Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought this 2 years ago and honestly it runs great recently i got it more ram and storage but besides that there really hasnt been many issues only issue i had was the need to take the fan off the rtx3060 and reapply 3 in 1 oil on it so it would even spin but besides that 5 minute fix its been great. Heads up get the exact same ram that it comes with any other ram wouldnt run the full mhz as the original but they still work at a lower mhz the motherboard doesnt have xmp if i said the name right so ram that needs it wont get full efficiency

If I could give it a 3.5 I would. ASUS has always had great quality in my past purchases and I’ve never had complaints before. I understand these pre-built PCs are priced mostly around the graphics cards, so they don’t put the best motherboards, ram, or fans. However, the stock Intel CPU fan always ran at 100% to keep up with temperatures and it sounded like a jet engine, even with no games running, so I replaced it with a cooler master which I got for $80. No big deal. Easy and expected upgrade. My biggest issue is that the graphics card recently started making a ticking sound, and the fan stopped spinning, causing the GPU to overheat and video to lose signal. I took the graphics card out to clean it and it was already pretty clean. I got the fan to spin again but it still makes noise and looks a little wobbly. Gonna have to call ASUS.

I love the gear, I upgraded the case to a full metal case with more air flow. Plays every game I want to easily. Love it

Great PC, dues have a loud fan. Runs any game I have through at it, even on ultra settings.

Great pc! Bought it as a starter and it still works great! I changed out the case and added a liquid gpu cooler.

Pretty good. Has had issues booting up though. But overall decent.

Love this PC I’ve had it for a few years and I couldn’t have asked for a better PC. I get downloads stream speeds and video and gaming quality is the best

~~The short version~~ At its MSRP, this machine is the best value in pre-built systems. It’ll run all the modern games you need at ultra quality, 1080p or better, and it’s got most of the I/O options you’ll need in a modern setup. If you’re looking for an upgradable platform that you’ll use for the next 10 years, it might be wise to look elsewhere, as this uses an older CPU socket and has limited upgradability outside that. But for several years into the future, it’ll play the best games at nearly the highest settings and do it with aplomb. ~~Pros~~ Affordable entry/mid-range gaming setup, just add monitor, decent amount of storage and RAM, works great out of the box, is the only way you’re getting an Nvidia 30-series card without paying scalper prices or sitting on a yearlong waitlist. ~~Cons~~ Relatively limited ability to upgrade, difficult to add storage, middling airflow, no Thunderbolt/USB-C. ~~First impression~~ When I first spotted this ASUS G10CE, I was impressed with the value it offered for the price, especially considering the ongoing difficulty of finding a current-gen graphics card under $1,000. At its MSRP, this is the pre-built system to beat, at least on paper. There’s nothing like taking a new PC out of the box, and this one is a joy to receive. It’s packed well in a large black box with ROG branding, and the unpacking experience is enjoyable and exciting. I am impressed by the inclusion of Wifi 6, a good Bluetooth module, and the Core-i7 1100F. I was happy to see 16 gigs of DDR4 3200 RAM, an NVME boot drive paired with a mechanical storage drive, and the 3060 card with 12 gigs of VRAM. The mouse and keyboard that come with the PC are basically dumpers, but they’d work in a pinch if you don’t have anything. The ones I received are already at Goodwill. Like other reviewers, I was a bit let down that the installed RAM comes as a single 16-gig stick. It’ll cost you around $100 to add another module and take advantage of dual channel memory, but if you do it should give a nice performance boost. I included a picture of the module in case you want to order another like it. I was also disappointed that there is no USB-C. I have a USB-C dock for my laptop that I plug my most-used peripherals into, and I’d love to just swap the plug from one PC to the other and have everything work. Unlike other reviewers, I’m satisfied with the option for expanding storage. ASUS put a slot to slide a 2.5” drive into on top of the lower cowl in the case (see pic of an old laptop drive I put in for an example). If I need to add another gig or two of storage, I don’t mind it being on an SSD or laptop HD. There is also another M.2 connector, but is designed for a WiFi module only. Out of the box, the computer boots up fast, and installing Windows 11 was a breeze. I got the PC set up within half an hour and had my first few games from Microsoft’s PC Game Pass installed shortly thereafter. The PC comes with a 1-month trial of Game Pass Ultimate, although if you’re already a non-Ultimate subscriber, you’ll have to cancel your existing membership and sign up after. It’s worth it. Game Pass is the best value in gaming. As mentioned above, the PC comes most of what you'll need, although you might like a better mouse and keyboard. Basically just add a monitor or two and take off running. The G10CE does not come with DisplayPort or HDMI cables, so supply your own. I paired this PC with my ASUS VG289Q 4K monitor, and it’s been great. ASUS offers a gaming operations center software called “Armoury Crate” that lets you set up custom lighting effects, manage CPU and GPU settings with Windows/Performance/Turbo modes, and monitor system stats like storage and RAM usage, fan speeds, and CPU/GPU temps. If you add ASUS peripherals that work with AuraSync lighting, you can pair them within Armoury Crate and define custom lighting effects. I was able to run the Halo 3 from the Master Chief connection on the highest graphics settings and didn’t drop a frame. The recent Quake reissue runs excellently as well. Microsoft Flight Sim at 4k/60Hz works perfectly and is gorgeous. My kids were appropriately wowed by Minecraft in RTX mode—honestly, so was I. ~~Concerns for the future~~ While this is an impressive machine for the price in the current market, it will not be easily upgradable. Sure, I can add a 2.5” HD to get more storage and another 16-gig RAM module to increase memory, but getting a newer processor or more power-hungry video card will require substantial upgrades. The system uses an 11th-gen Intel i7, which means an upgrade to the 12th gen will require a new motherboard with the new LGA 1700 socket. The 80W power supply will need to be updated alongside a better graphics card. These things aren’t impossible to do, but they would be expensive. ~~The final word~~ As it is, I am going to enjoy the heck out of this PC, and make sure it’s available to my kids for years to come. Again, at its MSRP it is the best value in pre-built systems, and outside of a pre-built system, you just can’t find a modern graphics card for less than a grand. It’s more than enough machine for my needs right now, and maybe, when the time comes a few years down the line, I’ll spring for all the new components that will bring it into the last half of the 2020s.

Got it at 1100 which is graat comsidering it is 11th gen i7 intel. With 16gb ram and rtx3060 graphics card. The reason it gets loud is becsusee the cpu fan is tiny with a tiny heat sink so it has to work overdrive and even then the temos still get above 80’ if youre not careful. I bought a $40 heat sink and fan from best buy and installed it easy on top of the cpu and now everything is quiet and runs cool below 75’. Great deal!!!!!

On paper this Asus prebuilt gaming machine has a lot of potential because it has a 512 gb NVMe SSD, NVIDIA RTX 3060 video card, Intel’s i7 11700F CPU, 16 gb of 3200 ddr4 ram, 1 tb 7200 rpm Hard Drive, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth support as well as built in RGB lighting. But once I started digging into to it I realized that its not quite as nice as I had hoped. Don’t get me wrong I still think it’s a five star deal because of the components and their performance for the dollar but some of the build makes me wonder what Asus had in mind. None of the items below are show stoppers and the system performs quite well considering the build. Overall I think the system even with its quarks is great deal. When you are looking in this price range for a good gaming desktop its hard to find anything better. Here are the things that caught me by surprise. - The ddr4 ram is 3200 mhz but it’s a single module so it doesn’t use dual channel memory. The existing module works fine but having two modules using dual channels is better for gaming. - The included hard drive is a Toshiba 1 tb drive which isn’t enough space for my games and videos. Sadly, there is not a second drive bay even though there are plenty of Sata connectors on the motherboard. The only option is to swap out the existing drive for a larger one. - There are two M2 NVMe PCIe slots, the first M2 slot holds the WD 512 gb SSD but the second slot is missing the standoff and screw so to add another SSD you have to purchase the mounting hardware. - The chassis has no front or top ventilation and if you install the clear side panel it only leaves a small gap for air to enter via the side. Overall this chassis lacks good ventilation. - The chassis fan and the cpu fan meet the requirements but are small thus when running full speed which happens often due to the temperatures they can be rather noisy. - There are no USB-C or Thunderbolt ports however there are PS-2 connectors! I have no idea why anyone would include PS-2 connectors. I also am shocked they didn’t include at least one USB-C for high speed transfers. On the plus side there are lots of USB-A ports. - The enclosed mouse and keyboard are bare minimum so expect to replace them. Performance: I spent the better part of a day running this desktop through benchmark testing to see how well it would perform and how well the temperature of the motherboard, GPU and CPU would be maintained with the limited amount of air flow in the chassis. While performing all these test I used Armoury Crate to set the system to the TURBO setting – this is the ASUS recommended setting for gaming. Using the 3DMARK stress test the GPU ran at 100% utilization and the temps of the GPU and CPU averaged around 75 degrees Celsius. Throughout all the other test as well as when playing games I would check the CPU temp and it again stayed in the mid 70s. Per the 3DMARK testing this build is slightly below average for its component level which I suspect is due to the single ram module. The Graphics score was 8608 and the CPU score was 7437. Here are some of the estimated game performance scores I got while testing with 3DMARK as well as some Geekbench5 scores. 3DMARK Graphics Score = 8608 CPU Score = 7437 Battlefield V @1080p Ultra = 105+ FPS Battlefield V @ 1440p Ultra = 85+ FPS Apex Legends@1080p Ultra = 140+ FPS Apex Legends@ 1440p Ultra = 95+ FPS GTA V @1080p Ultra = 80+ FPS GTA V @ 1440p Ultra = 50+ FPS Fortnite @1080p Ultra = 125+ FPS Fortnite @ 1440p Ultra = 90+ FPS Red Dead Redemption 2 @1080p Ultra = 40+ FPS Red Dead Redemption 2@ 1440p Ultra = 30+ FPS Geekbench5 Single Core Score = 1545 Multi Core Score = 6831 Open CL Score = 99577 Cuda Score = 100343 Vulkan Score = 70989 Setup: The setup was straight forward with no issues. I connected the monitor to the HDMI port and the mouse and keyboard to the rear USB ports. There are also 3 Display port connectors available if you want to connect multiple monitors. The system comes with a medal side panel that can be replaced with the enclosed clear plastic panel. You just remove the medal side panel, screw in four standoffs and then attach the clear panel with four large screws. The unit powered on and it went through several updates both Windows 11 and ASUS generated. The system comes with MyASUS and Armoury Crate apps already installed but both needed multiple updates. Using Armoury Crate you can manage the components as well as set the RGB lighting throughout the chassis. Setting the color schemes was simple and overall looked good with the plastic side panel installed.

Pros: Decent GPU with 12GB of DDR6 memory. i7 CPU, 512GB SSD for system, 1TB HDD for storage. Comes with both an acrylic side panel and a metal side panel. Cons (yes, I'm nit-picking) : 16GB of ram is a single stick - why gimp a system by putting a single 16GB stick in it when you could put 2x 8GB and get dual channel performance? CPU cooler has a lot of room for improvement - ASUS shows a tower-style heat-sink in it's advertising for this model , but yet as you can see in my photos it's definitely not. Airflow is sub-standard - with the acrylic side-panel air comes in from around the stand-offs of the panel - if you have pets be prepared to have to blow out the hair from inside the computer VERY often! WIth the metal side-panel, there's just some holes that were drilled in the panel. ASUS needs to give a case that has better air-flow from the front and more than just one fan in the case (80mm in the rear for exhaust). No USB-C ports on a modern machine? What's up with that? Fans are LOUD. Single-fan GPU - forget about overclocking it. Sure, I have complaints, but the machine does game really well . Frame rates are very good (pretty much on-par with my last-gen Geforce 2070 Super), Even with my complaints I put aside my home-built gaming rig and am using this machine as my daily driver. ASUS is my manufacturer of choice for building a machine - they can put out a decent pre-built but there is some room for improvement!

On paper, this ASUS desktop looks like a quality gaming machine. Powered on, the animated RGB lighting accents really drive that impression home. It does look cool. During unboxing, my only “meh” moment was the included keyboard and mouse. They’re pretty average and will end up on a shelf with my other parts that I hold onto just in case. The core components meet or exceed everything you could want in an entry-level prebuilt gaming PC: - Intel i7-11700F paired with 16GB RAM - Check. - 512GB SSD to efficiently store and deliver the OS and programs - Check. - 1TB 7200 RPM HDD for speedy ancillary storage - Check. - And the cherry on top? An NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 sporting 12GB of GDDR6! I won’t bore you with FPS tables. I do most of my gaming at 1440p and suffice to say this machine delivers outstanding visuals and performance generally keeping frames in the 60FPS range with settings at High or Ultra. Older titles easily maintain 120+FPS. Cooling has proved to be adequate, if not occasionally a little noisy. There is a single case fan in the rear of the case that draws air over the CPU cooler. Under load, they spin up quickly and become noticeable but, so far, not distracting, and they keep temps in an acceptable range. Cooling is the reason that I won’t be using the included see-through side panel; the only ventilation it allows is a small gap at the leading edge, and I’m more comfortable with the additional airflow permitted by the perforated side panel that ships installed. It looks like the only possible no-brainer upgrade would be to memory; the computer ships with a single 16GB stick, leaving 3 open slots on the motherboard. I was a little disappointed at the lack of available room to grow. There are no available bays to accept an optical drive or additional hard drives (though the motherboard has several available SATA ports). There are no USB-C or Thunderbolt connections, so that path to expansion is blocked. There are ample USB 3.0 ports. I connected a USB-C 2TB SSD via USB 3.0 adapter, and performance has been acceptable. I did have one moment of head scratching: The back panel has PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse. I haven’t seen one in years and spotting them had me searching for the 25-pin LPT port … but I digress. The PC ships with a 500-watt modular power supply, and additional cabling is included should you need it. It is sufficient for the stock hardware, but any contemplated upgrades need to be balanced with available power. Overall, I am really pleased with the ASUS - ROG Gaming Desktop. It is a very competent, well-built prebuilt that I would recommend to anyone seeking entry to desktop PC gaming. For example, if you have ever contemplated leaving your console behind, I can easily see this PC being a first step down that path. Highly recommended!

It wasn’t that long ago that my high-end Alienware Aurora R9 gaming rig was state-of-the-art, sporting then new Nvidia GeForce 2080 Super graphics card. Well as technology gets better, prices decline, as is the case here. This Republic of Gamers machine retails for roughly 60% of my previous machine, and outperforms it largely due to the RTX 3060. Alienware may operate on larger margins and remains more of a specialty brand, though ASUS is likely trying to cut into the upscale market with their ROG Republic of Gamers branding. They’ve made great strides though I don’t feel they’re there yet. This machine is rather basic, and would be largely mediocre if not for the price reason to buy it, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, that’s still very limited supply as a stand-alone unit unless it’s built-into an already assembled pre-configured machine. The machine build quality is respectable, though the green and purple PS/2 connectors on the back (pictured) are definitely a throwback to the previous decade. There’s not a tremendous amount of value-add, the pack-in keyboard and mouse are lightweight plastic and cheaply made, most harder core gamers likely have speciality peripherals. (Note: this was also an initial complaint of the Alienware R9) Note of caution : installing this unit I had limited visibility and thought I had a dud machine, plugging in DisplayPort, and then HDMI to a 38-inch LG Ultra Widescreen failed to get an image. ASUS does NOT include an internal speaker so I had no indication what was wrong. Once I dug the machine back out and looked closely I saw my error, the DP / HDMI cables must plug into the Nvidia card, and not the top pair of jacks. I verified it was not listed in the 1-2-3 step instructions. Once fixing my error I realized that it did in fact boot just fine, before the lengthy MS Windows 11 update. Note: photos with 3rd party peripherals Specs Intel Core i7-11700F 16 GB Ram Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 1 TB HDD 512 GB SSD Pros + Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics proc + Very Good Basic Gaming Machine + convenient top access USB ports + extra SATA connectors + DisplayPort and HDMI + side plexiglass option + console gaming alt + relatively quiet fan + decently built + Windows 11 + Forza Horizon 5 and MSFS 2020=VISUALLY STUNNING Cons -BYOKM - cheap keyboard and mouse -limited expandability - NO USB-C / TB -no room for additional drive bays -lacks optical or S/PDIFF digital -lacks multichannel output -no motherboard speaker -internal thermal airflow Conclusion If you’re in the market for a modestly priced, entry level gaming rig, this ASUS ROG is for you. It’s a no-frills basic machine, I’d not normally recommend to a close friend whom I’d help build a machine from higher quality components. But if you’re not a DIY and want a decent machine, that includes the hard-to-find Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, I do recommend you give the ASUS ROG a shot.

ASUS ROG is an excellent gaming PC that came with an i7-11700F Intel 11th generation processor coupled with 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1 TB HDD, and 512GB SDD, latest wireless connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, and amazing NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 with dedicated 12GB GDDR6 memory graphics card. This PC handled almost all games without any glitches. Setup is relatively easy. I have connected the desktop with 32inch 4K monitor using an HDMI cable. It came with Windows 11 operating system. It took less than 10 mins to connect with Microsoft account and update all necessary drivers with the latest version. The case is very compact and inside there is plenty of room for additional drives and RAM. On the top, there are two USB 3 ports, a single headphone jack, and the power switch resides at an angle on the top-right edge. On the backside, there are 4 USB 3 and 2 USB 2 ports, an HDMI & Display Port, 3 sound ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, PS2 keyboard, and mouse ports. RTX 3060 is an amazing graphics card, and I was able to use my ASUS 32" 4K monitor to pair up with the PC, I must admit that the graphics are simply superb. I am using this as HTPC also connected with Epson LS500 Laser projector with Plex Media Server, Kodi, and Cyberlink Power DVD setup. Due to the high-end graphics card, the picture quality is really crystal clear on the big screen for Blu-ray Discs and 4K videos. It came with built-in Wi-Fi 6 to deliver a 3x faster wireless connection. With Bluetooth 5.0 interface, it is easy to transfer photos, music, and other media between the devices. This PC does not come with a built-in DVD/CD drive, and it is not a big issue as most of the software is available via digital download. The new generation of i7 processors is very fast and energy-efficient. With “Armoury Crate” software, it is easy to configure custom lighting effects, manage CPU and GPU settings and monitor storage and RAM usage, fan speeds, and monitor CPU/GPU temps. On the complaints side, the included mouse and keyboard are extremely cheap, and the keyboard is so bad that I had to replace it with my existing gaming keyboard. If you can replace the keyboard and mouse with your own, this PC is good for gaming or HTPC. Also, there are no USB C / Thunderbolt ports which are kind of disappointing as it is very convenient to use with USB C than HDMI cable to connect monitors. I have been using this desktop for a week now and played various games with an XBOX game pass. All games were working perfectly without any issues. It is running very quietly. I am really impressed with the ASUS ROG Gaming Desktop, and it exceeded my expectations. I am using it every day and can play any PC game even on trips as it handles everything without any glitch. This is one of the best gaming desktops in the market with outstanding specifications. All in all, this is a great pre-configured gaming PC at a great price.

Computer is garbage and don't pay for geek squad !

Very good for all my games! Asus is back with its new products, it's worth the price.

After using it extensively over the past few days, the ASUS ROG Gaming Desktop gets my emphatic recommendation. I am completely blown away by its performance! It has the horsepower to run any PC games on the market, and run them well. If you are looking for a powerful Windows 11 gaming PC at this price point, then look no further. There are gaming desktops that offer more performance, all of which are more expensive of course. In this unfortunate climate of supply shortages, you can’t go wrong with a pre-built gaming rig like this. I won’t get into the specs, which are clearly detailed on the product page, but rest assured that it has more than enough processing power and memory to easily handle any gaming or productivity needs you ask of it. After the initial setup, the system startup and app response times are lighting fast. Games and software are very fluid and responsive. I was especially impressed by the impressive frame rates and resolution. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 video card really makes a difference! A basic mouse and keyboard is included in the box so all that you need to get started is to connect it to a gaming monitor. There are more than enough ports and empty slots to accommodate some future expansion. There are 3 open slots to accommodate memory expansion in addition to the included 16 GB’s of installed RAM. A noticeable omission is that there is not a native USB-C port. But I feel that most gamers at this price point will be satisfied with the expansion capabilities. One important fact to remember is that the active video output ports are from the NVIDIA video card, which is located in the middle back of the chassis, not the video ports in the rear top left. For gaming a SSD drive is a necessity because it vastly improves the system speed. The 512GB SSD drive is adequate for most, but I am supplementing it with an external 1 TB SSD drive. I am very impressed with the build quality. It feels very solid without being too heavy. The RGB LED lighting look really nice and is fully customizable using the ASUS application. Also included is a clear side panel that can be installed to replace the right side panel. I especially like that it has easily accessible top front ports (1 headphone jack and 2 USB-A ports). I wanted to give Windows 11 a quick mention since it is so new, and most people have likely not used it yet. There are differences between Windows 10 and 11, but users of Windows 10 will be familiar with the new layout. Windows 11 is a work in progress and I am expecting a similar experience that many of us had when Windows 10 was released. There is a lot to like about the new Windows OS, but I expect a trial and error growing process. I could write a separate lengthy review of Windows 11 in of itself, but am keeping my Windows 11 observations concise, because I want to focus on the ASUS ROG. This gaming desktop is equipped with enough processing power and system memory to play any PC game out there. It is an excellent choice for any gamer that wants a powerful PC, but can’t or doesn't want to spend more money than what this rig costs. Because of the capabilities, performance, and features, you can’t go wrong by choosing the ASUS ROG.

Verdict: The ASUS ROG gaming desktop isn’t perfect, but it is a solid option for a “turn-key” ready-to-go gaming desktop at an affordable price. This machine also offers opportunities for some upgrades to improve performance. First Impressions. The CPU was packed very well, ensuring the safety of the system. The computer comes with a see-through cover if you would like to see the inside of the computer and take full advantage of the light display. The package includes a very basic keyboard and mouse, and some extra cables to add hard drives. Design. Gaming rigs tend to have flare, sometimes to much though. This rig is not too big (relative to the gaming category), it has customizable LEDs, it comes with an optional see-through panel, and it has a nicely designed face. It looks really sleek overall, without going overboard. Well done on the physical design! In terms of function, there is space in the case for some upgrades (bigger fan and additional RAM), but airflow is generally lacking. While the metal panels that come installed on the computer have holes that allow for some airflow, the clear panel doesn’t have any holes, so using the clear panel could lead to a decrease in performance due to heat. I am actually thinking of drilling holes in the clear panel so that I can still use it without additional heat. General computer performance. The computer comes with Windows 11, which was my first time using it and I love it! The 11th Gen Intel Core i7 delivers 2.5GHZ of processing speed, and paired with the 512GB SSD, the user experience is snappy and very enjoyable. 512GB SSD may not be enough for many gamers once you start to download all your games. While I would have preferred a 1TB SSD, I am happy about the included 1TB SATA Hard Drive because of additional storage requirements. The SATA drive allows me to store pictures, music, and backups, and I am using the SSD drive just for the current games I play (usually only two or three). The computer includes a single stick of 16GB of RAM; 16GB is lower than my two other computers (both gaming laptops). I plan to add another stick of 16GB in the near future. Gaming performance. What I love about this computer is that you can run most games at 1080p on ultra (tested with GTA 5), and older games on 4k (including Ghost Recon, which ran at about 9GB of the available 12GB VRAM), with great performance, right out of the box. While this gaming rig may not be sufficient for serious gamers who want to run 4k resolution with max settings on every game, it is a computer that casual and regular gamers can pick up and be quite happy with for a long time. The ASUS Armoury Crate app lets you set up gaming profiles for specific games or for specific settings so that you can fine tune the computer to your needs. I paired this desktop with a 27” ASUS Gaming monitor, and the experience has been very nice. Things I love. - Design has flare without going overboard - Customizable LED show is awesome - I7 processor and SSD provide a snappy experience - Windows 11 ensures operating system longevity and more security - GeForce RTX 3060 provides quality gaming performance at max settings if playing at 1080p, and 4k for some games - WiFi 6 capable - Lots of space for additional RAM Things I don’t love. - Very cheap mouse and keyboard. Don’t bother unpacking… use your current gaming hardware, or buy new ones - The fan speed adjusts continuously under load. While this is expected, the fan noise is noticeable unless wearing headphones. Fan activity is probably indicative of the lack of airflow in the rig - 16GB of RAM is ok, recommend upgrading to 32GB - 512GB SSD may not be enough for many gamers - No USB-C Overall, this ASUS ROG Gaming Desktop is a fantastic option for the casual and regular gamer that doesn’t want to break the bank, but still wants a solid rig for the next 3 years. Just make sure that you consider your performance needs, and what components you may want to upgrade. I can say that I am enjoying the experience on this computer and I do recommend it.

I had a chance to pick up the new Asus ROG gaming laptop and wanted to see how the new 65w 11th Gen processor performed especially with the RTX3060 video card since none are available “still”. Unboxing: The system came very nicely packaged in a Asus ROG logoed black box, and inside was the desktop unit, keyboard, mouse, power cable, extra internal power cables for the PSU, a clear Plexiglas panel for the left side, some thumb type screws for the Plexiglas panel and so you can replace the others on the right panel for easier removal, quick setup guide and some warranty papers. Setting up: The system came with a metal door installed on the left side so you actually get two doors for that, the right side is covered with a metal door and both are held on by two philips head screws. The system itself isn’t that heavy and easy to move around where you need it. The front and top are all plastic with a nice carved wave feature on the front that’s also illuminated. Up top there are two USB 3 ports, a single headphone jack and the power switch resides at an angle on the top right edge. Inside there are plenty of LED strips that you can control from the ASUS app and link with the colors on the Front panel and you’ll have to install the clear left side panel if you want to see them and that’s the way I’ll be setting it up. On the back of the system there are 4 USB 3 and 2 USB 2 ports, a HDMI & Display Port “which aren’t used as the CPU does not have video capability”, 3 sound ports “that can be configured in the audio utility and do support 5.1 surround”, a gigabit Ethernet port and oddly PS2 keyboard and mouse ports “haven’t seen those in a long time”. So there should be enough ports for you to hook all your gaming hardware and a few extras. I attached the included “USB” keyboard and mouse , power cord, then hooked it to my monitor and started it up. This comes with Windows 11 and I had to go through an initial setup screen to get to the main “New” desktop and start menu. After that was up and running I immediately went into the Windows update screen and sure enough there were a few updates so I proceeded with those before doing anything. After the updates were finished and the system rebooted I noticed the Nvidia Geforce Experience wasn’t showing so I had to go to the Microsoft store and get that downloaded and yep, after that installed I got a graphics driver update message from Nvidia so I let that install then rebooted. Performance: I wanted to see how well this system performs and installed Steam so I could download Borderlands 3 and The Witcher 4 “two of my favorites that I play and use for benchmarking, I also installed Geekbench 5 and Crystal Diskmark so I could get some good numbers on this new system. First running Geekbench 5 the numbers were impressive “you can see the comparison in the pics”, but the new I7-11700F is pretty impressive, its single core score is faster than my other desktops I7-10700K, and beats our other two 11th gen laptop systems. In multicore it’s a different story as the I7-10700K is faster by a good margin. Same with the Compute scores, this is a RTX3060 video card so I didn’t expect it to come close to either of my RTX3070s or my RTX3080, but it did really well for its class of video card “and the game scores show it”. Next I ran Crystal Disk Mark, and the SSD ran very well, about average for the WD SSD they used and I’m not going to complain about those numbers at all. It won’t match the WD Blacks I run in my other systems but it’s still plenty fast and you can see those numbers in the attached comparison pic. The Toshiba spindle drive didn’t surprise me much, it’s a slow SATA drive “comparing to SSD” but works for storage and I had all my games loaded on there to see what effect it had on game load times. Now on to some gaming, I ran The Witcher 4 first and was really surprised with the numbers; I am running this at 1080P on a 75hz monitor but turned off V-Sync so I could see the actual FPS. I had initially started on low graphics mode not knowing how this RTX 3060 would run but to my surprise the FPS was very high “don’t remember the exact number but over 140fps, so I cranked up the graphics setting to Ultra for the heck of it and “wow I’m impressed”, the FPS numbers for inside a tunnel fighting a ghost puma and was easily hitting around the 90s, “more than the monitor could display. Next I went outdoors where there were a lot of people and heavy scenery and that averaged 85-95fps, “low number while running and spinning”. Next I ran Borderlands 3, and figured since W4 handled the “ultra” settings so well I maxed out the graphics in BL3. I went to the Droughs and mainly just ran and fought off some Skags, but the frame rate always stayed between 90-105, still impressive and more than the monitor could display. Then I went to the Splinterlands and did pretty much the same thing, running, fighting off Skags and some Rakks, and still managed 108-114fps. Then I jumped in a vehicle and drove around attacking some other vehicles, this dropped the FPS down between 75-89fps, still amazing with this entry level gaming system, “this is still running at 1080p also” Upgradeability: The CPU has what looks like an Intel OEM cooler, it does work though and I was amazed that even while gaming the noise from the system never rose over 55db from 6” away. That’s a lot quieter than my current MSI Trident system and pretty much silent with the sound turned up for gaming. Luckily there’s enough room for a decent CPU cooler if you wanted to add one, and it looks like there’s enough room at the front of the case for adding a liquid cooler, although with this new 65w CPU you probably don’t need it. The nice thing about this case too is you can access the back side of the motherboard around the CPU for attaching a bracket if you wanted to upgrade to a liquid cooling solution, no need of removing the motherboard. The RTX3060 in this system has a single fan, it doesn’t overheat or get loud at all, while the scores for this are lower in Geekbench than my other systems this is also a 3060 and from what I’ve seen on other benchmarks it’s on par for the 3060, and you can see in my attached picture the 3070 and 3080 are incrementally higher “as they should be”. It still holds up to gaming at 1080p perfectly well. I don’t think I’d push it to the 1440 or 4k resolution of my other monitors and I’m not even going to try as I’d have to turn down the graphics quality. The system does come with on single stick of DDR-4 3200 Memory, it’s SK-Hynix brand and you could easily add another stick to make it dual channel, but the nice thing is the MB has 4 memory slots “yes 4” so you have a lot of room to add more memory if you want and that’s a huge plus. The PSU they included is only 500w its “80 Gold” rated but it’s on the small side, it is partially modular and they do include the extra power cables so you can add additional hard drives. But if you wanted to upgrade to a higher up video card like the RTX3080 you would / should upgrade the PSU and that wouldn’t be very hard as everything is easily accessible. There is room for one more hard drive on top of the PSU shield and you could probably fit one on the bottom of the top of that shield above the 3.5” Toshiba, other than that there’s really nowhere else to fit another drive, “could probably tinker in a couple more 2.5” SSDs pretty easily though as there are 6 SATA connectors on the MB. Conclusion: This system surprised me, I didn’t think it would perform as well as it did and for the money is an excellent entry level gamer. The 512gb SSD is plenty fast and good enough for your OS and main software, the 1tb SATA drive is big enough for most entry level gamers “that all I use on my main system “just SSDs””. There’s plenty of room for expansion and customization for the future, so yes I would put this at the top of my list for an entry level system and so should you if you don’t want to spend over $2k on a mid-end, or over 3k for a higher end system.

ASUS knocked it out of the park with the ROG Strix G10CE Gaming Desktop PC. It offers a great level of customization via software (RGB Lights) and hardware (Expansion) as well as offering great performance to suit almost any workload. There are 3 quick suggestions I would make for anyone buying and setting up the ROG Strix G10CE and they are as follows; Do the initial setup offline (not connected to the internet to have the option to remain on Windows 10), Use the acrylic side window for the best aesthetics and light customization and finally use the included ASUS software to modify the CPU fan profile to be less aggressive and more quiet. The ROG Strix G10CE is blazing fast and with the included Nvidia RTX 3060 and DLSS technology there were many options available to have games looking there best and/or running their best without much hassle. The power supply and mechanical hard drive as well as the back of the motherboard can be serviced by removing the left panel of the PC chassis which would come in handy when upgrading components. Overall I'm very happy with the performance and build of the ASUS ROG Strix G10CE and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great gaming PC.