Ask Me Anything - Official ASUS Representative

[etaxdoa]

What happened to HomeTheaterGate, will it return?


Did I just get passed up an hour ago?

When will 8/9000 radeon cards be released for consumption?

 

[frogo369]

Hey, I have a Z77 Sabertooth, and I'm really hoping to make use of the Thunderbolt expansion header. Can you tell me what the ETA on the Thunderbolt card is? It seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

Thanks for the AMA!

Currently the add in card has been supplied to Intel's validation labs. We have completed our internal validation and testing but there are requirements by Intel to ensure interoprability and compatibility. Until they complete the validation the card cannot be sold.

 

[raja@asus]

Questions are pouring in from Twitter and Facebook as well - I'll filter these through here and post a few of them as they are received.

Here's a handful received so far:

Q. On the ROG 1150 socket do the power phases interfere with a LAN connection in gaming to the point where I might want to use a standalone LAN card?

Q. When will ITX/DTX FF will start getting love in their road maps.

1) A bit vague, but there should be no issue at all.

2) Soon

 

[moulderhere]

When Geeks get together and host their own home LAN parties, how can they ask Asus for some SWAG Material?

 

[david venton]

awesome! thanks for answering my questions. i really enjoyed talking to you.

 

[raja@asus]

Hello, First post for me here,

After looking at your new Maximus VI Impact (which is awesome), I was wondering if there'd be any chance we'd be seeing any sort of x79-based mini -ITX motherboard.

It would present considerable design challenges. Power being one of them. Given what would need to be cut out, it would make more sense to stick with Z87 - as least as it stands today.

 

[amdfangirl]

Does ASUS intend to support Coreboot instead of UEFI as an option for more open source oriented consumers?

Will ASUS make any products for the mainstream market that are guaranteed to run certain Linux distributions without driver issues?

 

[raxx666]

Why did you change your channel board color scheme to gold? Thanks!

 

[erik-asus]

What's the correct way to pronounce ASUS? I say 'ace-us' but when my girlfriend phoned, the guy answered with 'ah-zoos'. I know the name is derived from 'Pegasus', but that would suggest an 'uh-sus' pronunciation, which wouldn't sound right. Is there concensus at ASUS over pronunciation or does it vary?

the correct pronunciation of ASUS is ey-soos. Basically a long A and the last part is like Dr. Seuss

 

[VectorRoll]

I have a few questions.

1) Are there going to be anymore MicroATX AM3+ mobos in the near future?
The pickings right now are slim and seem outdated. I would love to see a 900 series MicroATX or a Micro ATX based on the upcoming 1000 series chipset or what ever it is called when it is released with Steamroller.

2) What does the future of the Tuf Series look like?
I am hoping to see an AMD MicroATX Tuf mobo like the Gryphon Z87 just an AMD version.

3) Also will we ever see an Tuf Series GPU?
I would be all over that if there was one. Personally I think the Mars GPU's should have been a Tuf Series GPU and the Aries an ROG. But that is just me. In any case I would love to see a lot more done for the Tuf Series. It seems like ROG gets more attention when the Tuf Series has a very large fan base as well.

One last thing I want to edit in and ask:
4) Why do the AMD Tuf Mobos not have the Armor?
The armor is only on the Intel Mobo's and I have always wondered why that is. I would like to see that on the AMD Mobo's as well.


Those are my questions for right now.

 

[raja@asus]

When is the formula vi and impact coming out? Thanks.

Some time next month

 

[Mousemonkey]

I would like to ask about the future of motherboards and whether the rumours of CPU's being permanently soldered to the sockets is true or not?

 

[Kabobi]

Can you provide any more details about the release of the 39" 4K monitor you announced at CES 2013? A price range or release timetable (other than just Q3 2013) would be great.

 

[frogo369]

My question:

What goes into creating an Android OS update for your tablets (like does ASUS have to code custom software, talk with other companies like processors to get drivers, testing time, etc), and how is it decided what device gets updated and what don't?

It is an extensive process there are multiple tuning aspects that impact usability and the overall experience ranging from application compatibility and scaling, battery life, touch response and much more. In addition we do have to re validate performance metrics and ensure custom developed applications work correctly and optimally. We strive to keep our overall footprint clean though not heavily loading extensive customer applications and framework. This helps to allows us to offer more consistent and frequent updates. In relation to what devices this is complicated can varied depending on hardware requirements that may exist for the update as well all the test noted above. This is also why you see in the mod community custom roms and updates generally have wild variations in their reliability and functionality and performance. We ultimately have to try and ensure that the expectation of a maintain consistent experience is met with each updated release.

 

[thdocta]

Hello, First post for me here,

After looking at your new Maximus VI Impact (which is awesome), I was wondering if there'd be any chance we'd be seeing any sort of x79-based mini -ITX motherboard.

It would present considerable design challenges. Power being one of them. Given what would need to be cut out, it would make more sense to stick with Z87 - as least as it stands today.

OK, then I guess I'm doing a microATX build, one more question: will there be any new x79 boards in the September~November time frame when I'm starting the build?

 

[inzone]

Welcome Asus Reps, the questions have been coming so quick I haven't had a chance myself to ask a question.

Is there an Asus Rampage V Extreme and will it still be LGA 2011?

What is the outlook on LGA vs BGA ? Will you be forced to abandon the LGA socket and will this be just with Intel or both Intel and AMD ?

 

[frogo369]

Why did you change your channel board color scheme to gold? Thanks!

The focus was to offer something visually different but also to reinforce our perspective of offering a premium product. For many years we have offered a lot of really impressive functions and features whether it be our UEFI, Fan Control, Power Delivery Design, Unique function and features etc... Overall with this in mind we applied a visual presentation of being the gold standard. It looks different but I would recommend give it a chance and see how it looks inside of a chassis especially with the great number of good looking black chassis it offers a clean and interesting contrast in color.

 

[raxx666]

Why did you change your channel board color scheme to gold? Thanks!

The focus was to offer something visually different but also to reinforce our perspective of offering a premium product. For many years we have offered a lot of really impressive functions and features whether it be our UEFI, Fan Control, Power Delivery Design, Unique function and features etc... Overall with this in mind we applied a visual presentation of being the gold standard. It looks different but I would recommend give it a chance and see how it looks inside of a chassis especially with the great number of good looking black chassis it offers a clean and interesting contrast in color.

Thanks! The boards do look good in an all black case.

 

[Azn Cracker]

Don't know if you can answer this but who manufactures your Dvd drives? Specifically the DRW-24B1ST


I was told Lite-On but I can't really tell for sure.

 

[raja@asus]

Does ASUS intend to support Coreboot instead of UEFI as an option for more open source oriented consumers?

Will ASUS make any products for the mainstream market that are guaranteed to run certain Linux distributions without driver issues?

Right now, official support is squarely centered on the Windows operating systems. I am not sure that is going to change as there are complications on making changes like these.

 

[raxx666]

And thanks for the response on the ETA for the new ROG boards 😉

 

[Jerome Palazzi]

My answer to frogo has been deleted.. I was telling that this is wrong, the 7970 top is locked, only a minor parts can unlock with an old gputweak, 95% can't because asus changed the bios to correct this bug. Asus made everything to lock the card, search on google you will see every forums whining about this.
The only people who have unlocked it flashed the card with a matrix bios but it didnt work very well.

So either its a bug and asus failed to detect and correct, either its working as intended to force us to buy a mobo with hotwire or a matrix.... in this case this is very sad when sapphire are selling cheaper cards with core unlocked. Because of this I tell you lots of people are disapointed by asus, the tests arent telling that the card is locked and when you buy it.. surprise..

 

[xlist21]

Can you briefly hint us about the zenbook infinity release date in US ? Will it be on Q3? If so, when in Q3?

 

[sam_p_lay]

Why do you let retailers determine warration durations? Isn't it traditionally the manufacturer that determines duration of manufacturer warranty? I've sent several emails to enquire about warranty details, but never received any response.

 

[slomo4sho]

Why do you not have any ITX boards for sockets AM3+ and FM2 and do you have any plans of releasing such boards?