ASUS - ExpertCenter D500 Desktop - Intel i5-13400 - 8 GB Memory - 512 GB SSD - Black

My mom runs her own business from home and has been using a 9 year-old HP Pavilion with a 4th generation Intel Core i3 processor. Needless to say, it was time for an upgrade. Of course, she would never do this upgrade herself -- that what "tech support sons" are for, right? When I saw this new ExpertCenter D5 model from ASUS, I knew it would fit the bill perfectly. For word processing, email, and other day-to-day productivity tasks, this tower will provide more than enough power for years to come. It's certainly not meant for hardcore video editing or similarly heavy workloads, but it is loaded with modern hardware and connectivity that will be a big upgrade for business users stuck on older machines. === PROS === - This is a sleek-looking tower. ASUS has three sizes of towers, with this being their largest. But it is still very light and compact, measuring less than 7 inches wide and about 16 inches tall. - Build quality and cable management are very good for this mid-level tower. As you can see in the attached photo, cables are neatly zip-tied and there is plenty of room inside the case for proper airflow. - This model is equipped with an Intel i5-13400 processor, which is an excellent mid-level processor with ample power for virtually any productivity task. - There are plenty of modern and legacy ports included. The front has 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, 2x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a headphone jack, and a microphone-in jack. There is also an SD card reader and event a smart card reader for government and military personnel with Common Access Cards or similar. The rear has an ethernet port (1 Gigabit), 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x VGA, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x PS/2 (old-school mouse and keyboard ports), 3x audio jacks (mic in, line in, and line out), 2x USB-2.0 Type-A, and 2x USB 3.2 Type-A. - I was amazed at how quick and easy it was to set up this machine. With most pre-builts, I have to spend at least an hour removing bloatware, declining software or anti-virus trials, and agreeing to countless "terms of service" pages. Not with this computer. ASUS has left out almost all the bloatware and trials -- the only potential exception being the "MyASUS" app which requires an ASUS account for product registration and driver updates. - The ExpertCenter D5 has a built-in Wi-Fi 6 card and includes an external antenna, allowing for maximum signal strength. I ran a few speed tests and saw results of over 750 Mbps download on my 1 Gbps internet plan. - The machine is whisper-quiet. Even under the relatively heavy loads of installing software and performing updates, the CPU fan and power supply fan are barely audible. - The motherboard has some flexibility for upgrades. There is a second M.2 slot for an additional SSD as well as a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. There are also two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots for things like sound cards, networking cards, and USB port expansions. I also see at least two SATA 6 Gbps ports, but I'm not sure if there is anywhere inside the case to mount 2.5" SSDs. === CONS === - ASUS has included two sticks of relatively fast DDR4 RAM (3200 MHz), but only 8GB total (2x 4GB sticks). This is probably enough for most users, but I wish they would have future-proofed the machine by including a minimum of 16GB. Luckily, this is a pretty cheap upgrade. - Amazingly, there is not a single USB-C port anywhere on the system -- another hit towards future-proofing. Yes, USB-C adapters are cheap and readily available, but this is the first machine in several years that I've seen without a USB-C port. - The 300W power supply will limit the upgradability of the PC. You're probably not going to be able to add a high-end GPU. - There is contradictory information on the actual specs of this model (D500TEC-I5512). Originally, the Best Buy listing page said that this machine came with Windows 10 Pro. However, it actually includes Windows 11 Home (it looks like the listing has finally been corrected). Additionally, some product images on both the Best Buy listing and the ASUS website show that this model includes an optical drive, but it does not. As such, you'll want to pay close attention to the reviews and the product listing so you can make an informed decision. As of today, it appears that the specs and features on the Best Buy listing are correct. === OVERALL === I set up this PC for my mom about a week ago and she has been using it to run her business ever since. It is a massive upgrade over her old system and I'm confident that it will last at least another 5+ years based on her daily workflow of emails, web browsing, word processing, and Zoom calls. It is an excellent workstation for these types of business uses. There are a few questionable design choices, such as the measly 8GB of RAM and the lack of USB-C ports, but these are fairly minor issues. Power users who need a dedicated GPU and maximum upgradability will want to look elsewhere. But for anyone else in need of a day-to-day productivity/office PC, the ExpertCenter D5 is a great choice.

I’ve been using the Asus Expert Center D500 as my everyday work computer, for personal productivity and remote work. Working with different Microsoft Office Applications, programming personal projects, Internet browsing and consuming media, has been great in general, no major issues at all. Using different communication apps has also been done without much trouble. I had a gaming Asus PC that I used as a work machine, and this one has taken that role, so I can leave the gaming PC for high-end graphics work and games. It is very quiet, I’d only hear the fans running if I placed the PC on my desk near me, so if I am in the mood for minimal noise, for sure this helps. Overall, for Home Office and regular Office use or just Personal use, I think this machine will suit most of your Productivity needs. - Pros: Wi-Fi adapter/antenna, fast Intel 13th generation CPU, fast PC overall. - Cons: No USB-C port, shared graphics/video memory. >> Hardware The Asus ExpertCenter D500 comes with a decent set of hardware features. It could be better though; for example, it lacks USB-C ports, which I find standard in any modern computer these days (I had to find a USB-A to USB-C cable to access my camera photos, for example.) Nevertheless, between the front and back panels, it has enough USB-A connectors I’d say. Here are some notes on a few of the components/ports/interfaces. Internals: - CPU: it has a recently released i5-13400 13th generation CPU that comes with 10 cores and 16 logical processors. I haven’t had any issues with the machine being slow or feeling sluggish, or the CPU going above 50% usage or the CPU fan going crazy. So far so good. - Graphics: integrated Intel UHD Graphics 730 with shared memory. I have the Asus D500 connected to a 34” curved monitor and I have been very happy with a resolution of 3440x1440 and refresh rates of 120Hz (also 60 Hz and 180Hz.) Check the CPU and Graphics details on the Intel website in case you are planning some more advanced monitor configuration. - RAM: only 8GB of RAM (2x4GB modules) at 3200 MHz, shared with video/graphics. I was expecting a single 8GB module; however, the two modules are better than a single one for dual-channel utilization. I might upgrade to two 8GB dual channel configuration, but so far things have been running with no issues (no perceived performance issues, if there are any.) - Wireless adapter: houses a Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160 MHz card, with gigabyte speeds, together with the Antenna, the speed and reception have been formidable. - Bluetooth: this is a must in everyday modern computers, the ability to connect wirelessly to Bluetooth devices, freeing you from having lots of cables around for peripherals. I am using this feature with my headphones for conferencing and might replace the mouse and keyboard that came in the package with Bluetooth versions. Back panel: - USB- ports: there are 4 connectors (with 2 being Super Speed), two of them I am using with the mouse and keyboard that came in the package. - Network: I haven’t used it yet, but for sure will be suitable for companies that prefer wired connectivity. - Audio: Standard three audio connectors, line-in, line-out and mic. I haven’t used them yet, but will attach a good set of speakers that for ambience music while working. - Video: One HDMI, one DP and one VGA port. I am still surprised this came with a VGA port, perhaps I am missing something in the target audience for this device, does anyone use VGA monitors anymore? Current port I am using: DP. - Wireless adapter/antenna: this is one of my favorite components, the antenna has a magnetic base which makes it easy, and fun, to attach it to the chassis or other metallic surface. I have it attached to the top of the case. Front panel - Multi-card reader: support for most common flash memory cards. I’ve already used this with some old SSD cards I had laying around. I don’t find myself using this too much, though, but nice to have it. - Audio: Two front panel connectors for headphones and microphones, since I mostly use Bluetooth headsets, I have yet to try them. - Smart Card reader: I don’t have use for this, but I guess if you run a corporation that relies on some form of smart card authentication, then this comes in very handy. - USB-A ports: 4 ports (2 Super Speed), similar to the ones on the back panel. I would have loved for a USB-C port to be available in the front panel, either to charge my phone, or connect my cameras directly to it without relying on a USB-A to USB-C cable. >> Software and Productivity Apps It comes with Windows 11 Home, so there is no support for virtual machines through Windows. Setup and configuration were easy. It comes with Asus Business Manager software, targeted towards small businesses or even multiple users within the household. For conferencing purposes, you’d need to get your own camera and microphone and headphones/speakers. As my everyday computer, I use it mostly for my personal (including some private business) productivity needs. What I usually do any day, is some coding for personal apps, read/reply emails, write Word docs (plenty of them), deal with Excel spreadsheets, create PowerPoint presentations (not so frequent), get into conference with other people, browse the news, watch videos, etc. I’ve been able to do all of that on the Asus ExpertCenter D500, I like having a PC on my desk that forces me to sit down and get down to business. >> Picture and Video I don’t expect to be playing games or doing heavy design work on this computer, I have a gaming PC for that, so I am not too worried about having this low-end graphics device. Putting aside the heavy-demanding GPU applications, I can say the image and video quality is great. I have a 34” curved monitor where the videos and images look great at a 3440x1440 resolution. I am used to having multiple applications on the same screen at once, and this machine hasn’t disappointed. I can be watching something on the left, and writing my compositions in Word on the right, or doing some debugging on my software development applications using side-by-side windows. >> Performance I see that most of the time the RAM to be above 90% utilization when running multiple applications; for example, Office apps and Web browsers. It even got as high as 96% when I added Xbox Gaming (well I won’t be playing any of my favorite games on this PC). Perhaps one of the attributes of this machine is that given its specs, it won’t allow you to play GPU intensive games, so you are left with devoting your time to work (or play less GPU demanding games.) In addition, I’ve found that for small projects in VS Code this is more than enough. One thing that I’ve noticed is that the Disk light on the front panel lights up frequently enough to perhaps wonder if content in the RAM is being moved to/from disk; inspecting with resource monitor tools, I can see the pagefile being accessed frequently enough to perhaps wonder if adding more RAM would help here. One last thing, I was composing a picture using Microsoft Paint, and I found the dragging of selected areas to be very sluggish, well, this seems expected anyways. As I mentioned earlier, overall, for Home Office and regular Office use or just Personal use this machine I think will suit most of your Productivity needs.

KEY SPECS AND FEATURES CPU: i5-13400 (10 Cores / 16 Threads) 8GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM 512GB Gen 4 x 4 nVME SSD Smart Card Reader / SD / MCC Reader PS/2 Ports (Yes, for real) Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 Card with External Antennas NO USB-C Connections USB Keyboard and Mouse Included INITIAL SET-UP Unlike my other Asus computers, initial set-up and updates did not go smoothly. Initial start-up and configuration went without issue and the computer started up and was running in no time. Browsing through the list of installed apps was a pleasant surprise as there is very little bloatware. Thank you, Asus, that is a welcome addition. Unfortunately, after initial start-up things went downhill before they got better. Windows update had several pending updates, including an Asus firmware update. That’s when things started going south. The firmware update triggered an error in my SSD configuration noting that it needed to be installed in a RAID configuration in the Bios. It was. I rebooted. Same error. Changed to AHCI. Same error. After a couple of reboots … BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). The PC failed to start entirely and went into diagnostic mode. Luckily, whatever was hanging it up, fixed itself, but not after many tense moments and a bunch of troubleshooting. After this initial headache, the computer has not experienced similar issues since. USE This is computer meant to be set-up, installed in an office, and never thought about again. It is quiet and unobtrusive. Even using nearly 100% available CPU resources, the Asus never got overly loud or obnoxious. However, that 100% CPU utilization was only for a brief time. There are no chassis or exhaust fans in the case, so repeated heavy use would most likely generate enough heat to either make the machine overly loud or thermal throttle. UPGRADEABILITY I would rate the Asus a solid D- in upgradeability. For starters, as others have noted, it ships with an anemic 300W power supply. That severely limits the ability to add an aftermarket GPU to the PC. Those wanting a discrete GPU will likely need to pursue something like a low power Quadro card, or several generations old discrete graphics card. The case has a popout on the front for what appears the ability to add a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. It even has the needed 5.25-inch opening in the chassis. However, there is no way to get that drive to fit without MAJOR surgery to front face plate. While it looks set up for a disc drive, the front cover will not accept one by default. To add insult to injury, not only will the front face not accept an optical disc drive, there are no available SATA headers on the motherboard to allow a data connection to said drive without buying an add-on card for a PCI-E slot. On a positive note, the buyer can easily swap to a larger nVME drive or even add a second nVME drive, as there are provisions on the motherboard for 2 drives. The machine will also accept up to 64GB of 3200 MHz DDR4 RAM. It ships with 8 and I upgraded it shortly after getting all the kinks ironed out to 16GB. The additional 8GB or RAM greatly reduced overall system resource utilization. CONCLUSION If you are looking for a well-built PC to serve as the starting point for a build and upgrade it, this is not the PC for you. You are severely limited in upgrade options unless those options can be hooked up via a USB connection. Oh, and those connections better support USB-A, as there are no USB-C connections and no Thunderbolt connections. USB-A in both 3.0 and 2.0. Ugh. For computing in an office environment or general home computing, this little Asus would be hard to beat. Even though short on RAM and SSD space, it is more than adequate for day-to-day tasks where it excels, asking for nothing in return. RECOMMENDED