ASUS ROG XG Station : ASUS ROG XG Station: Official Launch

ASUS finally announced yesterday the launch of its ROG XG Station presented at CES 2007. As a reminder, this is an external box that features a GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB GDDR3 with a GPU clocked at 540Mhz. Our ROG XG station will also incorporate a second graphics card. Performance will be improved by 6.7 times compared with the integrated Intel 965GM chipset found in notebooks.
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Our ROG XG Station PCI-Express X1 features two USB ports, TV output, DVI-I output, and VGA output via an adapter, and a screen that informs you of GPU frequency and temperature, fan speeds… It's compatible Dolby headphones, Dolby virtual speakers, Dolby Digital Live, and Dolby Pro LogicIIx.

Taipei, Taiwan, May 26, 2008 – ASUS, leading provider of high-performance graphics solutions, today launched the world´s first VGA and multimedia docking station – the ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamer) XG Station. With extremely detailed and impeccable design, the XG Station has attained the honorific of being conferred with the red dot design award honourable mention 2008. The XG Station is also bundled with the EN8600GT/HTDP/256M graphics card, and equipped with an Express Card interface – seamlessly integrating notebook computing with powerful PC graphical power. It also incorporates 4 USB 2.0 ports and Dolby Technology – doubling as a USB hub that delivers true AV enjoyment.

Reddot Design Award Honourable Mention
With more than 7,000 submissions from 60 countries, the international reddot Design Award ranks among the largest and most renowned design competitions in the world. In the first time in the history of these prestigious awards, the jury of design experts have honoured 137 products that have stood out from the others through especially refined and detailed solutions. The ASUS ROG XG Station is certified to be one such honourable mention, and is recognized as a product that sets itself apart from the competition with its successful design solution for providing a unique user experience.

Engage Mobility with Powerful Graphics Processing
With the explosion of popularity of high-performance, powerful laptops in recent years, there is an ever-increasing desire for computing users to utilize the same laptop computer at home, in the office, and also on the road. However, in order to conserve space, weight, and functionality, many of these sophisticated laptops have made sacrifices in terms of graphics, audio or processing power. By providing the power of a dedicated 3D graphics engine, users simply have to connect the XG Station to any LCD monitor, connect to the notebook via an Express Card connector, and then they are ready to game in with enhanced graphics. This setup easily provides users with a complete mobile notebook computing solution while retaining the advantages of high powered 3D gaming and multimedia experiences.

Sensational A/V Enjoyment
The XG Station also features enhanced audio and video functions with incorporated Dolby Technology – which encompasses Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual speaker, Dolby Digital Live, and Dolby Pro LogicIIx. This allows dynamic true-to-life quality audio to be achieved during PC gameplay, music or video playback. The Dolby Headphone enables 5.1 surround sound through any pair of headphones, while the Dolby Virtual speaker lets users experience 5.1-channel surround sound from just two speakers. Dolby Digital Live enables users to enjoy audio from the PC or game consoles through their home theater setups, and Dolby Pro LogicIIx transforms any stereo or 5.1 channel source into 6.1 or 7.1 channel surround sounds. Furthermore, with the XG Station, real-time overclocking can be easily controlled with the ergonomic knob design for simple GPU clock speed adjustments – providing the best audio and video experiences.

Large Information Display and Easy Controls
With the adoption of a large LED screen, the XG Station is designed with ease of use in mind. This easy-to-read screen provides clear displays of critical system status statistics that include:
• System master volume
• GPU clock speed
• Current GPU temperature
• Dolby® Headphone feature status
• Current actual Frames Per Second (FPS)
• GPU fan speed indicator
The XG Station also utilizes a dedicated control panel to let users control the settings through a GUI based interface; and can also easily switch modes between the notebook screen and the external LCD monitor.

Fast and Upgradeable Graphics Power
The XG Station is the world´s first docking station to provide a standard PCI Express slot for additional graphics computing power for notebook computers to deliver VISTA Premium graphical performances. It also conveniently accommodates future graphic upgrade possibilities for technologies such as HDCP. Lab experiments made on a notebook based on Intel 945GM and 965GM graphics connected to the XG station with an ASUS EN8600GT graphics card showed an astounding 12 and 6.7 times faster graphics acceleration respectively.