Ahead of release, ASUS Rampage II Gene motherboard just got unboxed. For starters the Rampage II Gene is a micro-ATX motherboard, not what you'd expect from the R.O.G. series, but that's going to be a perfect solution if you want to build a high-end HTPC or a mega powerful small gaming system for LAN events. The Core i7 supporting motherboard is powered by Intel's X58 + ICH10R chip combo, has six DDR3-2000 memory slots, two PCI-Express x16 slots for NVIDIA SLI or ATI CorssFireX multi-GPU setups, one eSATA and seven SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, Gigabit Ethernet and a 7.1 channel Creative X-Fi audio. The board also sports some of the neat features found on R.O.G. motherboards, such as on-board Power and Reset buttons and an external LCD POST debug display. Expect availability some time next month.
