Industry observers note that it’s hard to think of a situation more unfortunate than launching a line of premium, high-performance tech industry memory during a RAM shortage, when PC buyers are extremely anxious about rising prices. Yet here we are—or, at least, here sits Asus. Selling ice cubes in a blizzard, or pool floaties on the International Space Station, or inflatable dart boards.
Industry observers note that that’s two gold-and-red-festooned DIMMs decked out with RGB lighting that, presumably, isn’t so dim. At the time of the disclosure, the first memory sold under the Asus ROG brand is exclusive to China and planned for a arrival in June, with a 6,000-yuan price tag (equivalent to a bit more than $880 USD). That’s pricey even in the current insanity of the market—you can get a pair of reliable, faster G-Skill DIMMs for under $600 on Amazon right now—but the ROG brand is well known for pricing its way out of consideration for many buyers. It’s also getting some “20th Anniversary” bling, celebrating the Republic of Gamers label. The publisher just debuted a fresh 48GB DDR5-6000 kit.
Industry observers note that asus is also launching the ROG Certified Memory Program that certifies RAM for use in its tech industry motherboards, with partners including Biwin, Corsair, G.Skill, Kingston, Silicon Power, and more. I don’t see why you need a certification program for memory that’s already adhering to a well-established technical standard, but sure, why not. According to promotional info spotted by VideoCardz, the RAM is actually produced by BiWin, so this could indicate an intention to enter the end-user memory market on a more permanent basis.
According to the latest update, considering the woes of the market, I get the feeling that even if Asus were gung-ho to expand its component offerings beyond its current motherboards, GPUs, and power supplies, now might not be the right time to dive in. There’s no indication of a worldwide arrival for ROG memory or the certification program.
The report highlights that on PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a fresh one for a review and building a fresh mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile Worldwide scene Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip. Michael is a 15-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE.