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Monday, June 15, 2009

ASUS Formula Series Gets on New York Times


Frankly, I cannot wait to get my hands on one.

SOURCE

The Asus Formula Series graphics card.

Computer graphics cards, which take computer data and help turn it into images on a monitor, are almost always invisible, stuck in the bowels of a PC tower or jammed into the innards of a laptop. They are essentially fancy circuit boards, not meant to be seen.

Enter Asus, and the Formula Series graphics cards.

The housing of the card is shaped like an F1 racing car: the “body” is shaped in metal. There’s a front “wing” of sorts, a nose and even a rear wing that covers the card’s “chassis,” its heat sinks and cooling fans (graphics cards, like F1 engines, can run hot). The only thing missing is a Shell or Bridgestone logo.

The angle here is Asus’s claim that the aerodynamic shell allows a 7 percent improved airflow as well as keeping dust off the fan. That extends the card’s operational lifespan to up to 10,000 hours, about 25 percent longer than traditional cards, Asus says.

For gamers and graphics professionals, video cards are a crucial component in a PC, and advancements in graphic technology are constant, so do-it-yourselfers often upgrade these components. The cards also vary wildly in price, from less than $100 to more than $500. Asus hasn’t set a price yet on the Formula Series.

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