Insomnia64 – ASUS Hardware & the New ROG Bus

Having attended Insomnia64 at the Birmingham NEC, without a doubt one of the biggest companies to head to the event swinging was ASUS. Featuring both a lot of new hardware as well as their brand new ROG bus, there was plenty for us to look at!

So, lets take a look at some of the ASUS Insomnia64 highlights!

Products!

Having what was perhaps the largest stand of any of the major PC hardware manufacturers, ASUS certainly didn’t fail to impress us. With a significant volume of systems, laptops and peripherals on display, there was something to tickle the appetite of any enthusiast!

With a number of systems set up for gaming, you could also try your hand at Rocket League. Albeit, the person I was watching ended up being 4-0 down within the first minute. The ASUS system was clearly more impressive than his gaming performance!

Zephyrus Laptops!

One of the main key products on display was their Zephyrus range of laptops. We have, of course, reviewed a number of these in the past and have never failed to be impressed with their aesthetics, performance and even the price tag.

You can check out one of our Zephyrus laptop reviews via the link here!

Systems

Without a doubt, one of their more impressive custom systems on display was their ‘Orion X2’. This system featured one of the most elaborate custom-loop cooling systems I have seen to date.

As you can see via the inadvertent photo bomb, this caught a lot of attention!

Unfortunately due to all the lights and tempered glass covering, getting a good internal photograph proved difficult. You can’t, however, fail to appreciate the level of work that went into this design.

With a main water chamber supported by 3 smaller designs, this system clearly has more than a little capability of keeping those all important temperatures as low as possible.

Thermaltake – Pretty In Pink!

Although you may have seen the system floating around on social media recently, Thermaltakes ‘pink’ system was in attendance at the event. Featuring a combination of both ASUS and Thermaltake technology, the design was very pleasing on the eye.

A closer look at the internal design shows that pink is, very much, the colour of fashion. With some nice lighting effects thanks to the Thermaltake custom loop system leading to their patented ‘Riing’ fans (on the 360mm cooler), it might be a little simpler than the prior system, but it still looks fantastic.

It is well accompanied by an ASUS ROG keyboard which also sports a very flattering pink colouring.

The system is completed with the ASUS ROG mouse and headphones. Overall, we have to tip our hats off to Thermaltake for producing what is surprisingly (for a pink system) a very attractive proposition!

Peripherals!

It does, of course, go without saying that ASUS wanted to show off their latest peripheral designs and in terms of options, there is something for every appetite here!

A particular highlight (for me at least) was their ROG Strix Scope keyboard. Combining a stylish design with a simple layout, this ticks all of the right boxes for me!

Another interesting product was the ROG Strix Magnus. Acting as a form of microphone and audio hub, such a product would clearly be of interest to someone like a music content creator on social media.

The New ROG Bus

Around a year ago, ASUS debuted their very first ROG bus. At the time, I think ASUS treated this as something of a test subject to see how both the media and fans would react to it.

We certainly loved it and you can learn more about the old bus via the link here! – It seems, however, that many more must have as well as ASUS revealed their latest and greatest ROG bus! – ALL ABOARD!!!

The new bus is (or at least felt) larger than the previous design, but still held a lot of PC goodness. This included multiple system set-ups as well as a lot of their products in which you could get a ‘hands-on’ feel.

Systems!

The downstairs part of the ROG bus showcased a number of system builds. These were well spaced out and really gave visitors a good opportunity to really have a good look at what’s not only inside, but all the peripherals on offer.

ASUS GeForce 2080 Ti Matrix

Without a doubt, one of the biggest pieces of tech they had on show was their ASUS GeForce 2080 Ti Matrix graphics card. This, in terms of graphics card releases, represents something very special and more than a little unusual.

So, what’s so special about this graphics card? Well, put simply, it features both integrated AIO liquid cooling as well as air cooling via a triple fan system.

In terms of size, the graphics card is something of a monster coming in at roughly twice the size of a standard Nvidia 2080 Ti. Requiring 2 x 8 pin connectors as well, it’s a monster that needs feeding!

Sadly, ASUS is still being a bit tightlipped about the performance, although a little investigative journalism found that it will likely retail for something in the £1,700 price region. Expensive, but a hell of a lot of performance potential!

You can check out the official ASUS website for the Matrix via the link here!

Helios

We also got to see the ASUS Helios system. This is based on the chassis design which we recently performed a review on. You can check that out via the link here!

Sadly, the Helios was located in the most inconvenient photogenic spot in the entire bus and as such we had to make some improvisations to the lighting as best we could. In addition to this, tempered glass plus RGB lighting always equals an unhappy camera. So apologies if the pictures are not fantastic… we did the best we could!

Featuring two Nvidia 2080 graphics cards as well as ASUS’ own (LED display) AIO liquid cooling, this system is, in terms of performance, a bit of a beast.

Admittedly, it’s not quite the bleeding edge of technology currently available. A system like this, however, would easily mince up gaming for the next 8 years!

Video

If you’d like to see some video footage from our visit to ASUS and the ROG bus (including that tasty graphics card), check out the video below!

Peripherals

There is, of course, more than a few peripherals both on display and available for you to purchase. The ROG bus does, however, offer you the unique opportunity to not only look, but to try out for yourself!

Red Bull

Similar to the old ROG bus, there are more than a few fridges available stocked with energy drinks. All you need to do is ask the staff nicely and they’ll give you some refreshment (albeit, you have to be over 18 apparently).

Let’s Take A Trip Upstairs

The upstairs to the ROG bus is what you could almost certainly call the ‘gaming deck’. Fitted with systems from front to back (and all, of course, playing your favourite games) you can try out some ASUS hardware. A great opportunity to see it in action and to see what you think!

Where Can I Visit It?

Although I’m sure the ASUS ROG bus will be making various trips, it is currently housed at the Birmingham NEC as part of Insomnia64. There is plenty of staff available on the bus to help make your visit enjoyable and, of course, answer any questions you may have.

If you would like to learn more about the event (or possibly attend) you can check out the official website via the link here! – Be warned, however! Once you have visited the ROG bus, you might never want to leave!

To check out more news from our Insomnia64 visit – visit the link here!