Better, stronger, faster
We visited with ASUS and the company took some time today to explain some of the underlying technology that it thinks separates its products from the competition's.
Intelligent design
At the heart of many of the upcoming boards will be the Dual Intelligent Processor II (DIP2) design. On the one hand, the EPU will be there to keep power-usage in check and make sure that all of the components are running to maximise the efficiency of both the board and the CPU. On the other, the TPU will allow for easy - and even automatic - overclocking that will get the most out of a processor without requiring any background knowledge of voltages or BCLKs.
As well as improved designs over the last generation, one of the big changes with DIP2 will be the ability to engage these features without installing any software. The manufacturer is well aware that a lot of enthusiasts don't like installing unnecessary programs for fear that it'll slow down the system, so both functions can now be engaged via hardware switches. Of course, there'll also be an all new software suite for fine tuning each of the new features of these chips, should you chose to use it, with changes taking effect in real time.
Digitalism
Tying both of these chips together is the new Digi+ VRM, which will appear on ROG, TUF and high-end channel motherboards. This will allow for precise digital - as opposed to analogue on other boards - control of all of the voltages, and ASUS sees it as a major step forward in motherboard design. Since the power circuitry can respond accurately to the requests made by the CPU, the system will be more stable and more efficient, in turn allowing for higher overclocks.
The power circuitry also seems a lot more 'intelligent', in that the new 'Active Cooling' system will automatically redistribute the workload away from any circuitry that is getting too hot, again resulting in greater stability. Digi+ VRM will also allow for smoother power-phase switching, giving a small but notable improvement in efficiency.