards are on the way. Read more “Official Ryzen 5000 support finally coming to B350/X370 boards”
Alder Lake CPUs’ favorable price/performance ratio was initially spoiled by expensive motherboards. However, after the arrival of models with Intel B660 chipsets, the unfavorable situation began to turn around and in some cases quite dramatically. Asus TUF Gaming B660 Plus WiFi D4 with support for DDR4 memory, which is far cheaper than DDR5, can handle even the fastest CPUs. And the vast majority of users won’t even feel any bottlenecks. Read more “Asus TUF Gaming B660 Plus WiFi D4: Entry level for Core i9 too”
Asus has the first standardized motherboard (Thin Mini-ITX format) with LGA 1700, which is powered by a 19V adapter and is also designed for retail sales. The wait was, naturally, for the power-efficient Intel processors from the 12th Generation Core. The Pro H610T D4-CSM motherboard is designed primarily for enterprise clientele, and its equipment is optimized with this in mind. All Alder Lake processor models with TDP up to 65 W are supported. Read more “Thin Mini-ITX motherboard with LGA 1700? It’s here, from Asus”
Last month, we were pleasantly surprised by the news that Intel’s new desktop platform (Core 12th Generation/Alder Lake) CPUs can be overclocked via BCLK. Despite Intel seeking to only allow OC on the more expensive K-series enthusiast models. We took a look at which boards currently make it possible and if it’s worth it. Because whether BCLK OC helps or not depends on the cost of the overall setup more than anything else. Read more “Overclocking 65W Alder Lake processors: which boards can do it?”
The first and still the only Asus fan that is on sale individually may be a good choice. But you can also get burnt. It depends on what you want to use it for. In the right context, it gives attractive results, and the impression of a very decent fan is spoiled mainly by pointless design details or sugar-coating the specs. Anyway, you can see that compared to the more ordinary fans from the last test, the Strix is a bit of a different class. Read more “Asus ROG Strix XF120: An excellent fan, but only in some ways”
WiFi 6 has been with us for a while now, but the adoption of this new wireless standard has been a bit lackluster. And it’s not for lack of clients, WiFi 6 is in new devices for sure. I consider the main reason to be poorer availability, as WiFi 6 has so far appeared mainly in top router models costing hundreds of euros, which only a connoisseur will reach for. But with the arrival of the affordable RT-AX53U, this situation is changing. Read more “Asus RT-AX53U: Cheap router in test, or WiFi 6 for the masses”
The Ryujin II 360 represents the pinnacle of Asus’ liquid AIO cooler range. This water cooler is based on the seventh generation of Asetek coolers. It boasts a trio of top-of-the-line Noctua NF-F12 Industrial PPC fans, and the ROG Fan Controller is also included. The premium components, however, come with a higher price tag. So I’m curious to see if the Ryujin II 360 can live up to it, or if it will fit in with the average of other AIO coolers. Read more “Asus ROG Ryujin II 360: A missed opportunity with a déjà vu vibe”
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