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This year's Computex marked some milestone birthdays for a number of the biggest brands in the gaming PC world. Zotac celebrated 20 years, MSI celebrated 40, and Asus, perhaps loudest out of all of them, was celebrating 20 years of gaming products from its ROG brand. Having spent a week in Taipei covering the show, the presence of Asus was loud and clear, and it seemed to be received well from exhibitors and visitors alike.
Split across the central intersection of what was maybe the main gaming hall at the event, Asus had two massive booths, one for the wider Asus brand, and another dedicated solely to ROG. From my experience of racing around the show floor on the way to different booth tours and generally rushing around like a headless chicken, the ROG booth was maybe the busiest one I came across every time I passed it.
The outside of the booth was like a modern art exhibition for ROG's new 20th anniversary gear, its black and gold color scheme drawing in seemingly anyone who passed by. As inviting as this shiny (and expensive) gaming hardware was, it was really just a small part of what Asus had to show off at this year's Computex. From motherboards and RAM to its newly bundled and upgraded OLED Ally X, to an entire Esports section with collabs for new mouse pads and keyboards. There was a lot to see at the ROG booth, but here are the bits that really stuck out to me.
The Anniversary ROG Destrier Chair
I reviewed the original Asus ROG Destrier Ergo Chair, and although it was impressive at the time, it didn't stick around as something I wanted to recommend to many gamers. It was pricey, its design was a little too gaudy for my tastes, and honestly, compared to other ergonomic mesh chairs, it was just more of the same.
I had heard the chair had been updated as the years went on, but I hadn't gotten to try it out until I saw the 20th Anniversary edition at Computex. Sure, the black and gold colorway was impressive, maybe suiting the outlandish design of the chair more than the standard black and red theme ever did. The gold spinal column and accents on the backrest in particular look a lot better.
But the refinements Asus has made to the actual chair are legit. The seat cushion is now a proper... well, cushion. It's not a mesh netting that does nothing to protect you from the rigid metal frame of the chair. The armrests on the modernized version were smaller than I remember, but more pliable, with an almost completely rubberized texture that I actually really liked. The acoustic guard around the headrest still seems functionally pointless to me, but it did feel smaller and less bulky around the top of the seat.
The Anniversary version will no doubt set you back more than you really need to spend on a good mesh chair - the standard version will set you back $649-$700, but the birthday model certainly inspires me to want to take it for a spin to see how it compares to more of the best gaming chairs.
ROG certified RAM
Just recently, Asus announced it was starting a ROG-certified program that guarantees strong compatibility for tried and tested DDR5 RAM with its gaming motherboards. The news came along with the announcement that Asus is launching its own DDR5 modules for the first time. The ROG-certified RAM won't gain the additional overclocking speed boost like its homemade kit will, but it will guarantee onward compatibility with an Asus motherboard, which, in times like these, will give you more confidence you're buying the right (very expensive) memory.
I didn't expect to see each of the initial certified batch of RAM to adorn an entire wall of the ROG booth like some kind of trophy case, but there it was. I'm shocked this particular part of the booth didn't need armed security to prevent gamers trying to nick the RAM sticks off the wall, because there it was, taunting anyone who was hoping to build a new PC this year.
In times like these, when DDR5 RAM is so hard to come by, it was a real sight for sore eyes to see some of the biggest and best RAM brands in the industry all in one place.
The Asus ROG Ally X20 and its bundled AR Glasses
As a user of the original Asus ROG Ally X, I've been insanely jealous of folks who waited until the Xbox version dropped. With those additional grips, things are a lot more comfortable, and now, a refreshed 20th Anniversary bundle brings it together with the Asus ROG XReal R1 glasses. Yes, the pricing of this bundle is silly, and no, I don't think you should need to buy the glasses and the handheld together just to get the updated OLED X20. I was prepared to not like either, but it's hard to argue with crystal clear visuals.
I tried both the handheld and the glasses at the ROG booth at Computex, and I was surprisingly impressed with both. The handheld's OLED display was super vivid up close; meanwhile, its comfort and weight felt right up there with the new Acer Predator Atlas 8 handheld.
I'm not the biggest fan of AR glasses because they're usually pretty bulky, uncomfortable, and their use cases always feel a bit surplus to requirements, but with a mini OLED level of clarity and a high refresh rate, the ROG glasses are ones I'm actually really looking forward to testing more thoroughly.
The ROG G1000 desktop and its holographic fans
I initially covered the ROG G1000 gaming PC back when it was shown off at CES at the start of the year, and although its holographic fan displays certainly sounded cool, it was something I wanted to see before properly believing in. This is still pretty new technology, so I figured it'd be pretty weak lighting in reality, or just wouldn't look quite as good as it sounded.
Oh boy, I was wrong. Not only is the G1000 an absolute monster of a PC, but its holofans put it up there with some of the best-looking gaming desktops I saw at this year's Computex. The lighting was extremely vivid, the colors bold, and the motion of the displayed graphics really smooth and clear.
Obviously, I've only seen it working with the standard ROG logos, and I wasn't able to customize it with different GIFs and images to see how that compared, but if it's a sign of what's to come from Asus and its holofan tech, sign me up because this could turn out to be an even bigger trend than LCD displays on AIO coolers.
The 20th Anniversary mouse and keyboard
Two things I had seen before arriving at Computex were the Asus ROG Harpe II Extreme Edition 20 and the Asus ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20. Both are refreshed takes on the brand's flagship mouse and keyboard, adorned with black and 24K gold metal plating. These two accessories have been making my desk at home look so much more flashy for the last few weeks, but it was another thing entirely to see them in situ with the rest of the 20th anniversary and Esports gear.
I have to admit, I think the entire range looks stunning - even if it's so expensive I have no idea who'd be able to afford it all. The desktop components, for example, can only be bought altogether, and the mouse I reviewed costs $359, and the keyboard $549.
Still, there's a reason this booth was drawing crowds at Computex every single day: the black and gold designs on show are a truly alluring way to mark this milestone in the Asus history book - even if people were crowding to look and never get their hands on it all.
You can see more of Asus by checking out the best Asus gaming laptops, the best Xbox Series X controllers, and the best gaming handheld.
