ASUS Hosting First RoG Convention Next Month

This summer is gearing up to be a good one for LAN parties and cool conferences (IDF, NVISION, E3), and ASUS is helping to do their part by holding the first Republic of Gamers Convention, taking place from July 18 - 20. The bulk of the convention is a LAN party, where over 700 gamers can meet and greet and kick each others ass. You are free to bring either your desktop PC or your laptop.

If you live in or around the Dallas, TX area, this is one event you shouldn't consider missing. It's only $20, and with the amount of projected gamers there, it should turn out to be one heck of an event. Our very own Greg King will be there, who plans to conquer every... single... game he touches.

Now that I've set the standard so high, doesn't it make you want to attend even more? For those who prefer specifics, check out the official FAQ, then register! I know we have a lot of Texan readers, so there will be no excuse if the place isn't bursting at the seams!

Welcome to the Republic Of Gamers Convention, brought to you by ASUS and Intel. ROGCon will be heating up Dallas, Texas this July 18th to 20th by bringing old school LAN party fun to a whole new level. ROGCon will be open to the public and will feature a 24-hour BYOC where 700 gamers can show-off their skills.

Source: RoG Convention

NVIDIA Prepares to Launch 9800 GTX+ Next Month

If there is one thing NVIDIA's great at, it's making the competition feel the heat. Even though they are offering the best top-end cards right now, and have been since... hmm, the 6-series, the last thing they want to do is allow AMD to take the lead, in anything. We already know that AMD makes some incredible mid-range cards, and that's what seems to scare NVIDIA, especially with the upcoming HD 4850 card launch.

From early reports, the HD 4850 out-performs the 9800 GTX from NVIDIA, a card that up until the GTX 280 was the fastest single-GPU card on the planet. But it gets better. The HD 4850 isn't only faster, but it's supposed to be priced around the $200 mark (HD 4870 at ~$279). Well, at that price, it would be $70 cheaper on average, over the 9800 GTX. So what's NVIDIA to do? Drop prices? No, in typical NVIDIA fashion, they'll again release another card that should not see the light of day.

Ryan at PC Perspective just received a new NVIDIA card, labeled the 9800 GTX+, to benchmark to his hearts content. 9800 GTX+? I'm all for new GPUs when they are warranted, but other than a small die shrink and clock bump, this is essentially a pre-overclocked 9800 GTX. What's the point? Who knows, but we will once the card is released next month and can have a gander at its pricing.

Compared to the current generation GeForce 9800 GTX that runs at 675 MHz core, 1688 MHz shader and 1100 MHz memory clocks, the new 9800 GTX+ is a considerable bump in speed. What makes this all possible? The 9800 GTX+ is the 55nm refresh of G92 - all current 9800-series cards are built on 65nm technology.

Source: PC Perspective

June 19th Tech Roundup

Displays & Video Cards
• ASUS MK241H 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - HotHardware
• BFG 9600 GT OCX - i4u

Memory & Storage
• Aeneon XTUNE DDR3-1600 CL9 4GB Memory Kit - 3D Gameman

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Logitech Pure-Fi Mobile Wireless Speaker System - Legit Reviews
• Motorola Bluetooth Headset H680 - Blue Tomorrow
• Razer Mako 2.1 Advanced Desktop Audio - FusionMods
• Speed Link Ganymed Headset - Tech-Reviews
• Yuin OK3 Earphones - techPowerUp!

Cooling
• Noctua NH-C12P CPU Cooler - Bjorn3D

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Antec P182SE Special Edition - PC Perspective
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M 700W - Tech-Reviews
• Hiper Osiris Case - Technic3D

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Case Mod Contest - TechwareLabs
• Hypersonic Avenger AG2 Laptop - Computer Shopper
• OCC's Trip To Computex 2008 - Overclockers Club
• Samsung Glyde - Digital Trends