You could soon customize your ASUS motherboard with 3D-printed parts
ASUS has announced a 3D printing project that will allow gamers and enthusiasts to 3D print custom parts and modifications for their motherboards, opening up a new avenue of customization for system builders.
Make it yours
ASUS wants to make it possible for you to 3D print custom parts to further personalize your rig.
Customization, or rather the freedom to put your personal stamp on your system, has long been a cornerstone of the PC DIY community. At Computex 2016, ASUS tapped into this impulse with a new 3D printing project that will allow gamers and enthusiasts to 3D-print custom parts for their rigs, including things like personalized name plates and logos.
For now, support appears to be limited to the recently announced ROG Strix X99 Gaming and Rampage V Edition 10, and a handful of other newer boards, but ASUS says that future boards will feature more extensive support for 3D-printed customizations.
As things stand, some of the 3D-printed parts are still cobbled on a little crudely with some sort of adhesive, but the next generation of motherboards should allow for proper swapping of parts and modifications without the need to actually stick anything on.
Furthermore, these add-on parts aren’t limited to just name plates and other aesthetic touches, and can serve a functional purpose as well. For instance, we also saw things ranging from graphics card and chassis fan holders to DRAM fan covers, so this isn’t just another exercise in frivolity.
ASUS says that it will release the design source files for the parts showcased at Computex, and users will be able to download the relevant files from the ROG website forum and reproduce the parts for their own builds.
But for now, here are some pictures of what’s possible with 3D printing. Having said that, this is still a rather niche area that will only interest serious PC enthusiasts – after all, you do also need to have a 3D printer – but we’re sure that these users will welcome any opportunity for further customization.
You can create custom logos and name plates in all manner of colors.
The shroud that obscures the entire CPU heatsink has been 3D-printed.
You can even 3D-print a graphics card fan holder for additional cooling for your GPU.
Here's a look at an alternative design for the dedicated graphics card fan holder. Note the RAM covers as well, which have also been 3D-printed.
The 3D-printed components can be customized to match the board's color scheme. Here, ASUS has gone with shrouds for the RAM modules and PCIe slots.
If you don't like the colors on the heatsinks, you can change that and even stick your name on the board so everyone knows who's boss.
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