ASUS has launched new PC hardware inspired by one of the most popular Japanese anime series of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion. They comprise a themed ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO motherboard and ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, both of which feature a design and color scheme inspired by Shinji Mikami’s iconic cyborg vehicle, Evangelion Unit-01. These are not to confused with the Evangelion-inspired PC components that competitor MSI unveiled earlier this year, which ASUS has apparently decided to copy to reel in enthusiasts who also happen to big fans of anime.
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 Evangelion Edition
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO Motherboard Evangelion Edition
ASUS Copies MSI, Launches Neon Genesis Evangelion Anime-Inspired Hardware Including Graphics Cards & Motherboards (Wccftech)
Even the BIOS for the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO motherboard will feature the EVA-01 unit theme which looks quite cool. The ROG M.2 expansion AIC is also themed in Evangelion and can house an additional two NVMe devices plus the standard three NVMe slots that are located on the board itself.
It looks like the cards will be very limited as CoolPC.tw has listed only 15 units for pre-orders out of which 5 are already reserved. The price for the graphics card is a massive $63,990 TWD which converts to $2170 US while the motherboard will cost $17,960 TWD or $609 US. Both products are expected to go on sale through lottery due to their limited availability between 1st May till 5th May.
Neon Genesis Evangelion initially premiered on Japanese TV in October 1995 and has amassed a legion of fans since for its novel take on the mecha genre. The franchise has spawned three films (Death & Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, and Rebuild of Evangelion), the second of which included a new finale to appease fans who were disappointed by the way the series originally ended. Director Hideaki Anno’s other works include Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Shin Godzilla, 2016’s live-action film starring the king kaiju.
Discussion (7 replies)
Join Discussion →Are there still fans of thst show with the disposable income to buy them? Now an SI making a themed build this could be a godsend for but still I ask.. who?
Good gawd, thinking about it now, I watched that shiznit like 25 years ago. This is a really random-@ss cross-property match-up.
Don't mind the color scheme for the mobo, although I'd rather it not be themed towards an existing media IP. The card can look okay depending on the lighting and angle (mainly just the fan side), but it's not for me, visually-speaking.
I was never into anime myself. Not my cup of tea either, but to a fan of the show it might be. I actually liked the Asus Gundam themed hardware even though I wasn't into the show. That carries a premium price and good luck finding the case, motherboard, and video card to match for any of these.
Also @Tsing I think you confused this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinji_Mikami
With this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinji_Ikari
Eh, the 'Hero' board is only US$10 more than the unskinned version. The GPU is where it's at for the markup, and the limited nature seems to be part and parcel of the pricing here.
[I almost went with one of the HERO boards myself, but decided to go with MSI's MEG Z690 ACE instead due to a few additional features like being able to use four NVMe slots without sacrificing the x4 PCIe slot (in which I have a 10Gbit NIC), and having two 2.5Gbit NICs onboard as opposed to just the one on the ASUS - and ASUS having the explodey capacitor problem on this board along with MSI generally doing better with DDR5 compatibility]
I like stuff like this, changes things up a bit, now if they would only release one that I would be interested in :p
Right - at least do white on most models too.