ASUS, based in Taiwan, is a major manufacturer of computer hardware including motherboards, graphics cards, notebooks, mobile phones and servers. Last year, 29% of all PCs sold worldwide had an ASUS motherboard - quite a market share. Since the advent of the Eee PC netbook line, ASUS has gained a reputation for making excellent notebooks, including desktop replacement notebooks at affordable prices. ASUS has gained the no. 5 position in the global notebook market, with a 9% market share.ASUS is one of the top 10 Taiwanese brands, with a branding value of $1,285 million.Today we look at one of their TUF (The Ultimate Force) motherboards for Intel socket LGA 1366.One of the early launches of the TUF line was the Socket 1156 Sabertooth 55i, which met huge demand last year in India. The product was so popular because the motherboard is designed to handle higher ambient temperature and humidity conditions. The capacitors, chokes and MOFSETs (Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) are tested to military standards by IST (Integrated Service Technology) in Taiwan. ASUS includes a certificate of reliability in the box, citing the specifications that the components are tested to. Additionally, copies of the test reports are available on their website.