ASUS is one of the foundations of the DIY market. The brand has not only been the market leader in this segment for years, but has also managed to innovate time and again and deliver products with the best performance. The CES trade show was held last week in Las Vegas. ASUS showed a large number of new products that make the life of a DIYer easier and ensure better system performance.

Aesthetics first

In recent years, a clear trend has emerged in the self-build market: self-build systems are not only here to perform well and reliably, but also to shine. In this context, some builders make technical braids for the cables in their system. These cables are of course necessary for power supply and for the necessary USB and audio connections from the motherboard. In addition, more luxurious video cards often require connection to a power supply. Cable tangles look nice and have a detrimental effect on airflow. Good airflow is not an unnecessary luxury, with the arrival of processors and video cards that generate more and more heat.

ASUS’s solution to eliminating cable clutter is the BTF system, where BTF stands for Back To The Future. All cabling work is routed to the back of the system. At Computex last year, ASUS showed the first products in this range. All cable connectors are located on the back of this advanced system. The video card no longer needs a separate cable; It is powered via a special high-power slot. ASUS is getting rid of the dreaded 12VHPWR connector.

ASUS sets the tone with this system, which will be available for purchase soon. So it doesn’t stop at a prototype that a few people can see; Soon you will be able to use it to create a beautiful design yourself.

black and white

ASUS is also launching two new motherboards for the Intel Core processor family. Both motherboards use the Intel Z790 chipset. For power users, the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF is the best choice. This black motherboard can be combined with the ROG Strix GeForce RTX™ 4090 BTF Edition video card. The ROG Hyperion GR701 BTF Edition is a matching case that offers all the functionality of a high-end build.

Further down the software, you’ll find the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF WIFI and the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti Super BTF White Edition. ASUS chose a white design for this model. This gives your construction a cleaner look. Even the practical WiFi antenna is white. For a complete design, ASUS also offers TUF

GT302 games on the market. This housing has been specially adapted to the BTF system. In addition to ATX motherboards, ASUS also offers BTF motherboards in the more compact micro-ATX format.

cooperation

As the market leader, ASUS sets the standards. This means that the manufacturer seeks to cooperate with other parties via the BTF alliance. At CES 2024, a number of major players announced BTF support, including Cooler Master, Thermaltake, Inwin, Corsair, Phanteks, and Silverstone. This provides a wide range of tanks and other accessories for the BTF system. More parties are expected to join the BTF coalition. on this site You will find all information about the alliance.

Intelligent use of PCI Express lanes

Not all GPUs use all the lanes in the PCI Express slot. An example is Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4060 Ti series. These GPUs use only eight of the sixteen lanes, which is enough to get maximum performance from the chips. ASUS offers a number of variants of the 4060 Ti where the remaining lanes can be used by an M.2 SSD that you can add. This is not only useful if you run out of space on your motherboard. For example, if you have a motherboard based on the AMD B550 chipset, you can usually only install one SSD that can take advantage of the PCI Express 4.0 bandwidth. By choosing an ASUS Dual RTX 4060 TI SSD video card from ASUS, you can install another SSD that uses the full bandwidth. Additionally, the SSD benefits from the cooling of the video card.

More than games

For those who want ultimate performance, ASUS offers high-end workstation motherboards. Two examples are the Pro WS WRX90E-SAGE SE and the Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI.

The previous model is for the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7000 series. This motherboard offers seven PCI Express 5.0 slots, as well as four M.2 slots for SSD drives. The motherboard was developed with the most demanding applications in mind. You will find quick connections not only from within, but from abroad as well. It is available as twice the speed of 40 Gb/s Type-C as well as twice the speed of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Furthermore, the Board offers remote management; Watch on the go or at home, thanks to the built-in AST2600 BMC controller with real-time ASUS Control Center monitoring. The motherboard can be connected to two power supplies using the included Y cable, providing more power headroom for overclocking.

For those who are less demanding, but still want to opt for powerful and high-end AMD chipsets, there is the Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI. Here you’ll find three PCI Express 5.0 slots. Ethernet is available over both 10GbE and 2.5GbE connections. There’s also space available for three M.2 SSDs. The USB-C peripherals on this motherboard achieve a maximum transfer speed of 20Gb/s. Just like the more luxurious version, you can also monitor this motherboard remotely, although in this case an optional ASUS IPMI card is required. Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI offers Wi-Fi 7.

Living

ASUS is also bringing a high-end housing to the market with the PA602. There are two versions of this housing: the standard black version and the premium version with wooden details. You can even equip it with wheels. It doesn’t have to be overpriced; You can also buy them from IKEA. The PA602 has a sturdy design and is equipped with an indicator that shows when it is time to clean the dust filters. Additionally, this template has extensive options for adding upgrades easily. This way you can open the side panels without tools and you don’t even need a screwdriver to add a PCI E card. On the top you will find a compartment in which you can store the WiFi antenna. ASUS has also paid a lot of attention to the cooling of this system, so that your hardware can function optimally. For this reason, it has two 200 x 30mm French fans at the front and a 140mm fan at the back.

cooling

ASUS DIY range just got more complete. In addition to motherboards, cabinets, and video cards, you can go to this brand for power supplies and coolers. One of the latest additions to the program is thermal paste called RG-07.

Furthermore, there is the new ROG Ryujin III water cooling unit, which provides excellent cooling. For those looking for an AIO cooler, there’s the ROG Strix LCIII series. A new 7th generation V2 pump from Asetek is used under the hood. It has a new cooling pad that delivers much better performance thanks to improved cooling channels. New ROG Strix AF-12S fans are used on the radiator, and are equipped with a zero RPM mode.