ASUS Republic of Gamers and X79 ROG Review – Rampage IV Gene, Formula and Extreme

Hardware does not a product make.  As all the parts of the motherboard come together, having a substantial software backbone should the user need it is vital.  Software is used for managing the components, such as fans or overclocks, or monitoring and adjusting.  In a similar ilk to their hardware, ASUS bundle a series of ROG labeled software products to retain a level of 'enthusiast focus' within the brand, alongside their standard software additions.   

ROG MemTweakIt

For your competitive overclocker, it pays to be extreme in every part of the system - every edge you can get counts to the score.  CPU speed is often the main priority, but if the benchmark requires fast memory, then that needs to be overclocked and tweaked as well.  ASUS already do a good job BIOS side with memory options and compatibility, though having to go back to the BIOS each time to adjust the finer points of the memory can be a hassle.  This is where MemTweakIt comes in.

I am no memory expert - I have repeatedly read Raja's write up on how memory works (http://www.anandtech.com/show/3851/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-sdram-memory-but-were-afraid-to-ask) as I am sure some of you have, and came away needing to re-read it over and over again.  Understanding the underlying reasons why memory works is important to a competitive overclockers score, helping them extract every drop of potential performance.  However, I do not understand half of these options.  ASUS provide them for the people that do, and for the users who want to tweak in the OS.  Options such as the CAS Latency (CL) and Command Rate (CR) are decided at boot time and thus cannot be changed, but the rest can be.  In order to aid those not au-fait with some of the options, ASUS add in a 'DRAM efficiency score' to provide a general 'all-purpose' usage synthetic for comparisons.

ROG CPU-Z

For system builders, testers, fixers and overclockers, the program CPU-Z is a very important tool.  In 99.99% of cases, it will tell the user what the underlying system is, from the CPU to the motherboard and the memory - in the latest versions, also the GPU.  This is very handy information to obtain without opening up the case or entering into the BIOS or various other programs.  For competitive overclockers, it also provides as an official confirmation of the hardware being used, or as the basis for pure CPU-Z frequency validations.

The CPU-Z software itself is designed by CPUID, a company specializing in system monitoring, reporting and benchmarking.  ASUS have done a deal with CPUID to provide a skinned version of CPU-Z for ROG formats in order to promote their branding.  The ROG version of CPU-Z is a standard part of the software install, but is available for all through the CPUID website.

ROG GameFirst – Gene and Formula

As part of the ROG focus for gaming, namely the Gene and Formula more so than the Extreme, ASUS have bundled in network management software with these motherboards to help focus bandwidth.

It is common for gamers to have multiple programs running side by side while gaming - the application alongside a VoIP client, but also perhaps their mail client, messaging clients, or even in extreme cases, downloads.  In a normal environment, each of these has equal footing - demand for bandwidth will be spliced between them all.  In this case, the download would have the overall highest percentage of bandwidth, as it would be constantly requiring as much bandwidth as possible.

In order to mitigate this, ASUS have included GameFirst software.

The wheel at the bottom is the main image from GameFirst, showcasing whether the system is directly downloading or uploading content.  Inside the options, a user can offer a pre-determined setting to give certain applications priority in the request stack - here we see games having priority.  ASUS have many preset options for games, and users can add their own. 

GameFirst is an interface of cFosSpeed, a software implementation of network management.  Any user can purchase it on any motherboard, but ASUS have licensed it for their ROG products in the form of GameFirst.

Update: Game First II, the update version, is coming soon to the ROG range.  This will be a free download to all users and will provide enhanced traffic shaping and network/service management.

ROG Bundled Software - Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Daemon Tools Pro

In talking with ASUS representatives, I quizzed them on the bundling of two software packages - Kaspersky Anti-Virus, and Daemon Tools Pro (a CD/DVD image mounting client).  Both of these have associated BOM costs to add to the packages, and I was confused to the demand for these.

ASUS were very open with their reasoning.  They found that a number of users were not running any anti-virus software at all, but when asked they said they would run some if it was good, was not intrusive on the gaming, and came free.  Kaspersky is commonly rated as one of the best AV in the business, hence the inclusion to aid ASUS help their client base.  I can see their reasoning - I would indeed use it above my current AV (which is also free and rates just behind Kaspersky).  We should also note that Kaspersky has a special game mode to reduce memory and CPU usage.

The next bit of software, Daemon Tools, is something I have been using for the best part of 6 years with my backed up software.  Rather than using a CD/DVD, I like to use a program to make an image of it, then call on that image to be 'mounted' on the system such that I can use the contents.  I have been using the free version of Daemon Tools for this reason, and it seems that ASUS have determined that many other users do the same.  As a result, they include Daemon Tools Pro as standard on their ROG motherboards.

ROG Windows7 Themes

A ROG system would not be a complete ROG unless there was a way to parade it over non-ROG users.  ASUS include on their install DVD a set of ROG themes for Windows 7.  These include a set of backgrounds (which in my experience work well at 2560x1440) for the desktop slideshow, as well as a change in the Start Menu, and mouse pointers.

ROG Exchange – The Future

The next part of the ROG branding for motherboards is the ROG Exchange.  This feature, to be showcased initially on Ivy Bridge, is to help users of similar systems to share BIOS and OS settings and see how the professionals overclock.

This system is currently in closed beta, but the front facing part of the website is available to see: http://rog.asus.com/rog-pro/rog-exchange/.