This week we met up with Jack Cheng who is a specialist at ASUS within the Motherboard division. We have seen a lot of innovative technologies coming out of ASUS over the past year, on the motherboards especially there has been a real leap in advancement. Some may or may not be aware of these technologies so in our discussion we drop in some questions to uncover the truths about these features. We hope you find this interview useful, sit back and enjoy!
Q: Hi Jack, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Can you tell us how long you’ve been at ASUS and a little about your role?
A: I have been in ASUS for 8 years, currently working in the ASUS motherboard Research & Development team, in charge of dealing with media related matters.
Q: Can you tell us a little about ASUS’ current product features and what they offer in terms of differentiation?
A: The biggest highlights in the current ASUS motherboard product lines is the concept of what we so called the ASUS DIP (Dual Intelligent Processor), where we use two dedicated microprocessors to deliver self-optimization capability in the area of performance, power efficiency, and compatibility. Furthermore with our breakthrough in the area of power design to try to merge the benefits of both the analogue and digital VRM into one, we are now able to bring users with the unbeatable stability, accuracy, response, durability, and flexibility on our motherboard equipped with our latest innovation in digital VRM, namely the Extreme Engine Digi+.
Q. Can you tell us a little about TPU, what it’s purpose is and why it’s a benefit to our readers?
A: The TPU is a highly integrated yet customizable microprocessor capable of unleashing the full potential of the motherboard in the area of performance as well as compatibility. Not only it will be able to find the full potential of the system automatically in the area of CPU frequency, multiplier, as well as the dynamic frequency adjustment of the iGPU, it also allows dynamic control of the key variables, allowing the users to push the performance of their system like never before. Moreover, it also helps to tidy up the unfinished overclocking business done by the users, bringing the joy of overclocking to customers of all categories.
Q. And how about EPU?
A: EPU, on the other hand, is a highly specific microprocessor designed to optimize the power efficiency of the system. Not only it allow the dynamic and the manual frequency and voltage control of how the CPU should behave with respect to the change in CPU load, as a complete solution, the VGA/iGPU/Fan/HDD/DRAM/Chipset. Users can even extend the power saving capability towards even the monitor and the speakers with careful control of additional options inside the control application of the EPU. Both TPU and EPU are powerful by themselves and more rewarding with the additional software installed.
Q. That’s pretty cool – What would you say is your favourite ASUS product ever and why?
A: This is a hard one. Can I say “every Asus motherboards?” (laugh). Each ASUS products are like our babies who we take special cares of. We do all we can to make them the best of the best every time, and we learn from the feedbacks of our users on where else we should improve in order to deliver a better user experience. Though it is impossible to satisfy every user, we will keep trying with our best effort.
Q. What would you give as the number one reason a consumer should buy an ASUS board instead of a competitors?
A: I suppose the number one reason is the company philosophy, where we drive for excellence in everything we do, we care about every product we make, and we ensure the long term support of each and every one of our products during their lifetime. You can easily see that throughout the past years, Asus has been long known for its capability to deliver the support of new key components to extend the life cycle of our products. As long as it is achievable, you will definitely see Asus implementing it. Therefore, to myself, also as a long term supporter or Asus motherboard products, sees the maintenance of product support as the number one reason for selecting Asus boards instead of ones from our competitors.
Q. What can we expect from ASUS in the upcoming months and next year, is there anything you can reveal to our readers?
A: Asus has gone a long way in the past in bringing new innovations not only to make the computing experience more enjoyable for our users. We will continue our development in the area of the ease of use and DIY, the performance and power optimization, as well as the delivery of the unbeatable device compatibility to ensure their experience with our products are always the most enjoyable one.
Q. Can we see the Lucid Hydra Chip being implemented into more products in the future?
A: This has to really depend on the market demand. However, if the demand is there, you are sure to see more Asus products coming with Lucid HydraLogix technology onboard.
Q. What other innovations can we expect in future products?
A: As explained earlier, though we cannot reveal the exact details right at this very moment, you sure will expect to see our new innovations soon in the area of convenience, flexibility, and the maximization of the performance per watt ratio. You can take some quick guesses from there. The only thing that I can say surely at this very moment is that they will be something that will get the “wow” out of the mouth of our users.
Vortez: Thanks for answering all the questions Jack, its been good chatting with you!
So there you have it folks... the questions we put forward and them answered in a round-about way! You can discuss this interview on our forums - click here. Here are some of our reviews covering the ASUS motherboard product range:
ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme
ASUS Rampage III Formula
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
ASUS Rampage III Gene
ASUS P6X58-E
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
ASUS Rampage III Extreme
