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The ASUS OC Station is an impressive looking bit of hardware that should suit just about any gaming orientated case. The module has quite an aggressive appearance and although the mirror finish will collect finger prints at an alarming rate, it does look cool. Apart from the 3” LCD screen, there is just a single dial and three buttons to be found on the OC Station.  The large silver dial is simply labeled “OC” where there are back, okay and power buttons for turning on the OC Station and navigating it. At the rear of the unit we have a number of connectors, with the most important being the 4-pin power connector which gives the OC Station power. There is also a custom designed USB connector linking the OC Station to the computers motherboard.   Also at the rear are four 3-pin fan connectors, which will allow for on-the-fly fan speed adjustments when using the OC Station. It should be noted that the module itself does require two spare 5.25” drive bays to be installed. This should not be an issue in midsized or full ATX cases, as numerous bays are often free.  Featured on the front of the OC Station is a 3” LCD (WQVGA) display which is quite large really, about the same size as the screens found on high-end compact digital cameras. This screen means that characters are bright and large, making them easily readable from a good distance. The quality of this screen appears to be quite good, as the viewing angle is very broad meaning users do not need to be staring at it head on to make out what it is saying.  Still, for those that have their case on the ground, the OC Station does feature an adjustable faceplate with a maximum tilt of 30 degrees. When we say maximum tilt there is no in-between, so the screen is either upright or at a 30 degree angle. Unlocking the screen to view it at the 30 degree angle is very quick and easy, as the user simply needs to press lightly on the screen. Some interesting features that are supported by the OC Station include boot debug code, alarm thresholds with audio alerts, and eight customizable profile settings. The OC Station can also be used to show images in a slideshow fashion. That said, with just a 3” LCD at its disposal, you might as well have them on your phone. Still, ASUS are trying to make the OC Station as flexible as possible to justify its worth.  Ultimately ASUS claims that the OC Station can make anyone a king of overclocking, and this is a serious statement, one that we are doubtful it can live up to. Although the OC Station does seem to offer the ability to adjust voltages, clock multipliers and bus frequencies, we know that deep down this is just another Windows based overclocking tool. |
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