Ask Me Anything - Official ASUS Representatives

[PCDIYASUS]

Here we go...


1. As said above, any plans for 970/980 vram variants
2. How do you feel about the recent lawsuit with NVIDIA and their effective 3.5gb vram?
3. Does Asus have any plans on making mITX x99 boards, like AsRock?
4. Does Asus AI software work with any board :/ I actually dont know this
5. Has AMD given you any info on the new R9 3xx line? WIll you have Variants of this as well? (Ares II, Mars etc)
6. WHen do you say the new R9 3xx line will be released?
7. Do you have an estimated price on the new r9 390x?
8. IS Asus planning any new software? Maybe an OCing software for GPUS?
9. Will the new 5th gen of intel CPUS require bios updates?
10. What do you think is your best x99 bang for the buck mobo? (asus board)
11. Are any new GPU coolers in the works?
12. Will you also be a manufacturer/distributor of the Titan X? Will you ship a different cooler with it so one can install it?
13. How do you view Corsair's line of CX/CS PSUs? Considering many other vendors have better PSUs?
14. Have you partnered with Corsair to bring the the ROG line/ BEST components kinda thing?
15. DOes Asus have any other plans to hit 'other markets' such as cases/psus?
16. Regarding the Asus 980 Platnium, how do you feel the cooler compares to other brands such as EVGAs 980 King Pin and ACX?



I'll leave it at 16 questions otherwise you would not be to happy :L

I have an Asus Maximus VII Impact, and it has a PCIE 4x M.2 slot. Will it be possible to take advantage of an MVMe M.2 SSD in the future with just a BIOS upgrade or will it require a new motherboard and chipset?

1. At this time no.
2. No comment
3. Possibly but this is a resource intensive board and we want to want to ensure it meets the mark in regards to features, functionality and performance. At this time there are no plans for it
4. No it is designed for ASUS motherboard and specific versions are designed for specific boards due to speciaslized UEFi and IC implementations. This is generally for the Fan Xpert functionality as well as the Auto Optimization & Auto Tuning portions.
5. We cannot provide informaiton on possible or confirmed products that are not released at this time.
6. Cannot comment
7. Cannot comment
8. We are working on a new version of GPU TWEAK if you have any feedback send it my way at PCDIY@ASUS.COM
9. We have already released UEFI updates for our line of z97 motherboards.
10. It really depends on the features and functionality you want the high end boards I think are outstanding in regards to their value if you considering everythign they offer. If we are purely talking about features to price while trying to keep the price as low as possible I would say the X99-A and the SABERTOOTH X99. I would personally pick the PRO over the -A just as 802.11AC Wi-Fis is a great but if you have no need for it you can drop to the A and still get a great board
11. Stay tuned we have some very interesting products slated for our line of GPUs
12. This has been anwsered previously. We will offer a ASUS reference version of the TITAN X. Those looking for superior cooling should look to use a water block ( which has already been confirmed by EK ) As for non reference versions of the TITAN X these are not allowed to be produced.
13. For the price they have developed a solid offering of units in regards to price to performance ratio. Additionally when considering a product it is important to consider the entire chain of ownership and experience. knowing you have a company like Corsair to assist in a RMA if needed is great. Additionally Corsair has worked very closely with ASUS on a wide range of it produces to help ensure compatibility, interoprability. Overall they have a great line up which has been solid in its price to performance ratio while be innovative at supporting the community through customization and accessories.
14. Yes we have worked with Corsair on multiple occassions especially on memory validation and tuning. Additionally color matching. We are very close partner with them helping to ensure our partners pair well with their whether it be PSU, cooling solutions, fans, SSDs, memory, flash drives, chassis and more.
15. No
16. Superior reviews show our heatsink and fan assembly offer superior cooling performance and quieter operation. Additionally our overall designs for non reference PCB have been setting the bar for the enthusiast community before EVGA even produced a classified GPU. If you compared the design of a STRIX card to the EVGA ACX cards we are offering considerably improved designs whether it be in the PCB and VRM components, thermal performance and acoustic operation. The classified is a highly designed non reference card built for extreme enthusiasts and we feel the MATRIX equally offers competitive performance while bringing additional features and functionality.

 

[Lutfij]

JJ,
thanks for answering my questions, Its much appreciated!

I have a few more questions that may be a little open ended and concerns the community in general. What is ASUS' stance towards the modding community as in do you provide any form of sponsorship or assistance to first time modders or to encourage people in expanding the community further into areas where product awareness may be needed or otherwise product consumption is required?

I ask since the new culture is case modding and somewhere down the road hardware level modding(literally) and if the latter it voids warranty but is there anything you guys encourage we maintain if we do want to do something outrageous?

BTW the advent of proper content is a welcome sight! I remember having to go through 1 video by Albert Manduca on Computer/tigerdirect tv on the Rampage Extreme X48 prior to choosing the board eventually and ofc alot of review reading but a video at times helps with a visual analysis and sometimes OCD builders working out a scale/refernce. Kudos to that improvement and keep up with the good work!

Lastly do you have a social life outside of ASUS or is it eat, sleep, ey-soos :lol: ? What do you do when you're on your off days ?

 

[PCDIYASUS]

Oh, I've made a point of watching some of the NeweggTV clips when JJ is on. JJ, should you happen to remember, please feel free to tell Paul that the Onus is on him.

I will keep that in mind.

 

[PCDIYASUS]

How much would it take to crowd source a custom design motherboard from Asus?

It would be difficult to put a number as really depends on the board being developed. Beyond the physical production cost the really cost is int he time and effort that goes into the board. For some of the high end board you literally at the end of the design and validation stage going into production could be talking thousands to ten of thousands of man hours.

 

[Bossyfins]

Here we go...


1. As said above, any plans for 970/980 vram variants
2. How do you feel about the recent lawsuit with NVIDIA and their effective 3.5gb vram?
3. Does Asus have any plans on making mITX x99 boards, like AsRock?
4. Does Asus AI software work with any board :/ I actually dont know this
5. Has AMD given you any info on the new R9 3xx line? WIll you have Variants of this as well? (Ares II, Mars etc)
6. WHen do you say the new R9 3xx line will be released?
7. Do you have an estimated price on the new r9 390x?
8. IS Asus planning any new software? Maybe an OCing software for GPUS?
9. Will the new 5th gen of intel CPUS require bios updates?
10. What do you think is your best x99 bang for the buck mobo? (asus board)
11. Are any new GPU coolers in the works?
12. Will you also be a manufacturer/distributor of the Titan X? Will you ship a different cooler with it so one can install it?
13. How do you view Corsair's line of CX/CS PSUs? Considering many other vendors have better PSUs?
14. Have you partnered with Corsair to bring the the ROG line/ BEST components kinda thing?
15. DOes Asus have any other plans to hit 'other markets' such as cases/psus?
16. Regarding the Asus 980 Platnium, how do you feel the cooler compares to other brands such as EVGAs 980 King Pin and ACX?



I'll leave it at 16 questions otherwise you would not be to happy :L

I have an Asus Maximus VII Impact, and it has a PCIE 4x M.2 slot. Will it be possible to take advantage of an MVMe M.2 SSD in the future with just a BIOS upgrade or will it require a new motherboard and chipset?

1. At this time no.
2. No comment
3. Possibly but this is a resource intensive board and we want to want to ensure it meets the mark in regards to features, functionality and performance. At this time there are no plans for it
4. No it is designed for ASUS motherboard and specific versions are designed for specific boards due to speciaslized UEFi and IC implementations. This is generally for the Fan Xpert functionality as well as the Auto Optimization & Auto Tuning portions.
5. We cannot provide informaiton on possible or confirmed products that are not released at this time.
6. Cannot comment
7. Cannot comment
8. We are working on a new version of GPU TWEAK if you have any feedback send it my way at PCDIY@ASUS.COM
9. We have already released UEFI updates for our line of z97 motherboards.
10. It really depends on the features and functionality you want the high end boards I think are outstanding in regards to their value if you considering everythign they offer. If we are purely talking about features to price while trying to keep the price as low as possible I would say the X99-A and the SABERTOOTH X99. I would personally pick the PRO over the -A just as 802.11AC Wi-Fis is a great but if you have no need for it you can drop to the A and still get a great board
11. Stay tuned we have some very interesting products slated for our line of GPUs
12. This has been anwsered previously. We will offer a ASUS reference version of the TITAN X. Those looking for superior cooling should look to use a water block ( which has already been confirmed by EK ) As for non reference versions of the TITAN X these are not allowed to be produced.
13. For the price they have developed a solid offering of units in regards to price to performance ratio. Additionally when considering a product it is important to consider the entire chain of ownership and experience. knowing you have a company like Corsair to assist in a RMA if needed is great. Additionally Corsair has worked very closely with ASUS on a wide range of it produces to help ensure compatibility, interoprability. Overall they have a great line up which has been solid in its price to performance ratio while be innovative at supporting the community through customization and accessories.
14. Yes we have worked with Corsair on multiple occassions especially on memory validation and tuning. Additionally color matching. We are very close partner with them helping to ensure our partners pair well with their whether it be PSU, cooling solutions, fans, SSDs, memory, flash drives, chassis and more.
15. No
16. Superior reviews show our heatsink and fan assembly offer superior cooling performance and quieter operation. Additionally our overall designs for non reference PCB have been setting the bar for the enthusiast community before EVGA even produced a classified GPU. If you compared the design of a STRIX card to the EVGA ACX cards we are offering considerably improved designs whether it be in the PCB and VRM components, thermal performance and acoustic operation. The classified is a highly designed non reference card built for extreme enthusiasts and we feel the MATRIX equally offers competitive performance while bringing additional features and functionality.

Wow, thought you would never answer my question. Regarding GPU Tweak, is the new versions going to include new color options, as like different looks of GPU tweak? I have yet to use, it but I have high hopes for it

 

[PCDIYASUS]

Guess you guys can't comment on the zenfone 2?

We have no release date as of yet but it will be released in the US.

 

[PCDIYASUS]

Question about the x205. I love the X205TA but 32GB is really pushing the minimum. Any plans to give us the same notebook, but with added memory?

Not at this time. You never know though so stay tuned. Until then I would leverage the expansion support via microSDXC

keep in mind as well that the X205 is designed to be price aggressive as such some compromises have to be put into place to hit the price points that people appreciate.

 

[-HH-]

Hope you guys enjoyed the AMA I know I took good use of it!

 

[Bossyfins]

Hope you guys enjoyed the AMA I know I took good use of it!

I agree. Great to see ASUS doing this.

 

[AndrewFreedman]

The AMA has officially concluded!

Thanks a ton to Erik, JJ and Raja from ASUS for taking time out of their busy schedules to answer our community's questions. The staff and our users are very appreciative of the time you spent to engage with the community at Tom's Hardware.

We appreciate the hard work and your taking the time to let the Tom's community ask questions.