Customer Ratings & Reviews

I did my research and ended up purchasing this back in November of 2022, reason being, its not a all decked out RGB PC Tower nor is it just a enclosed box that has a port in the front or top or maybe nothing at all and thats it (Can't even tell that its a PC or not even a power LED light showing its on) This ASUS tower is just a simple tower, very polished, clean, minimal and perfect, like it came from the 90's era of PC towers but its black instead with the modern ports that are used today. Also as a bonus, it comes with a HDD (or I should say SSD) Indicator light in the front! I know most manufacturers have done away with it the past several years due to SSD's gaining in popularity and many users didn't care for the HDD LED light flashing but to me and my opinion, I think its still rather important to have to this day, sometimes, if im loading a program up or if Windows is loading up and its taking longer then usual, its nice to see to look at the indicator light to make sure its actually doing something, if its not blinking at all then I know its froze and it needs a hard reset. Anyways, continue to my review, I see many reviews have stated the specs and unboxing experience and such, it is true, Windows Loads up snappy, it comes with no bloatware, just MyASUS for product support and warranty information. I have already upgraded mine to 64GB of ram (max supported) and upgraded the 300W PSU to a ASUS 1000 Watt PSU for a future Nvidia GTX 3XXX or 4XXX series card since it will support and fit these cards just perfectly. Left the 512GB SSD as it is and added a 1TB 7200RPM HDD for storage for games and such. Overall, this Desktop is fast and snappy with its stock components and is easily upgradable and replaceable on any component inside.

Great product. Gets the job done. Needed a system that was quick for work that met all of the correct security requirements and this Asus system was perfect. It’s quick, non laggy and i live that it has so many usb ports for all my items (especially since I’m required to have all wired connections for work!!) easy to setup and install.

Excellent computer windows 11 great for me. I wiil be upgrading the Ram for I am a Dj and need the extra speed great storage

I was dreading looking for a New PC. My B/p was elevated, my blood sugar was up! I had a good experience. I'm bad with names; but the young man showed me three PC's, explained each. Then he showed me one that was an OPEN BOX. MORE MEMORY, FEATURES, AND COST LESS!! So I purchased the OPEN BOX PC. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PC. I USE IT MORE THAN THE ONE THAT I REPLACED. I WISH THAT I REMEMBERED THE YOUNG MANS NAME. I WOULD SAY THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND RECOMMEND THAT HE GET A RAISE, OR A GIFT CARD FOR HIS PATIENCE, AND HIS TRUTH ABOUT THE PC THAT I PURCHASED.

Asus Model:S500TD-I5512 Best Buy SKU:6511875. Very good middle of the rosd PC with 12th Gen core i5. Never had good luck with AMD. Always outdated or running slow. Intel was always good to me. And Asus is the king of computers. Their high end motherboards are found in all brands including Apple. This is a good internet / work machine with 512 GB SSD. I would recommend this to everyone.

The insane amount of memory this PC has, and for this cost, it's unbelievable; for sure will recommended it to my fellow sister, who is going to college.

Verdict: This ASUS desktop performs nicely, and provides a great package for home and office settings with a lot of value, no junk software, and a great price point. Overall, this is a solid choice for households and small businesses. First impressions. It looks like a basic desktop; not too big or small. It comes with a keyboard and mouse. It does have a smart card reader on the front panel, which is nice, since I use one to access files from some corporate clients. There are a lot of USB-A ports (front and back) but not USB-C ports (?). There is a display port and HDMI port for a monitor. And it comes with a bulky WIFI antenna… Never seen that before, but it is magnetic! It sticks to the top of the case. Setup. No surprises with setup; it was the basic Windows login and setup process. Upon logon, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it doesn’t have much junk software. I was able to add my Office account very quickly and start using MS Word and Excel right away. Performance. Start up is very fast with the SSD drive. Browsing and downloads are seamless, so perhaps the WIFI antenna helps to provide a strong connection. I ran several programs at once, along with a dozen browser tabs open, and the computer performed flawlessly, so the 8GB of RAM are adequate. Windows 11 runs very smooth on this computer. Gaming. I did not install any games on this computer because we are using this as a work computer, so I can’t provide empirical data on its gaming performance. However, given the 8GB of RAM and integrated graphics, it should easily handle a lot of popular games. Nevertheless, without upgrades, high performance games will be out of reach. If you plan on gaming on this computer, I strongly recommend you compare the requirements of your game with the specs of the computer before purchasing. Things I love. - 12th Gen Intel Core i5 is fast - 512GB solid state drive allows for very fast startup and nice performance - 8GB RAM seems low, but it worked well in initial testing, and it’s adequate for an everyday office or home computer - Windows 11 feels new and fresh, compared to Windows 10 - Overall footprint is fine, it’s not small, but it’s not huge either; we placed this computer under a desk to save desk space - Smart card reader on the front is nice, but with limited utility if you have the computer under a desk like us - No junk software! Just Windows and the ASUS app - It includes a basic corded mouse and corded keyboard - It’s upgradable: open slots for additional hard drives and RAM Things I don’t love. - There are no USB-C connections! Why? - 512GB of storage is not a lot, especially for a desktop. I think adding a cheaper SATA drive to add another 500GB or 1TB would have been ideal. I checked and there is space to do that, so that is something buyers can do on their own for cheap - It requires the bulky WIFI antenna to connect to networks. Not a big deal, but I’ve never seen this before. To be fair, if it means that I can get a better signal, then that becomes a huge positive. I wasn’t able to test the range improvements from this antenna because we have excellent WIFI coverage in our house. Of note, the antenna is magnetic, so you can stick it on the top of the case. Overall, the ASUS Performance Desktop provides a high-value and compelling option for households and businesses. This seems trivial, but it’s actually not easy to find such a clean package… good components, good performance, no junk software, and all that at a good price. We really like this computer!

This is a mid-sized tower computer that has an Intel i5-12400 processor. It has 8GB of ram and 512GB NVME storage (437GB usable). It comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows 11 Home. The front panel has 2 USB3 ports and 2 USB2.0 ports – all ports are type A. There is a headphone and mic jack. There is a smart card and SD card reader. If you have microSD, you will need an adapter or use a USB card reader. This is a nice touch on the front panel as it’s easily accessible. You can plug a monitor using VGA, HDMI, and Display Port. I am using a Dell monitor that supports 1440p resolution and it can run at that resolution at 59Hz using HDMI. It still has PS2 ports for mouse and keyboard. The included mouse and keyboard are USB. I would suggest getting a nicer set. It boots up fairly fast with the NVME drive. It gets to the login screen in a matter of seconds. Desktop loads just as fast after login. Windows 11 is new to me and takes time getting used to. But for the most part, the settings and functionality is very similar to Windows 10. The taskbar area takes getting used to since it is centered now instead of in the lower left corner. So far I installed Affinity Photo 2. This is a photo editor similar to Adobe Photoshop. I did some light photo editing and the CPU with 8GB of ram has been responsive. I took some pictures with my DSLR and use the app to crop, add some text layers, resize and export. So very light tasks but runs as expected. My son will be the primary user. We are upgrading from an Intel i3-6100 CPU so this will a huge improvement in CPU. There will be two immediate limitations if you push it hard. The first is the 8GB of ram. You can swap it out. The next is the GPU capability. My son plays Roblox and so far he hasn't complained of any performance issues. But there are certain games he plays on Steam where it crashes. Upon looking at the minimum requirements on those games, they do not support integrated graphics, which this desktop has. This computer is good for light and medium use. Microsoft Office tasks, light photo editing, maybe even basic video editing. Web browsing and media consumption will not be a problem. On idle, 39-42% of the ram is in use but still runs very smooth when opening applications. Here are details of the hardware. The NVME drive is an Intel 670P. It has two ram slots total and is occupied by two DDR4 4GB 3200MHz HK Hynix ram (total of 8GB). I tried 2x16GB ram and it recognized it without a problem. The issue though is it did not apply any XMP. My ram can do up to 3600Mhz but it only recognized it as 2100MHz. I couldn't load any XMP profiles in the BIOS/UEFI. The motherboard has 4 SATA3 6Gbps ports. The tower has two empty 3.5” bays you can add hard drives. There are two 5.25” bays. One is available while the other is occupied by the memory card reader. The card reader is not big but it is in the way. You will lose it if you want to use the second bay. The power supply is a Liteon PS-6301-09. It is 80 Plus Bronze and looks like 300W. It is a standard size so you can swap it out if you want something more capable. It is mounted on the top area of the tower. There is one PCIE3.0 x16 slot if you want to add a discrete GPU. But you are limited to the 300W power supply. There is no GPU power adapter. There are three available SATA power cables coming out of the power supply but no GPU power cables. There are two PCIE3.0 x1 slots available. An available M.2 socket. The motherboard labeled it for Optane memory. I’m not familiar with Optane usage. I’m also not sure if any of these ports are used would it disable SATA lanes and make the SATA ports unusable. This is a great computer if you are planning to do low to medium tasks. I wouldn't recommend it for gaming. You will have to upgrade the PSU. Find the next tier configuration with discrete graphics card. Otherwise, this is a nice machine. It runs very quiet after boot up.

Let me start the review by saying that this is a very competent computer for general home and family activities. The processor is fast and up-to-date (12th gen Intel i5), it has adequate RAM and storage, plenty of space of upgrades, and blazing fast WiFi capabilities. At my house, it’s been used for lots of internet browsing (shopping, news, banking, emails, etc.), Microsoft Office 2021 applications (mainly Word and Excel), and even some casual gaming (Solitaire and hidden object games from the Microsoft app store work great). I haven’t noticed any real slow-downs at any point other than during a massive Windows Update shortly after logging in the first time. It has been utterly rock solid. Here’s a few pros and cons I’ve come across that you might not have known: 1) The case is very much a ‘small’ case, but not what I would consider to be a ‘micro’ PC. One of pictures illustrates the size compared to my Winix air purifier. 2) While on the topic of the case, I can see two spots for 3.5” hard drives and I believe a single 5.25” CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive. My configuration did NOT come with any of these types of drives. 3) The only included drive is an Intel 670p m.2 NVME drive. It runs fast enough for all my programs and apps to boot within seconds and booting the computer takes about 10 seconds flat. I’m sure I could reduce that by another few seconds with some heavy tweaking of the OS. 4) There is an additional slot for a second NVME drive. Both NVME drives support PCIE gen 4 drives. 5) The WiFi card is an Intel AX201. It includes Bluetooth 5. 6) Oddly, the WiFi cables are run out of case via PCIE slot. This is unfortunate because there are only 4 slots in the back and now only 3 are available. The WiFi antennae is magnetic and sticks to the case very well. The antennae helps internet speed tremendously, so consider a ‘must use’. 7) Speaking of PCIE slots, on the motherboard there are three slots for add-ons. Two are PCIE3x1 slots and there is one PCIE4x16 slot meant for a GPU. These are likely to be plenty of expansion slots for most families. 8) Unfortunately, you probably won’t be able to add a very powerful on this PC. See, the power supply (PSU) is only rated at 300 watts max. This is obviously a cost cutting move by Asus, and it severely limits the GPU options (without upgrading the PSU first). However, I did find that it’s a relatively efficient PSU, rated at 80+ Bronze. It also has at least three extra SATA power ports for adding additional harddrives/CD drives. 9) The RAM was another cost-cutting area, as the computer comes with the older DDR4 sticks instead of DDR5. And no, you can’t add DDR5 as the slots are different. So you’ll be stuck with the older, slower RAM with this PC. Thankfully, the included Hynix RAM sticks are rated at 3200mhz. 10) Perhaps the most glaring omission on this computer is the lack of a USB-C port. It has four USB2 ports and four USB3.1 ports...but no USB-C. This is an odd ‘whoops’ because the entire tech industry has mostly moved towards USB-C. Yes, I can always add a USB-C expansion card, but that’s extra money and it’ll cost me one of my expansion slots. Boo. Overall, I’ve been happy with the computer and I have no doubt that it’ll last for several years. If you’re not a heavy gamer and just need a solid, powerful, quiet and efficient family PC, definitely give this guy a look.

ASUS – Performance Desktop – Intel Core i5-12400 – 8GB Memory – 512GB SSD The ASUS – Performance Desktop is a solid work horse computer. It comes with a serviceable wired (USB) keyboard and USB mouse as well as an external antenna supporting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. (Wi-Fi 6 capable and Bluetooth 5.2) The six core, 12th Generation, 2500 MHz i5 processor is more than adequate for most users. As is the Intel® UHD Graphics 730. Mine came equipped with 8 Type A USB ports, 4 on the front panel and 4 accessible from the back. Additionally, this one has a Smart Card reader and SD/MMC/MS (memory card) reader on the front panel. Very handy for work when Smart Cards are required for access. (Note pictures on the product page and the specifications listing do not show the memory and Smart Card readers.) It also has wired ethernet, 3.5mm headphone and microphone ports, Display port, HDMI 1.4 and VGA video ports and PS-2 mouse and keyboard ports. It supports 7.1 Channel HD audio, too. Performance is very good. I ran a virus scan at the same time as network backup and still had enough power to work in a large calculation heavy spread sheet. Two things that I do think it falls short on though, there are no USB-C ports and I think 16GB of RAM should come standard. Right off the bat I realized my external USB-C webcam won’t work on this. And a couple of graphics intensive games I was going to try need a minimum of 16GB of Ram. The unit has free expansion slots and the memory (upgradable to 64GB) can be upgraded. So, I think the short falls could easily be fixed if they become an issue. Out of the box, this is still a work horse computer. It runs productivity apps very well and outside of no USB-C, it has lots of ports for connectivity options.

Missing Windows Activation Key!!! The desktop was an open box and was claimed as excellent quality by BestBuy. Turns out that "excellent" includes a missing activation key that was used by someone else and loose parts inside the desktop compartment. I can only assume that the activation key was used by past owners for their own devices who then returns it to BestBuy who resells it without inspecting it for problems.

It’s surprising to see everyday desktops at retail in 2022. As the consumer market has moved primarily to laptops and tablets for home computing needs, desktops tend to be reserved for high-performance professional demands, or for gaming - both areas where power isn’t compromised and size is crucial for proper cooling solutions. ASUS, itself at times an OEM for other brands, still finds an audience with machines like this Performance Desktop, offering a configuration centered around a powerful CPU that should stay relevant and performant for many years to come. While this desktop could be built from individual components for a similar price, a fully packaged machine with warranty makes for an easy, simple buy with a support channel right out of the gate. For casual users this is quite appealing, though a closer inspection of the system reveals some shortcomings that limit future potential when the machine needs service and upgrades years down the road. - Unboxing & Setup The ASUS Performance Desktop arrives well-protected in a box containing the computer system, power cable, keyboard and mouse, and wireless card antenna. Setup is as easy as it is with any other machine - plug in the power cable, your monitor(s), and peripherals, and you’re up and running. I don’t particularly care for the cheap-feeling keyboard and mouse, but they get the job done. The antenna attaches to the rear of the machine with two jacks near the bottom of the case, allowing the miniature stand to be positioned freely for the strongest wireless signal. An important note for users of older monitors - this machine does not support VGA output. You will need to use a DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort connection to hook this up without the use of converters. Once powered up, Windows 11 installation is straightforward with only a few Asus-specific additions - MyASUS for registration, basic support, and warranty information, and ASUS Business Manager for basic system management and access control that may be useful to small businesses (though these are a far cry from domain management proper). Windows 11 Home performs well enough as the natural evolution to Windows 10, and users coming from the older OS should find a lot of familiarity after acclimating to the interface. - Performance This ASUS Performance Desktop runs very well thanks to its combination of a modern Intel processor and an NVMe-type solid state disk. With 6 physical cores on tap, the i5-12400 powers through just about any task you throw at it short of intense simulations or Excel files larger than Best Buy’s books. Windows takes mere seconds to boot, applications pop open with little more than the briefest delay, and even while performing updates the overall user experience is sensationally snappy. For everyday tasks - web browsing, office suite, photo editing, and so on - this desktop will handle it with aplomb. However, trying to perform all of these things at once reveals the system’s Achilles' heel. With only 8GB of RAM available, the desktop will start to lean on the SSD before long. What this means is once enough applications are open to demand more than 8GB of memory (not too difficult to hit, since Windows itself uses about 4 when idle), applications in the background will be moved out of RAM and onto the disk until called upon again, at which point Windows will swap that application back into RAM and move others onto the disk. The result is background apps take longer to switch to as they need to be reloaded, and the constant shuffling of data in and out of memory does slow the system down. It doesn’t take much to fill the 8GB on tap - a half dozen Edge tabs will get it close - and I would’ve really liked to see 16GB here for a “Performance” computer. As this computer uses integrated graphics (where the CPU is responsible for graphics instead of a dedicated video card), and the Core i5-12400 uses the older Intel UHD 730 engine rather than the newer UHD 770 in higher-spec processors, gaming performance is marginal at best. At minimum settings, including dropping screen resolution to 720p, 60 FPS is barely attainable on optimized eSports style games (Rocket League and Fall Guys were my test options for this machine) and it spends most of its time below that. Less-demanding titles like Minecraft, League of Legends, and the majority of 2D based games still run great, of course. Any modern video card will vastly improve the performance here, as the i5-12400 is a fast CPU for gaming otherwise. - Thermals and Noise The benefit of having no dedicated graphics card, and a processor optimized for a 65-watt performance profile, means that this system runs comfortably even with only a single fan in the whole computer. Indeed, the only fan present outside the power supply unit is the CPU cooling fan, which does an adequate job keeping the Core i5 cool. Some heat buildup does occur internally after a while, but with the PSU on top exhausting air from inside the case, airflow is just good enough to keep the system running fine. The case has front and rear mounts for 92mm fans, with a header for each on the mainboard, and I highly recommend installing them if you plan to upgrade with a graphics card. The single fan also means that noise is kept to a minimum. Even when it spins up to full speed the fan is barely audible, and the power supply fan emits only the faintest hum when the system is on. This would work exceptionally well in a quiet office environment. - Part List In what’s a refreshing change from major OEMs, the S500TD is built entirely from standardized, modular components with no proprietary form factors or connectors. This ensures minimal e-waste as it makes servicing, upgrading, and recycling the system far easier. Indeed, any Geek Squad or experienced PC builder can service the system using off-the-shelf components, making support beyond the warranty very attainable and giving the system a long service life. The list of included components (at least for my unit, there may be variances from batch to batch) is as follows: -Intel Core i7-12400F 6-core, 12-thread CPU (2.5GHz base, 4.4GHz boost) -Asus B660 microATX motherboard* -2x4GB Hynix DDR4-3200 memory, 22-22-22-52 timings, 1.2v -Intel 670p 512GB NVMe SSD -3.5” SmartCard & Media Reader -Lite-On 300W Power Supply -Intel AX201 WiFi 6 + Bluetooth with external antenna *Unknown model. Appears to be a variant of Asus’ B660M CSM motherboard. - Build Quality, Upgradeability Unfortunately, the non-proprietary parts don’t make up for the fact that this is a cheaply made and artificially limited system. The BIOS is locked down such that no overclocking or memory tuning options are available. The case feels very light, the motherboard shows signs of cost-cuts (there are two lines of solder pads where I would expect memory slots), the power supply is as cheap as it gets and presents the literal bare minimum of connectors to get a machine running, and the CPU cooler is very basic and cut-rate, showing signs of poor manufacturing quality. The lack of chassis fans means airflow is non-existent - adding any additional parts generating heat, such as a graphics card, will likely cause the CPU and other components to overheat and throttle. Additional airflow is needed at a minimum; thankfully, the 92mm fan mounts at both the front and rear allow add-in with the two fan headers on the motherboard. Airflow would still be subpar due to the solid front and side panels, but any bit helps. The biggest issue I have with the desktop is that upgrades are limited. Beyond the bare minimum connectors to power the mainboard, the 300 watt power supply only has SATA connectors available. Adding in any PCI Express device that requires extra power (e.g. the majority of graphics cards) will require a new power supply to support. Further, the motherboard can only accommodate two memory sticks, even though there are traces for four, and both are populated. Any memory upgrade here will replace the existing 8GB rather than adding to it. - Bottom Line At $699 MSRP, the ASUS Performance Desktop is a decent machine for those who need a desktop, but the specs and build quality come up just a little short. It’s hard to overlook the corners that were cut along the way, and the MSRP encroaches on good-performing laptops in the same price range. Still, the Core i5-12400 outperforms any laptop CPU at this price, so if computing performance is what your home or small business needs to get work done quickly and quietly, the ASUS Performance Desktop fits the bill.

This is a Asus S500TD-I5512, and most of my review is based on this one specifically, but it could be applied toward any of the different configurations of the Asus S500TD line. This one, in particular, doesn't have all the options you can get, but it has everything you would need if you aren't looking for a super-expensive gaming computer. The Asus S500TD I got is perfect for anything I want to do with it. Don't be fooled by the visual design of the case. It seems to blend in well on or under a desk, but it's got all the connections you need, and even has legacy keyboard and mouse ports. I was happily surprised that this PC has a 802.11 AC WiFi (WiFi 5) card with an antenna that swivels and has a magnetic portion that will stick to the case pretty much any angle/side/top you want it to. Signal is good and I don't even notice that I'm on WiFi vs ethernet. Speaking of ethernet... The RJ-45 connection on the back of the PC is Gigabit. That's great! It will come in handy for super-fast file transfer or monitoring the security cameras. Setup was EASY and Windows 11 Home installed and was up and running very quickly. The PC sleeps quickly, wakes quickly, shuts down in 5-6 seconds, and starts up from a cold boot in 14 seconds or less (sometimes closer to 12). Drop my PIN in the prompt and it's ready to go. I tend to keep a LOT of stuff open in my internet browsers, so I bought an upgrade for the RAM from 8GB to make it 32GB. It was inexpensive and so easy to do because the case roomy, easy to open, and the RAM slots are easily accessible. I would have liked another two memory banks, but that's only a personal preference. The capacity is 64GB, and that's plenty unless you intend to use some really memory-intensive programs. The on-board graphics card is good enough to run my 1920x1080 HD monitor with no issues, and the option to use an HDMI cable directly from the computer is a welcomed feature. I've had it running off and on for a few days now, and haven't found anything big enough to even take a half star off the review. I would like more USB ports in the back, but there are four (4) in the front, and a built-in SD/MMC/MS and Smart Card readers on the front that more than make up for that. I've been using the built-in SD card reader a LOT and it's so convenient to have it instead of a little matchbox on the end of a cord. Personal preference, I like the simplicity of the style rather than flashy for this type of PC. Based on this PC, I wouldn't hesitate to consider another ASUS PC next time I'm in the market for one. .

ASUS is a tried and true brand in the world of technology enthusiasts. Usually their products cost a bit more than the competition, but you're left with something that's of higher quality than other manufacturers. I think this desktop is another great example of ASUS' commitment to quality. The specs on this machine are nothing crazy, but the performance is top notch. Starting with the processor, this desktop has an Intel i5-12400. This is a great mid-range chip, and it easily outclasses AMD's latest Ryzen processors in price-to-performance metrics. There are 2 DIMM slots on the motherboard for RAM/Memory, and the system includes 2 4GB sticks of DDR4 RAM preinstalled for a total of 8GB. This can be upgraded in the future to a total of 64GB (Maximum of 32GB per DIMM, 64GB total). This PC's motherboard is not DDR5 compatible. For storage, there is a 500GB Intel 670p NVMe SSD installed, and there's also a 2nd M.2 NVMe slot on the motherboard for even more fast storage in the future. Note: Both M.2 NVMe SSD slots are PCIe 4.0 compatible, meaning you can install the latest and fastest storage drives on this desktop. This PC also comes with Windows 11 preinstalled. While we're on the topic of expansion - the expansion available on this computer is rather impressive as well. The motherboard has 4 SATA ports available, which can be used for adding in additional hard drive disks or SATA-based SSDs. There are 3 PCIe expansion slots on the motherboard as well - 1 of these slots is a full PCIe 4.0 16x slot, which can handle all of the latest graphics cards on the market. The 2 other PCIe slots are PCIe 3.0 1x, which can still be used for meaningful expansion - such as adding additional USB 3.0 connectors to the PC, or upgrading to a 2.5gbps network card (NIC). Essentially, this processor is perfect for PC gamers and the vast majority of productivity tasks (Office apps, web browsing, photo editing, etc). In my own testing, this PC is just as capable as any other on the market. Unless you're doing truly intensive computation on this PC, you'll find that it keeps up with everything you do. I do have 2 pieces of criticism for this PC that I find important. Point 1 - the power supply (PSU) only supports 300w of output. If you choose to run this PC without installing a graphics card, you won't run into any issues. However, if you decide to install a graphics card in this system, I would fully recommend that you upgrade to a stronger power supply - at least 500w or greater. Point 2 - This desktop comes with a Smart Card and SD/MMC/MS card reader on the front of the unit. This doesn't seem to be disclosed in the product description (or photos) and I hope Best Buy gets their information fixed soon. It's an important selling point for home users and business users! Feel free to check out the attached photos to see the differences.

Let's get this show on the road! This Asus Performance Desktop is a interesting bit of kit. For the average PC user this computer is excellent if you are a web browser, email reader and office worker with the occasional video for entertainment sake. The computer is quiet until you throw a quick prime95 session at it then it screams like a banshee which the average user will not do. Basic setup with Windows 11 was a piece of cake.You have to have a Microsoft account to start so be aware of that little tidbit. I was able to play 4K HDR content on my 4K TV no problem, I do recommend not running the HDR because the blacks will look a bit off but standard 4K is no problem. This PC would make a nice HTPC (Home Theatre PC), if you can deal with the size of it and find a nice place to put it near your TV. 8GB of DDR4 3200 is fast enough for your basic day to day use. It has 2 slots and they are filled so if you are thinking about upgrading be prepared to buy dual channel and only one set of two. You can add more storage if you like because it has two SATA ports available and one Nvme slot available. The operating system is on the 500GB drive that is included with the PC. The WIFI and Bluetooth work pretty good. I was about 60 ft and one floor away from my router and the signal was fine. Video is a interesting thing with this PC. It has HDMI, Display Port and VGA output for video so anyone buying this should be covered. Now the truly OMG moment was that it has two PS/2 ports on the back for a mouse and keyboard. Who knew folks besides gamers still used those. Basic audio out ports on the back. Nothing to see there. Bottom line... This is a good basic PC and if you happen to be a gamer this wouldn't be a bad starter rig. Save some money up and buy a power supply that can handle a GPU (the power supply is only 300W so any decent graphics card will need the juice that the included power supply that comes with this can't deliver). I have no reason to not recommend buying this PC. Asus did a good job on this. Time will tell how it holds up.

The Asus Performance Desktop is a well built, light, and compact computer that comes packaged with a mouse, keyboard and AC power cord. There was also an external WiFi antenna that can be attached magnetically to the case. Setup was very easy. Just attach the WiFi antenna, plug in the AC power cord, attach the keyboard, mouse and your monitor and turn on the computer. After setting up Windows 11 Home, you will notice very little software bloat. The only thing I noticed extra from a standard Windows 11 Home installation was the MyAsus app. My computer came with the following components Intel Core i5-12400 ASUSTeK D500TD Motherboard with B660 chipset 8GB SK Hynix DDR4-3200 memory (comprised of two 4GB sticks) Intel 670p (SSDPEKNU512GZ) 512GB NVMe SSD for storage Intel AX201 160MHz WiFi 6 adapter 300W LiteOn Power Supply I found the case to be of nice quality. I liked the compact size of the case for those of us with smaller desks. On the front panel there seems to be space for two 5.25 inch bays but the faceplate height is not as tall as standard 5.25 bays so you wouldn’t be able to install a standard DVD Reader/Writer in the top unused bay. You might be able to fit a slim laptop styled DVD drive in the top bay though if you can find an appropriate faceplate. If you do need to use a DVD drive, it would probably be easiest to use an external USB version. The bottom bay is taken up by a panel which holds two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a headphone jack and a microphone jack. My case also came with a Smart Card and SD/MMC/MS reader on the front panel (in a space that looks like it would hold a 3.5 inch bay). I don’t recognize the shape of the Smart Card slot so I don’t know what type of card it reads. In its stock configuration, I found the computer to be quite zippy. The combination of the Intel i5-12400 processor and Intel 670p NVMe SSD should be able to handle most computing tasks without any problems. This computer is well suited for office type work (email, word processing, spreadsheets, creating PowerPoint slides etc.), media consumption (browsing the web, watching videos etc.), and school work. It’s the perfect family computer. I was a little worried that 8 GB of memory would be a little tight, but I had no problems using Quicken to balance my budget, using Excel to keep track of some rental properties for my parents, and using Word to help write this review. Web based applications such as OneDrive, Google Drive and Google Docs also felt zippy and responsive. Network speeds were excellent with the Intel AX201 wireless adapter providing a solid and super fast 1201 Mbps connection to my Arris SURFboard mAX Wireless router. I was able to install Visual Studio 2022 in about 20 minutes which was as fast as my other computers that have more memory. I was also a little surprised that building and compiling some of my projects was super fast compared to my other computers. While my other computers have more memory, the Intel i5-12400 in this Asus Performance Desktop is much faster than the earlier generation processors used in my other computers. In fact, many consider the Intel i5-12400 to be one of the top value kings of gaming processors in 2022. It’s capable of fully driving a beefy graphics card such as the nVidia GTX 3060. A computer with this processor is capable of high performance. In its stock configuration, gaming is where it might falter a little. The built in UHD 730 integrated GPU is great for watching videos and light and casual gaming duties. But for more graphically intensive games, you would probably want to add a graphics card. My current game is Battletech and I was able to play this adequately at 1080p but I thought it was a little laggy. With the installed LIteOn 300W power supply, you are constrained by graphics cards that don’t require an external 6pin or 8pin power plug and get all their power from the PCIe slot. A good candidate would probably be an AMD RX 6400 based card as a future upgrade for this computer. If you want to upgrade to a better graphics card you would also need to upgrade the power supply. The installed LiteOn 300W power supply looks like a standard ATX power supply so it should be easy to swap it out if you want to install a beefy graphics card later on. One nice thing about the Asus Performance Desktop is that it uses a lot of standard components. I’ve had prebuilts from other companies that used a proprietary power supply that made it very difficult to add a graphics card. The Asus Performance Desktop allows for easy upgrading of memory and the addition of more storage such as SSDs and hard drives. There is space on the motherboard for another M.2 SSD and there are unused SATA ports and bay space in the case for SATA based SSDs and hard drives. In summary, I can strongly recommend the Asus Performance Desktop to anyone looking for a great family computer. In its stock configuration, it can easily handle typical office/school work, media consumption and entertainment. Since it uses a lot of standard components, this computer can easily grow with your needs as your budget allows. You can easily expand memory, add additional storage, and add a low power consumption graphics card for even better gaming. If you want even more high performance gaming, you can swap out the power supply for a beefier graphics card.

To give some background, I am an avid computer enthusiast / tech enthusiast / gamer. I've built multiple computers, including water cooling kits and custom water cooling kits, and even soldering background, for reference. This computer, is NOT a gaming computer, however to put it through it's paces, I did put in a game just to see how it runs. Because it is running off of the integrated gpu/graphics unit, it will stutter despite hitting impressive fps / frames per second. To start, I've enclosed photos of the external, so you can see what ports you will be getting. The smart card is really because the motherboard is running off of an ITX motherboard or (mATX), 2 USB3.0 ports in front, 2 USB2.0 ports in the front, a speaker and microphone port in the front, and a SD/MMC/MS memory card reader. The back - line in, speaker, microphone port, 2 usb 3.0 ports, 2 usb 2.0 ports, although outdated there are PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports as well as a serial port. Finally there is a standard ethernet port, a display port and a HDMI 2.0 port. There's also 2 connectors on the expansion slot, that's for the wifi card to extend wifi range. So in short, the listed specification is actually selling the product short, it has 4 usb ports in back and 4 in front (which is important in a business setting). There's 2 slots for DDR4 ram, so if you want to replace the ram, just keep that in mind. For reference, the motherboard is the ASUS D500TD which is a OEM board only, for those who are technically savvy you can look up more spec's. I've enclosed some photos for CPU / RAM performance / power consumption stats for reference, just a quick reference. Because I'm a gamer, I had to run a few games to see how it runs. Games like Shovel Night, Minecraft, Roblox, Vampire Survivor run easily and perfectly acceptable. Games that are starting to approach higher renders, start to struggle. For reference, OVERWATCH 2 auto-detected MEDIUM settings on a 1440p monitor, I was achieving 100+ fps, however, because it's an integrated GPU there were alot of stutters and basically unplayable for any serious FPS player. There is an expansion slot, and the ASUS website actually sells the product with a 3060 Ti as an upgrade, but with this type of CPU it's not really a gaming system and may not be worth it. If you have an extra gpu video card laying around, then it would be a fun / hobbyist upgrade for a simple gaming system, but otherwise, I'd leave this to the more business / day to day journal / web surfing customers. For those duties, this product really excels and is PERFECT.

If you’re looking for a no-frills, extremely capable desktop computer, this might be the one for you. This is not a gaming desktop, it does not have a dedicated graphics card, but otherwise it's a solid workhorse for everyday computing needs. After unboxing the unit, I had it up in running in a matter of minutes. Everything is plug and play, just plug in the included mouse, keyboard, WiFi antenna, connect it to your monitor, and finally plug in the power cable and power it up. Of note: it does not come with any DisplayPort or HDMI cables to connect the computer to your monitor(s), so you’ll need to supply your own. Once booted up, you’ll be guided through the standard Windows setup process. Thankfully Microsoft has made the setup process pretty frictionless in recent releases (Windows 10 and 11), so the setup shouldn’t take too long if you already have a Microsoft account. Once booted up I expected this thing to be pre-loaded with tons of bloatware (the extra, often unnecessary software some manufacturers include with their machines). To my surprise, there was very little, and some would argue there’s no bloatware included-- though I tend to remove everything I deem unnecessary (including the MyAsus software). That’s a huge plus there. Given the number of programs I end up deleting when I set up new computers for my family every few years, I was just not expecting this. Another nice feature is that this tower does support Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. So right after the initial setup using the included mouse and keyboard, I was able to link my Logitech Mx Keys and Mx Master 3 mouse. When it comes to daily use, I have yet to run into a single hiccup in the week I’ve been using this machine. I thought perhaps due to the limited 8GB of ram and an Intel i5 vs and i7 that it may stutter in everyday tasks, like for example, multitasking with too many browser tabs opened, music playing in the background, while editing a handful of word and excel docs. But this thing has run like a champ. It probably doesn’t hurt at all that the Core i5 is an Alder Lake CPU, aka Intel’s 12th generation processors that were announced in late 2021 and started rolling out in 2022. So it’s fairly new. I ran a Geekbench 5 CPU test, and this machine scored a respectable 1666 single core score and 7849 multi-core score. To put this into perspective (higher numbers are better), the M1 MacBook Pro scored 1707 single core and 7391 in multi-core, and the newest Surface Laptop 5 with an Intel Core i7 scored 1192 single core and 6491 in multi-core. In that respect, it’s on par with the M1 chips that changed the game two years ago, and better than the most recently released Surface Laptop 5. Now, I haven’t had a desktop tower in several years, but I have had several windows laptops over the last decade. From my memory of desktops from my past, and my experience with various windows laptops, I don’t ever remember them running silently. But this tower is incredibly quiet. Power efficiency has gotten significantly better since owning my last tower, which means the machines run cooler and don’t need a fan running constantly. Compound that with a silent SSD drive instead of the old noisy HDD’s of the past, and you’ve got yourself a machine that is virtually silent unless pushed to its limits. There are some expandability ports on the back that you can get to by opening up the tower, and as with most desktops, the ram is upgradable. I’ll probably add another 8GB of ram myself at some point soon. There are also 4 USB A ports, a smart card port, memory card reader, and headphone and microphone jacks on the front of the unit. Now, I know it’s 2022 and no one thinks an optical (CD/DVD) drive is useful, but I’m in the minority. This unit does not have an optical drive, though it appears there is a bay on the front of the tower for one to be added. Luckily, I do own an external USB powered optical drive, but it would have been nice if that were included. Another omission in my opinion is a lack of USB-C ports. It has an abundance of USB-A ports, but absolutely no USB-C ports. With everything moving to USB-C, that might be a problem a few years from now to be aware of. All in all, this is an extremely capable machine that runs quickly and quietly and has options for add-ons and expansions. It might be a little pricy for what it is, but at the end of the day you’re getting a capable late model Intel Core i5, a roomy 512GB SSD, and an adequate 8GB of ram (that can be expanded).

This Asus desktop computer is a great machine for doing my everyday tasks online for work and personal needs. It is performance oriented, but this is not a gaming computer with its own dedicated graphics card. This computer consists of a very fast and performance oriented 12th generation Intel i5 processor, along with 8gb of RAM, a 512gb SSD, and Windows 11. Included with this desktop you will get an Asus wired mouse, an Asus wired keyboard, and an Asus plug/play external wifi adapter that can be placed on the tower with a magnetic base. The PC has been performing my work from home tasks for me this week, such as, MS Office Suite, G-Suite, Zoom, Teams. I'm quite confident that this machine will be a great computer for this purpose. We have also been using this machine in a family room for everyone to be able to access and the desktop is quiet even under heavy video streaming. The computer has 1 ethernet RJ-45 port, 1 HDMI output, 1 DisplayPort output, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 4 USB Type-A ports, microphone jack, headphone jack, subwoofer port, VGA port, SD card reader, and Smart Card reader. You will need to provide your own monitor for this Asus desktop, and also provide the necessary video cable. The Asus desktop has been a nice addition to my home office space. Performs very well without any issues, and has the ability to be upgraded with more hardware additions if I choose to. The machine itself works hard, runs quiet, and is ideal for a small office setup, home usage, or an everyday solid machine. The Intel i5 is very capable of keeping up with the task you throw at it and the simplicity of Windows 11 makes this an ideal home computer for just about anyone. This Asus desktop is just as capable as my laptop is and performs basic games, and work related daily tasks which is exactly what I need for a reliable computer.

ASUS - Performance Desktop - Intel Core i5-12400 - 8GB Memory - 512GB SSD is fast, quiet, easy to use. Bought it to replace similar ASUS model purchased in 2014. It came with Windows 11, a cord, a keyboard, a mouse and an external wifi antena. I'm saving the keyboard and mouse for if and when the cordless Logi keyboard and mouse need to be replaced. It does not have a CD tray like my older model, but it has a place where one could possibly be installed. It turns out most computers don't have that feature anymore. I bought a LG Ultra Slim Portable DVD Writer (at BestBuy) that works great to upload games, and display material on disks, onto the ASUS. Geeksquad tech explained that extra memory (if needed) can easily be added to the computer. That's a plus. This ASUS desktop meets all of our personal home needs. Looking forward to another 8+ years of usage .