14 DAY TRIAL // Call me crazy but I sometimes think that computer manufacturers don't know what to come up next in order to get your hard earned money away from you, so they start devising all sort of contraptions, just like this Asus Thunderbolt solution that brings together a network card with an headset amplifier, of all things.
Brought to our attention by the SemiAccurate website, that has a few slides depicting Thunderbolt in all its hybrid glory, this solution is destined to make part of the ROG series that targets hard-core gamers and computer enthusiasts.
But why this weird pairing you ask?
Well, Asus say (in one of the slides) this solution will “enhance the two key factors that dominate your gaming experience,” but I see this more as a way of differentiating project Thunderbold from other networking cards based on Bigfoot Networks' technology, since the company has recently started to work with several partners in order to bring new networking cards to the market.
In case that name sound familiar to you is because just a few years ago Bigfoot Networks' promised to start a gaming revolution with its Killer NIC networking cards, but the company was stopped dead in its tracks by the Killer NIC's high price and limited performance improvements compared to motherboard built-in solutions.
By adding a headset amplifier to the mix, Asus thinks they will have a more compelling offering, that should come as a nice addition to any gaming system, considering that most gamers out there use headphones while in the middle of the action.
Furthermore, the Thunderbold project will also come with a sound chip on-board, although it's still unclear if this chip will come with all the advanced features that we expect from an Asus sound card.
End of it all, I have to admit this is a really nice approach for adding an extra bit of value to what basically is a slightly above average networking card (I dare you to prove me wrong Bigfoot).