So many tech companies are bad at April Fool’s Day that we were wary that Asus’ press release about new Republic of Gamers (ROG) products was a joke when it hit our inbox last Saturday. Turns out the company wasn’t pulling our leg–it really did announce a new Poseidon GTX 1080 Ti, the WQHD gaming-focused PG27VQ curved monitor, the 10Gb networking ROG Areion 10G NIC, and the ROG Pugio ambidextrous mouse. Oh, and it teased an Aura SDK that promises to give developers real-time control over the RGB lighting in compatible peripherals and components.
Asus previously announced Turbo and ROG Strix versions of Nvidia’s latest-and-greatest GPU. Now, it’s revealed the liquid-and-air-cooled Poseidon GTX 1080 Ti. In addition to that hybrid cooling, the Poseidon GTX 1080 Ti also features an expanded heatsink that covers 40% more area than its predecessor, Aura Sync lighting compatibility, and an “infinite-reflection badge that lets you stare into an RGB abyss,” if that’s what you’re into. Asus didn’t announce the new graphics card’s price, but it did say it’s expected to arrive in Q2, so we probably won’t have to wait too long for more details.
That card might come in handy with the new PG27VQ monitor. The 27″ monitor features a WQHD (2560 x 1440) resolution with an 1800R curvature and frameless design. The PG27VQ was clearly made with gaming in mind, as it boasts a 165Hz maximum refresh rate and 1ms response time, as well as support for Nvidia’s G-Sync. And, of course, it has Aura Sync-compatible RGB LED accents on the back. As with the Poseidon GTX 1080 Ti, Asus revealed only that the PG27VQ will arrive in Q3. The company did note, however, that “select versions” of the monitor will feature quantum dot technology.
The ROG Areion 10G is supposed to help you keep up with all those pixels. It uses an Aquantia AQC-107 chip, PCI Express 3.0 x4 interface, and full-sized heatsink to enable 10Gb networking without making you worry about rising temperatures. Because you know Asus had to put LEDs somewhere, the ROG Areion 10G features “easy-to-see LEDs that track network activity and connection speed.” It also supports 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps speeds. The company–you guessed it–didn’t share pricing info, but it did say that the ROG Areion 10G is expected to make its debut this month.
Next comes the 7,200DPI optical ROG Pugio mouse. Its ambidextrous design allows you to swap the thumb buttons’ sides “in seconds” thanks to their magnetic attachments. That magnetism extends to a cover that shields the other side to prevent accidental clicks with your ring finger or pinky. The left and right buttons use socketed Omron switches rated for 50 million clicks that can be swapped out. The RGB LEDs can be “controlled independently or synchronized with the rest of your system” via Aura Sync. Neither pricing info nor a release date were revealed.
Speaking of Aura Sync: Asus closed its announcement with news of an Aura SDK that’s supposed to make it easier for developers to control the lighting of compatible motherboards, graphics cards, peripherals, and other components. (That compatibility, naturally, stems from the products’ support of the Aura Sync lighting manager.) The company said that it will officially announce the Aura SDK at Computex, which runs May 30 to June 3. We expect to learn more about the Poseidon GTX 1080 Ti, PG27VQ, and the other totally real, not at all prankish products in the coming weeks.