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Published: July 28, 2009 | Source: Asus | Author: Rich Weatherstone

Asus OC Station ROG Controller

Introduction
 
Asus are widely known as one of, if not the leading PC component manufacturer for the enthusiast. Recently they have branched out into making there own notebooks so it is nice to see Asus have not forgotten their roots in the less lucrative but no less important enthusiast sector of the market. ROG (Republic of Gamers) is now a well known brand name among the said enthusiasts and is recognised as the pinnacle product of the Asus design team. ROG motherboards are extremely high performing products that cater for the extreme overclocker and thanks to the flexible design, the avid gamer. Sometimes these two paths cross and with gamers wanting more and more power, overclocking  has become much more mainstream. Not so long ago, overclocking was a buzz word on the Internet with very few dedicated forums and was treated more of a dark art than a pre-requisite to top end setups.
 
Fast forward a few years and you will find that overclocking is now widely known among enthusiasts and thanks to the countless improvements to BIOS and support forums, can now be attempted by even the most uneducated of gamers. However, the time it takes to study the dark art and the countless failed attempts when overclocking can sometimes be the downfall of many prospective overclockers. The BIOS, despite countless guides and discussions is still a daunting place to be for the uninitiated. So many people prefer to use software based overclocking utilities. Asus themselves are guilty of providing such products which sometimes work, sometimes not and as anyone who has gone that one step too far while using software based overclocking utilities will tell you, be prepared for corruption and windows repair/re-installs.
 
Asus have now taken on board feedback from the overclocking communities and have made what appears to be the holy grail of overclocking tools – the OC Station.
 
Here’s what they had to say about this ingenious device:
 
The Republic of Gamers consists only the best of the best. We offer the best hardware engineering, the fastest performance, the most innovating ideas, and we welcome the best gamers to join in.
In the Republic of Gamers, mercy rules are only for the weak, and bragging rights means everything. We believe in making statements and we excel in competitions. If your character matches our trait, then join the elite club, make your presence felt, in the Republic of Gamers.

The OC Station is a pure hardware-based, bay-mounted device with a large 3-inch display that takes overclocking to a whole new level of ease, accuracy and sophistication. When used in conjunction with ROG motherboards, the strikingly-designed OC Station grants users on-the-fly access to overclocking parameters, ROG-exclusive features, fan speeds, system information and even a photo slide show function.

 
Asus are very excited about this product, as was I when it arrived on my desk. It’s been a long time coming and while there are other products on the market that overclock, non are as specific, dedicated or rely on external software sources to run correctly as the OC station.
 
Let’s take a look at the product and see if it lives up to the hype…