Computex 2013 will see the official launch of Intel’s Haswell processor. This fourth generation core processor release date was announced on the Intel blog in April with a countdown set at 3,337,200,000,000,000 nanoseconds. No, I cannot tell you what that will be as of today, maths is definitely not my strong suit.
The Haswell microarchitecture is purported to be low on power demands and designed to help devices in the ultraportable market make the most of the power on tap and deliver super performance. The finer points and details are still to be confirmed, but most of the information has been leaked and there’s already a dedicated Wikipedia page.
In anticipation of the announcement ASUS has done more than just release some seriously beautiful motherboard designs (you did see my post on the stunning new gold look and feel, right?) they have also delivered the Z87 motherboards that are a neat fit for most users, regardless of how technical they may be.
There are the usual RoG Maximus VI Gene and Extreme for the mini and ultra fans respectively, but there is also the RoG Maximum VI Hero that’s less of a cost for the hardcore gamer, while still delivering a superior performance. Then there is the Sabertooth Z87 that gives the enthusiast a board without the trademark TUF armour (you can buy the kit separately) but with the features they want for their rigs.
This is a clever move that allows for more flexibility for the user, especially if budgets are tight. Enthusiasts will find it far more affordable to set up a system with superb performance without having to compromise on many essential features. It’s certainly going to be exciting to see how they perform once the freshly minted Intel chips are inside.
Tamsin