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

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Custom Fan Profiles, Mini-ITX, And Working At Asus

Q. I just built a nice Haswell system with your Asus Gryphon z87 motherboard. In the fan profile for the cpu cooler, I notice that it's not as defined as before. If I choose (silent) the cpu fan spins at 414rpms. on (standard) it's at 450rpms. on (turbo) it's at 515-540rpms. On (full) it's 1250rpms. Why is the fan speed not more spread out?

A. These are pretty standard intervals if you want to define your own fan curve you can do that in the manual fan controls within the UEFI or within AiSuite III / Thermal Radar. Additionally ensure you run the full auto tuning fan assessment to ensure your fans have been properly calibrated.

Q. When I set a fan profile for the CPU fan, the assist fan follows suit. I don't want it to. Can't the assist fan be controlled separately? I have tried in the bios but without luck. It won't even let me change the duty cycle of the assist fan. (bios update maybe?) When I tell the assist fan to be off, (fan-off in the profile) and put the CPU fan to full, the assist fan also goes to full. is this a bug? I want the cpu fan to full and the assist fan to stay off. (not un-plugged.)

A. The assist fan is designed to respond to increase in either temperature zone. You can modify these by manual defining ramping policies either in the UEFI or AiSuite III/ Thermal Radar.

Q. You currently have at 11 FM2 motherboards for the US market of which 9 are Micro-ATX FM2 boards. This APU platform screams small form factor yet ASRock is the only one that currently provides ITX boards. Since over 80% of the FM2 boards offered by Asus are currently Micro-ATX, does Asus feel that this APU platform is better served in Micro-ATX instead of ITX form factor?

A. It has to be viable for us to do on many levels, as I said earlier. If we feel the market for it is big enough to justify the R&D we'll do it.

Q. Why Asus isn't concentrating much on the MiniITX form factor? The Haswell provides immense opportunity for a Mini ITX system which is as powerful as an ATX desktop. There are only a few mobos in the category. Moreover only fewer are available in India! I am planning to build a Mini ITX system based on H87 or Z87. Will there be a reasonably priced Mini ITX based on H87 or Z87? If so when will it be available in India? And does Asus plan for an Android tablet with digitizer stylus (7" to 8" screen size)?

A. We are focusing actually quite a bit on mini ITX and have been producing board in this space for years and across multiple chipsets. Additionally we currently offer the most feature rich mini ITX boards on the market with solutions like our Z87-I Deluxe or Maximus VI Impact. In addition we have AMD solutions like our E2KM1-I Deluxe. With this in mind we are currently continuing to monitor the adoption and feedback of the community.

Q. Does the Asus G750 Series come with Nvidia Optimus Technology?

A. The G750 series doesn't come with Optimus technology.

Q. What is the best perk of being an Asus employee?

A. It doesn't feel like work because we're doing what we love doing :) Being able to test new hardware, liaise with design teams etc. It's great!

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