ASUS NEO series will feature several new features
As we reported yesterday, ASUS has started teasing a refreshed wave of AM5 800-series motherboards for CES 2026, using “NEO” branding. The short ROG teaser suggests NEO models across ROG Crosshair, ROG Strix, TUF Gaming, and ProArt. One board shown appears to be a Crosshair-class design, with a small display integrated near the VRM area.
The professional eyes from Uniko’ Hardware and Pokde have noticed some interesting changes. First, markings point to a vapor chamber style design on the primary M.2 heatsink . Second, the PCB shows labeled pogo pins near Socket AM5 (AIO_POGO) , which could be meant to power or control an AIO with fewer front-side cables, possibly tied to ASUS rear-connector layouts.
What’s also new is that ASUS is seemingly expanding its NitroPath DRAM slot design beyond the early high-end rollout. NitroPath was previously associated with select 800-series ROG boards, and Uniko’s Hardware now claims upcoming NEO boards will bring NitroPath DIMM slots to the TUF series as well, following the China-only ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi S.
Source: ASUS
Another rumor attached to the NEO refresh is lack of PCIe Q-Release Slim. ASUS already revised Q-Release Slim hardware on at least one board model by removing a metal piece blamed for scratching graphics card contacts, while still documenting Q-Release Slim as an official feature. If ASUS is changing the mechanism again, CES should be where it gets clarified. Before the change, this mechanism was responsible for scratching the PCIe interface on many graphics card.
Source: Uniko’s Hardware , Pokde
