Tom's Hardware's AMA With Asus, In Its Entirety

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Audio, SAS Storage, And Our Wrap-Up

Q. Will there be any Z87 boards that will use the Z77 color scheme?

A. As of right now we have no reason to go back to the blue color scheme.

Q. Why do you put Creative Labs software on your boards when you have the Asus Xonar product range?

A. A couple of reasons: 1) Some users don't want to dedicate a PCIe slot to a soundcard. 2) In polls people asked us for the software as part of the package.

Q. Why is there not more push for water-cooling north bridge/south bridge/ cpu on AMD and Intel based Asus boards.

A. Watercooling south/northbridges is very much a niche market and isn't really necessary for these components. On the AMD side, we have to consider costs and what the market is willing to pay - anything we add on our side increases prices for you.

Q. Are there any plans for some newer AMD AM3+ motherboards anytime soon, maybe some more lower tier boards with a new look and PCIe 3.0?

A. Things are always being developed. If we feel there's an update required we'll make one :)

Q. Why are you sticking to SATA on all motherboards when there is also SAS? SAS is more stable than SATA in general and at the same time it is fully compatible with SATA products. Is this something you might consider doing?

A. It's not outside the realms of possibility - if the performance fits and we can see a market. No promises on this stuff though. Thanks for the feedback.

Q. If Asus offers sound cards, why haven't there been any motherboards advertised yet with Asus sound processors on them? I would see it as an added value or at the very least, a nice option, to buy an Asus motherboard with built in Asus Xonar sound processing.

A. It all adds cost. Ramp it too far and you start infringing upon the other side of the argument. That is, a discrete card can be kept and used on other motherboards. We have to keep balance between features and what people want to pay. The upcoming Maximus VI Formula features a dedicated DAC (Crystal Semiconductor) and has 120db SNR. That's going to be the best sound solution found on a motherboard ever.

Wrap-Up

As a heads-up, stay tuned to news and articles for the announcement of our next AMA which will be coming next week on Tuesday! Thanks again to all for making this a great success!

-The Tom’s Hardware Community Team

Bestofmedia Team
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Aoyagi
    So I take it Asus is, in fact, not planning to broaden its AMD laptop selection since they didn't respond to the question about that. Unfortunate, I really liked the brand.
    Reply
  • kennai
    On page 8, the first answer is to the second question, and the second question is to the first answer. Was staring at that second answer for like 2 minutes being like, whaaaaat.
    Reply
  • kennai
    On page 8, the first answer is to the second question, and the second question is to the first answer. Was staring at that second answer for like 2 minutes being like, whaaaaat.
    Reply
  • bim27142
    They didn't answer my question. :( :( :(
    Reply
  • Madn3ss795
    I was excited so see any sights of an ITX AMD board from Asus. Sadly all answers led to a big "NO".
    Reply
  • slomo4sho
    Sadly, Asus is too Intel focused to concern themselves with any innovating anything on their AMD lineup.
    Reply
  • vmem
    11057585 said:
    Sadly, Asus is too Intel focused to concern themselves with any innovating anything on their AMD lineup.

    ASUS is a business, and like any good business they're only concerned with MAKING MONEY. this is actually a GOOD THING, they have a clear goal and they know how to go about doing it: make good products that consumers want to buy.

    a huge part of making money and running a business is getting brand recognition, something AMD has been TERRIBLE at until recently. and ASUS made their point clear, they're not favoring Intel, their marketing research simply says there is insufficient demand. this is because when you walk into best-buy or even microcenter, at least 90% of the people shopping there still equate Intel with CPU. when that changes, ASUS will focus on AMD more. it's really that simple
    Reply
  • vmem
    11055330 said:
    Awesome info here... though I'm kinda bummed they had no info about pricing on that 39" 4k monitor. I'm drooling at the thought of acquiring one of those since it's using a cheap VA panel, assuming ASUS doesn't get greedy and charge a ton for it.

    Can't wait to be rid of this 1080p plague.

    I don't think it's a simple matter of greed. they can't price it TOO cheaply, or else their 31" 4K monitor with the nice Sharp panel won't sell. They have to price it appropriately for the quality and the market. if I were to venture a guess I'd say it'll be around $2-2.5K when it comes out.
    Reply
  • lp231
    11057635 said:
    11055330 said:
    Awesome info here... though I'm kinda bummed they had no info about pricing on that 39" 4k monitor. I'm drooling at the thought of acquiring one of those since it's using a cheap VA panel, assuming ASUS doesn't get greedy and charge a ton for it.

    Can't wait to be rid of this 1080p plague.

    I don't think it's a simple matter of greed. they can't price it TOO cheaply, or else their 31" 4K monitor with the nice Sharp panel won't sell. They have to price it appropriately for the quality and the market. if I were to venture a guess I'd say it'll be around $2-2.5K when it comes out.

    From the web, the 31.5" will cost around $3799 to $4000. I expect the 39" to be close to $10,000.

    Reply
  • slomo4sho
    11057620 said:
    ASUS is a business, and like any good business they're only concerned with MAKING MONEY. this is actually a GOOD THING, they have a clear goal and they know how to go about doing it: make good products that consumers want to buy.

    a huge part of making money and running a business is getting brand recognition, something AMD has been TERRIBLE at until recently. and ASUS made their point clear, they're not favoring Intel, their marketing research simply says there is insufficient demand. this is because when you walk into best-buy or even microcenter, at least 90% of the people shopping there still equate Intel with CPU. when that changes, ASUS will focus on AMD more. it's really that simple

    AMD had nearly 50% market share in 2006 which has gradually dwindled to the current ~16-17% which is around a 10% drop from a year ago. The overreaching bias on tech sites over the years have fortified Intel's position as a monopoly over the CPU market and the lack of features such as PCIe 3.0 and Thunderbolt on AMD exemplifies the perception that AMD is inferior to Intel.

    The reality is that AMD has a clear advantage in integrated GPU solutions that would be optimal for small form factors but the lack of hardware and absence of media coverage perpetuates a fallacy that Intel provides the best solution for all computer needs.

    I, for one, will not be supporting Asus since ASRock and MSI continue to provide a much more balanced solutions on both platforms.
    Reply