Make Future Motherboard Feature Suggestions Here!

[xeromist]

Hi all,

ASUS ROG is requesting our best suggestions for ROG product improvements. As a moderator I won’t have the ability to implement your suggestions but I will be picking some of the best to highlight for the ROG team so they know what matters to us, the community.

Some guidelines for this thread:
1) Keep it positive and constructive. In most of the forum I try to allow you all to express your thoughts freely (within reason). This thread has the express purpose of generating constructive suggestions so I will be moderating this thread and deleting posts that do not contribute to that goal.
2) Keep it concise and on topic. Some minor discussion regarding a specific suggestion is welcome but if you would like to have a longer conversation I ask you start an additional thread and link it in your post here. You can also request a moderator move your posts if you have need.
3) Try for realistic ideas that appeal broadly to gamers. A small improvement on an existing ROG product is much more likely to get chosen than an entirely new product that only matters to a small number of people.
4) Support your favorites! You don’t have to come up with a suggestion to help. If you see something you like, quote it and say so! More support for an idea improves its chances.

EDIT:
I’ve updated the titles for these feedback threads to reflect that this is primarily for *future* products. Sorry for the lack of clarity. While there is a chance some ideas could be implemented via software updates it’s most likely any suggestions would be rolled into new products.
Also, these threads are not for issue reporting and such posts won’t reach the right people. Please post issues in the ROG Care > Hardware & Software Support section. Or contact ASUS support via phone or email for immediate assistance.

[ExcessiveGBH]

Disable all NVM hard drives in BIOS, just for installing OS, as I have had the boot section install on other hard drives separate from the OS. Saves on disconnecting them.

[1TM1TM]

Suggestion 1:
undo stacked M.2 or significantly redesign this. Stacked arrangement causes _extremely_ poor M.2 cooling with Z790I. Transfer speed in the test oscillates between 0 and XX MB/s indicating overheating. Possible redesign - turn the riser 90 degrees so M.2 slots become vertical, allowing individual (and proper) heatsinks. Better yet, place M.2 slots separately.

M.2 performance on (near)flagship ROG Strix z790i is far far below that of M.2 on Ggiabyte Z690 UD which costs 1/3 of Asus. Very poor design - we shouldn't see such poor design from Asus (as is now).

Suggestion 2:
Allow ErrorCode LED to be connected by a cable and placed outside the case where it can be actually seen. I have suggested this before (in a different thread), but instead Asus chose the HIVE route (many complaints about HIVE) - and I see PauloPanda also suggested the same (11/27/2022) and martine-dee (7/30/2023). Cost to implement this suggestion - miniscule. Most boards already have RGB 4-pin connectors. Standard RGB cable (retail cost $1, bulk cost pennies) can be used for this. Don't overdo the ErrorCode LED as some fancy ROG shape- Keep It Simple (but provide a 3dprintable template if someone wants to put a custom frame on it). Like Asrock, allow it to be a CPU Temperature indicator (after the boot) - Asrock Taichi LED can show CPU temperature.
Ideally, make this a retrofit (add code in BIOS) - so all owners with motherboards which have RGB connector can get one.

Suggestion 3:
Bring back the Speaker socket (for BIOS boot beep code testing).

Suggestion 4:
Marketing department to reduce bonus of the VP who approved HIVE.

Suggestion 5:
Keep essential functions (flashback socket and sound connectors) on the board backplate, not on some odd adapter cable.

edit: Suggestion6:

Don't do non-standard dimensions. Rog Z790I has an odd non-standard height  M.2 tower and non-standard height VRM heatsink with odd-shaped protrusions which interfere with standard sized coolers, which limits this board to only the most basic smallest size coolers. Example: a properly sized HX6200D doesn't fit because of the above two reasons - the useless three mini-fins on the VRM heatsink and the M.2 tower - so it cannot be oriented in any direction to fit.

Either the board designer may have done this on purpose to spite Asus, or the designer has never assembled a single PC in their career.

Suggestion 7 (optional): for the webmaster (if one exists) - make the captcha timeout longer that 15 seconds so one can actually type a response without the edit window losing focus.

[1TM1TM]

Another suggestion, deserving its own post (as I explain the reasons why):

Move the 2x8 CPU power connector(s) - one on Z790I and two on Z790HeroMini - all the way to the corner, next to the screw mount. Why: in miniITX and microATX builds the CPU power cable placement does interfere with layout of components.

Important know-how for Asus:

MiniATX board layout designers (and especially the VP approving the design) must have experience of either building SFFPC themselves, or playing games such as Tetris _and_ Sokoban (and being good at it). This is a pre-requisite for them to have a mindset that their work in layout of the components on the board strongly affects the subsequent builds (and the demand for and revenue from their product, or lack thereof).

Good example of the CPU power connector placement: Gigabyte Z790I board that just came out - so Asus can learn. BTW, with the most recent records with Giga boards scoring with 14900K and with DDR5 memory, their Z790I makes it a very attractive proposition - but the layout is more important than records.

[andru_nl]

May I ask how moving the connector by few cm helps? Usually the problem is the opposite - that connector is too far from where PSU is in the case, the cable is too short. 

[1TM1TM]

Thank you for the followup and clarification. In my particular case (pun intended), which is a SFFPC NR200P, the placement of a 240mm AIO on top of the case (best heat flow routing from bottom to top) is partly obstructed by maybe 2mm by the CPU socket being in the  way. The corner of the AIO (which I don't dare hammer in lest it leaks) touches the plug which, if the socket were placed just few mm closer to the corner, would present no obstacle. Asus is a wealthy enough corporation to afford buying top 10-15 most popular SFFPC cases and trying to assemble with the ROG MicroATX or MiniITX boards - just to see if all fits - and what gets in the way. Most commonly used in SFF is an air cooler, yet modern fastest CPUs from both camps (intel or AMD) commonly require powerful coolers, which with AIO result in notably less noise (because AIO uses multiple fans) and (somewhat) lower T.

This pre-fitting approach would gain much appreciation from enthusiasts - and generate pictures for marketing.

Also thank you for touching on the subject of connectors / power cables' length. CPU power cable will still fit if the socket is 3 mm to 3 cm farther away from PSU. However, ASUS places cables with their SFX or SFX-L PSUs that are a gargantuan (by SFFPC scale) 80 cm long. Why not also place just the 24 pin and 8 pin CPU cables which are short - as in 15 cm (you/Asus will know the exact best length when you/Asus try to build in these cases- and while at it orient the PSU in all four directions (eight actually as some place PSU upside-down so 4 orientations times 2 directions fan up and fan down). In my build, there are literally bundles upon bundles of extra long cables strapped to the outside of the PSU - the side with no fan. Makes for a comparatively unsightly SFF build, but I rather would not use afermarket "custom short" cables. Example pic here  https://cdna.pcpartpicker.com/static/forever/images/userbuild/443808.a00de44216efb3bd1c647c433284fcc...  build here Dual 4090 FE in a small PC by 1TM - Intel Core i3-13100, 2 x GeForce RTX 4090, Cooler Master MasterB...

[Crasje]

I was told to clear CMOS by removing the battery. My suggestion is putting it someplace that doesn't require to remove your videcard and the sexy plate... somewhere accessable.

[Rodine]

read through several pages but may have missed this one. 

Personally I prefer the Hero and Dark Hero styling. I actually have both. My wife has the Z790 Hero and I have the Dark Hero, with a spare Hero in the box just in case. 

With that said I consider myself an enthusiast but prefer the look and styling of the Hero line vs the Apex line. 

I would prefer the features and functionality with OCing RAM of the APEX but on the Hero line. 

Why not combine lines, and add the functionality to disable DIMM slots on board to give you the best of both worlds for those wanting to dabble in OCing RAM. 

I would even pay a little more for this feature.

My 2 cents 

[Silent_Scone]

Hi Rodine,

The memory topology of the board matters. Simply disabling DIMM slots doesn’t make a board perform like a 1 DIMM per channel motherboard as we can’t change the trace layout which is key for reducing signalling problems such as jitter, crosstalk etc. Having fewer slots helps improve these things and maintain a cleaner signal by using a more optimal layout. This a large part as to why the APEX is able to provide higher DRAM OC than other SKU. 👍

[AJaromir]

Hi. In my opinion there should be variant completely without RGB features. I am one who loves minimalism and purpose. That's why I find RGB elements to be a waste. I would be happy if among the most powerful gaming motherboards there was a choice of a completely RGB-free variant. For example "ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO" and to it there could be a variant "ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO No-RGB"

[Silent_Scone]

Just checking you're familiar with Stealth Mode from within the UEFI?