Customer Ratings & Reviews

First impression: My first thoughts on this computer are how much smaller and lighter this box is compared to my other gaming computer, and yet the specifications outweigh the other one considering price. The packing was excellent, and the color/lights look very nice and provide a high-tech look. And the small form factor (for a gaming computer) makes it easy to place. What’s in the Box: • T500MV-AS764 • Powercord and Adapter • User Guide • Keyboard • Mouse Specifications: • Intel 12th Generation Core i7 12700 • 500GB SSD • 1TB HD • 16GB RAM • Asrock Intel Arc A750 8GB GDDR6 graphics card • AIO water cooler • Two M.2 NVME slots. • Chimera KM1 RGB Keyboard and mouse combo. Specifications: • Processor: Intel® 13th Core™ i5-13420H Processor 4.9 GHz • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5060TI DUAL 8GB GDDR7: 3xDP, 1x HDMI • Memory: 2x DDR5 SO-DIMM slot 16GB DDR5 SO-DIMM • SATA: 2 x SATA 6.0Gb/s ports • Storage: 1TB M.2 2280 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD • Front I/O: 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 • Rear I/O: 1x RJ45 Gigabit, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x DP 1.4, 1x 7.1 channel audio, 4x USB 2.0 • Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax) Dual band 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.4 Wireless Card • Power: 330W power supply (80+ Platinum, peak 660W) • Weight: 13.01 lbs • Size: 6.12" x 11.67" x 13.66" Setup: Setup was just like any Windows 11 setup; I simply followed the Windows 11 initial setup wizard and connected it with my Microsoft account. During setup, you get the chance to create a My Asus account, which gives you Asus’s cloud storage, computer services, a closed support community, and many other features. Performance: This is a bit of an odd PC. Asus wanted to make an entry-level, small form factor PC, and they did so successfully. But in doing so, they used some laptop components, such as the CPU and integrated graphics. This doesn’t make it a less of a machine, unless you go into this thinking you are getting a beast. But at under $800, I would think that’s obvious. But it’s important to know that this will limit some of the upgrades, such as having a max of 64 GB of RAM, and a non-swappable soldered in CPU. Now let’s talk about what matters, performance. Right off the bat, this computer responds much quicker than my other gaming computer, and it has a 12th gen i7. This PC has a 13th generation i5. Programs install faster and load faster. For testing this computer, I used installed drone and aircraft simulations. I started by installing VelociDrone. This drone simulator has very realistic graphics and extensive settings so you can configure it for whatever drone a radio you have as well as how realistic you want the graphics to be. I set the graphics high but not maxed out and configured the drone and radio like my real FPV drone and my real radio settings. I took off and immediately I could see that this computer could handle this no problem. While flying at high speed, the graphics quality was high, and the motion clarity was stable. There was no distortion of the graphics throughout the entire test. And when making rapid direction changes, the graphics never let me down. Next, I installed Real Flight 9.5. This is an RC aircraft simulator, and this was to test the realism and smoothness of the graphics. In this test, both the quality and the smoothness were perfect. As a slowly banked the aircraft, the motion was smooth as were the graphics, making small changes effortlessly and realistically. The clouds in the sky looked real and continued to look real as I moved the aircraft around. And on landing, the runway looked real as I got closer to it, bringing things into focus slowly and cleanly, just like in a real aircraft. I’m quite impressed with the included keyboard and mouse. Usually, that’s the first thing I swap out when testing a computer. But the included keyboard keys are spaced out perfectly for my typing. And the mouse is very responsive and fits my hand perfectly as I claw it. I see no reason at this point to change them out on this PC. Conclusion: I am really impressed with this computer. I wasn’t sure what to expect with a sub-thousand-dollar gaming PC, with 32 GB rather than 64 or 128 and an i5. But Asus wanted to create an affordable, entry-level gaming PC, and they did. Do not kid yourself, this isn’t a beast. The entire PC costs less than a single graphics card for the serious gamer. But the T500MVC has its place, and I think it dominates it. When flying, the experience was completely enjoyable. The FPV drone simulator can be quite demanding, and this PC handled it with grace. And the airplane flying was just about as realistic as Microsoft’s flight Simulator, but the limitations were in the program, not the PC. I will easily enjoy performing any of my flying on this PC going forward. For 1080p gaming, the Asus T500MVC does an amazing job for an amazing price. For a new gamer, someone who can’t afford a serious gaming machine, or someone whose games don’t require a serious gaming machine, I think this PC will serve you very well. In its place, I highly recommend the Asus T500MVC entry-level PC.

The ASUS TUF T500 is a bit of a curiosity. ASUS pairs a desktop RTX 5060 GPU with a mobile i5-13420H CPU on a laptop-style board. I found performance to be solid in games I tried — Gears 5 and Tomb Raider ran over 100 FPS at ultra settings, and Cyberpunk 2077 managed to stay around 60. I was a little underwhelmed with the cooling — there are no intake fans on the case, and there's not cooling directly on the CPU. Instead, there's a heat sink that extends out to the exhaust fan at the back of the case. While it's probably enough for the mobile CPU, there is the fact there's a desktop GPU filling the case up with hot air. I ran a stress test, and the CPU throttled a bit under load, hitting 96°C before settling near 88°C. The case is compact and and fitted snugly around the proprietary motherboard, with minimal intake and limited airflow. Cooling relies on a custom setup that’s hard to replace. Upgrade options are limited: you can swap the GPU, RAM, SSD, and Wi-Fi card. Everything else is locked down or proprietary. If you want to upgrade the CPU, you will need to replace the motherboard, and I don't believe a standard form factor motherboard will fit the case. Ports are fine, though USB-C Gen 1 feels dated. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth worked without issue. Cable management is average with the non-modular PSU adding to wire clutter. ASUS says the TUF T500 is for gamers who want lower power draw than a desktop but more performance than a laptop. In practice, it doesn’t offer any clear advantages over either. It's not an awful value, but with a mobile CPU that throttles and desktop GPU that consumes power and put out heat, unless it’s heavily discounted, I’d recommend a proper desktop or gaming laptop instead.

I’ve wanted a dedicated computer for my man cave and, decided to go with a desktop for this one. The form factor is nice and compact and not too heavy, so its easy to use in my setup with a full sized tv and wireless accessories. The mouse and keyboard that come with it are a set up from what I thought I was getting since they do have some RGB lighting. They get the job done for but are still a bit basic and are wired, so I’m not using them, but they do add to the cool look if you don’t have higher end accessories yet. The rest of the lighting is pretty cool and better than just the basic colored fans that glow but you can’t control. There is a window where you can see inside and its a bit odd from what I was expecting. There is just a huge empty space in the center, which should help a bit with airflow but noticeably doesn’t really have a good way to add hard drives or internal accessories if you wanted to expand. I’m lucky enough to have multiple computers for different tasks, but if this was going to be you only computer, its really just for gaming, web surfing, and some basic office work or homework. Trying to upgrade this to handle other things is going to be a struggle. Especially anything like photo or video editing where you need more storage space, since externals can only go so far. Admittedly you could find a way to make it work but then your airflow would be restricted at the same time as adding more heat and I would be worried you’d run into bigger issues. Gaming worked fine, but maybe not as high end as I was initially hoping. That open air design is great for volume, but the heat can creep up on some more intensive games. I didn’t notice much slowdown from it, but I am a bit concerned about more intense usage or longer gaming sessions. Outside of gaming, it’s overkill for streaming movies, video calls, or other basic tasks for my man cave and gives me an extension of options for pc gaming that my console can’t do. This isn’t for a professional gamer but it fits the bill for a more basic gaming computer at a lower price point. So while there are things I think it could do better, it meets my basic gaming needs at a decent price point and with a lot of style and fun you don’t always get with other mid range desktops.

In 2025 this is unfortunately a good value proposition as a result of the insane GPU prices that continue to plague PC gamers, and now skyrocketing RAM cost on top of that. For those of you who are playing Esports titles you will generally have a good experience as those games are very well optimized to reduce latency and allow as many people to play as possible. The shortfall of this system will come if you are looking to play high fidelity AAA games, the 8GB of VRAM this 5060 GPU has is becoming a limitation in certain titles without reducing settings down. Other hardware slections you could say ared adequate and commensurate with the GPU they are using. You are getting a 2 year old Intel i5 chip, 4 "P" cores with hyper-threading and 4 "E" cores for a total of 12 cores. This is accompanied by 16GB of RAM, a 1TB NVME drive, and a 500w power supply. The system is upgradable, but you will only be able to take it so far before the 13th gen Intel becomes the bottle neck. Adding more RAM, a larger hard drive would be straight forward other upgrades might become more involved due to the 500w power supply. This is a fine system overall, not trying to be overly critical, but the world of PC gaming is very confusing compared to purchasing a console so hoping to provide realistic expectations for those looking to purchase. This is a good option for those looking for an entry level gaming PC in the current market of inflated prices as a result of the AI "revolution" driving both GPU and RAM shortages, solid for less demanding titles or Esports games.