ASUS Announces B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming

2015/11/09

Taipei, Taiwan (9th November, 2015) — ASUS today announced B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming, two new ATX motherboards packed with multiple exclusive features for superior gaming experiences, including gaming-grade SupremeFX and Sonic Radar II audio, gaming-grade Intel® Gigabit Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard and GameFirst technologies for fast, safe and lag-free networking — plus awesome illumination technology in B150 Pro Gaming/Aura.

Based on the latest Intel® B150 Express chipset and ready for the newest 6th-generation Intel processors, B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming also deliver gaming-grade cooling with a dedicated water-pump header plus intuitive Fan Xpert 3 controls. The new boards also have the very latest connectivity built in, including both USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and reversible Type-C, plus NVM Express (NVMe) M.2.

Exclusive RAMCache technology accelerates game loads, durable Gamer’s Guardian components ensure longevity, and smart DIY features protect users and ease every build.

Gaming aesthetics: LED illumination lights up B150 Pro Gaming/Aura builds

Modern gamers are all about style, personality and passion — and B150 Pro Gaming/Aura is the gaming motherboard that enables passionate gamers to illuminate their builds to dominate the battlefield. Aura is an all-new LED-illumination technology from ASUS, capable of lighting up an endless spectrum of color combinations coupled with a selection of fascinating and fun effects.

Aura includes simple software controls for customizing the LED lighting. The intuitive interface lets gamers cast a stunning multi-color glow across their B150 Pro Gaming/Aura builds, including a breathing effect, color-strobing and color-cycling, plus the ability to change shades to indicate CPU temperature, or pulsate in time to the beat of favorite music.

Gaming-grade audio and networking: SupremeFX, Gigabit LAN, LANGuard and GameFirst

B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming are engineered with ASUS-exclusive SupremeFX audio technology for in-game sound that’s alive with realism. The purity and stability of the remarkable 115dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is assured, with a shielded design, electromagnetic-interference (EMI) cover and voltage-protected 5V power supply.

Supreme FX’s superior components, including the trusted Realtek ALC1150 codec, maximize acoustic performance and eliminate interference – so only the very best audio is enjoyed through either gaming headsets or speakers. The red-line shielding is illuminated for beautiful aesthetics, and it’s even customizable, allowing users to create eye-catching lighting effects.

The new B150 Pro Gaming boards also enable gamers to become hunters rather than the hunted with Sonic Radar II, a stealthy overlay that shows what opponents and teammates are up to on the battlefield — all managed via a simple control panel and customizable game list. Sonic Radar II shows both the direction and origin of key in-game sounds, enabling ASUS gamers to practice enemy-pinpointing skill. It even includes Audio Enhancement technology to clarify every sound detail — providing an audible heads-up to vital events.

Multiple advanced networking technologies to ensure B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming gamers are victorious, including tournament-level Intel Gigabit Ethernet, ASUS-exclusive LANGuard and GameFirst technologies to keep the connection fast and free from lag.

Intel's LAN technology has the serious double advantage of reducing CPU overhead and offering exceptionally high TCP and UDP throughput, significantly reducing the processor's workload to free up power for the game.

ASUS LANGuard is hardware-level networking protection that employs signal-coupling technology and premium anti-EMI surface-mounted capacitors for rock-solid gaming connections and better throughout for online play, plus electrostatically-guarded and surge-protected components for greater tolerance to static electricity and improved protection against power surges.

All-new and exclusive GameFirst technology prioritizes game-related packets and allocates more bandwidth to games, eliminating laggy gameplay, streaming stutters and file-sharing slowdown — B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming users need only choose the Optimization, Game, Media Streaming or File Sharing preset to watch their networks fly. GameFirst also includes Multi-Gate Teaming to team all available networks for maximum bandwidth and the smoothest-ever gameplay.

Gaming-grade cooling: Dedicated water-pump header and Fan Xpert 3 controls

For the ultimate in cooling and quietness B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming both include advanced fan and water-pump controls, coupled to onboard thermal sensors and hardware-level 4-pin/3-pin PWM/DC mode detection — all controlled by the intuitive simplicity of Fan Xpert 3.

A dedicated onboard water-pump header ensures that best water-cooling efficiency is instantly accessible, and Fan Xpert 3 ensures that every fan maximizes cooling performance while minimizing noise.

Gaming-grade transfers and protection: USB 3.1, M.2, RAMCache, Gamer’s Guardian and easy DIY

B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming have the newest connectivity built in, with both USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and reversible Type-C sockets for superb convenience and data-transfer speeds of up to 10Gbit/s — or twice (2X) as fast USB 3.0. USB 3.1 is completely backward-compatible with existing USB devices, and ASUS-exclusive USB 3.1 Boost technology automatically accelerates USB 3.1 performance even further.

A built-in M.2 socket provides access to the latest high-speed solid-state drives (SSDs), while uniquely-intelligent RAMCache technology caches an entire storage device so that favorite games and apps launch at breakneck speeds. RAMCache gets to work the moment it’s activated, minimizing the risk of data loss and turning milliseconds into microseconds — boosting game-load times to stratospheric levels.

B150 Pro Gaming/Aura and B150 Pro Gaming are protected by multiple self-defenses called Gamer’s Guardian, including the Digi+ voltage-regulator module (VRM) for ultra-smooth and ultra-clean power delivery to the CPU, DRAM Overcurrent Protection with resettable fuses to prevent overcurrent and short-circuit damage, and superior chokes.

The new boards also have durable capacitors engineered to resist extreme temperature variations of between -55°C and 105°C — 110% better than the industry standard — and a corrosion-resistant stainless-steel input/output (I/O) panel that lasts three times (3X) longer than ordinary panels.

Easy-DIY features include the one-clip Q-Slot graphics card installation and Q-DIMM memory slots with one-sided clips for super-simple, super-secure handling of memory modules. Q-Shield prevents nicks and cuts during building, while four Q-LED lamps indicate problems with the CPU, memory, graphics card or boot device for quick diagnosis.

ASUS ESD Guards actively protect against sudden electrostatic discharge (ESD), ensuring USB ports, audio and LAN port protection that's up to twice (2X) as resilient as industry standards.

SPECIFICATIONS

ASUS B150 Pro Gaming

Processor/CPU socket LGA1151 socket for 6th-generation Intel® Core™ i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium® / Celeron® processors
Chipset Intel B150 Express
Memory 4 x DIMMs, up to a maximum of 64GB DDR4 2133MHz
Expansion slots

1 x PCI Express® 3.0 x16
1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (maximum at x4 mode)
2 x PCI Express 3.0 x1

2 x PCI
Graphics (VGA)

Integrated Intel HD Graphics processor
HDMI with maximum resolution of 4096 x 2160 at 24Hz
D-sub with max. resolution of 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz

Intel InTru™ 3D / Quick Sync Video / Clear Video HD Technology / Insider™
Multi-GPU support Two-way/quad-GPU AMD® CrossFireX™
Audio SupremeFX eight-channel high-definition audio codec
Storage

6 x SATA 6.0Gbit/s

1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices supports (both SATA and PCIe 3.0 x2 modes)
Networking/LAN Intel Gigabit Ethernet, anti-surge LANGuard, GameFirst technology
USB

1 x USB 3.1 Type-C port
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port
6 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports

6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
Dimensions / form factor ATX 12-inch x 9.6-inch (30.5cm x 24.4cm)