Asus ROG G20CB review: Brilliant design, but overpriced

Laptops have become increasingly powerful over the years, to the point where they’re now a viable option for gamers short on space. Sometimes, however, you just need more oomph, and at this point, compact PCs such as the new Asus ROG G20CB come into play. In terms of performance per cubic inch, it must be the most powerful PC I’ve ever seen, and its aggressively angular design makes it the perfect companion to either a desk-bound monitor or living room TV. However, it comes with an equally eye-watering price.

Asus ROG G20CB: Design

We’ll get onto the flaws in a bit, though – let’s enjoy the good stuff first. First, simply nothing matches the G20CB for looks. The angled styling of the matte black chassis and the perforated, backlit edges cut an aggressive dash, the glowing red core that runs through the middle of the machine looks great, and colour of the lights can be customised via the bundled Aegis software.

With a horizontal footprint of just 358 x 340mm or 108 x 340mm when placed on its side, the Asus ROG G20CB will fit just about anywhere, be it on your desk or beneath your TV. It’s immensely practical, which is something worth paying for if space-saving is your prime motivator. There is one caveat to this, though: the power supply is external. In fact, it’s two large power bricks housed inside a plastic frame, making it much bulkier than a traditional PSU.

On the front of the chassis are a pair of red-accented USB 3 ports and two 3.5mm audio jacks. There’s also a pop-out DVD drive, although considering how much the ROG G20GB costs, it’s more than a little disappointing it isn’t a Blu-ray drive for Full HD playback.

At the rear there are six USB ports, which are made up of two USB 3.1, two USB 3, and a pair of USB 2 ports, denoted by light blue, dark blue and black connectors respectively. There’s also a Gigabit Ethernet port and six 3.5mm audio jacks.

There’s no optical S/PDIF for use with some soundbars and older AV receivers, but the graphics card (more on this later) has three DisplayPort connectors, an HDMI port (which can carry a digital audio signal anyway) and a DVI port. In short, the physical design of the Asus ROG G20CB isn’t just a resounding success, it’s the best part of this PC.

Asus’ choice of keyboard is less impressive. The wireless keyboard and mouse combo supplied with our review unit is as basic as they come and really doesn’t match the G20CB’s premium ambitions. The keyboard is soft and not particularly comfortable to type on, while the mouse lacks extra, gaming-specific inputs. If you’re seriously considering making a purchase, budget for a better keyboard and mouse. Moreover, you’ll probably also want a games controller, if you’re going to be using it as a living room PC.

Asus ROG G20CB: Specification and performance

For such a small machine, the specification is potent, at least on paper. There are several models available, but the model I’ve tested here is the most expensive you can buy in the UK today. You’re supplied with an Intel Core i7-6700 processor that runs at a base clock speed of 3.4GHz, boosting to 4GHz when thermal conditions allow for it. It’s also paired with 16GB of DDR4 RAM.

For a gaming PC, a Core i7 processor is nothing more than showing off for most people. You’ll only take advantage of its high Turbo Boost speed and multitasking-friendly Hyper-Threading technology if you’re a video editor or avid game streamer. For everyone else, a mid-range Intel Core i5 would do just fine. Then again, maybe this isn’t a PC for those who settle for second best.

The benchmark tests, which challenge PCs to carry out high-resolution rendering, video conversion and multitasking, were completed with an overall score of 138. This is much lower than I would have expected for this processor under normal circumstances, but it’s not too surprising given the G20CB’s compact dimensions. The processor reached its maximum allowed temperature of 71 degrees almost instantly, meaning it wasn’t, at any stage, able to run at its fastest speed, remaining at around 3.6GHz for most of the benchmarking process.

And while it would be easy to forgive the G20CB’s performance on account of its small size, it’s nonetheless a waste of this processor’s potential, as well as money down the drain for consumers if it can never reach the speeds it’s designed for.

The graphics card also suffered under load. The G20CB is supplied with a 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970, but prying open the chassis on the review unit revealed the card’s fan was partially obstructed by some supporting struts, reducing its overall cooling potential. It showed in the benchmarks. A score of 114fps in Dirt: Showdown with Ultra settings enabled at 1,920 x 1,080 isn’t too far off the Mesh Elite’s 129fps in the same test, but the 35fps I saw in Metro: Last Light with Ultra settings enabled and 4x SSAA (super-sampled anti-aliasing) was well short of what I’d normally expect of this card.

The PC isn’t obnoxiously loud under load, but you’ll definitely know it’s there when you’re playing games. It gets pretty hot, too. If you’re going to place it under your TV, leave plenty of room behind and around it to allow the hot air to dissipate.

Storage is supplied by a 128GB HGST-branded SSD, which achieved an unremarkable sequential read speed of 487MB/sec in the AS SSD benchmark, while a score of 177MB/sec in the write test was, again, mediocre. There’s also a 2TB hard disk for bulk file storage. Upgradability, meanwhile, is very limited. This custom chassis is extremely difficult to work on and any upgrades will come at the expense of a pre-existing component.

Asus ROG G20CB: Verdict

Ultimately, the Asus ROG G20CB is a disappointing effort at a compact gaming PC, with high-spec components struggling to reach their potential thanks to cooling that doesn’t quite hit the mark.

It’s one of my favourite PCs to look at, but sadly that isn’t enough. Even if it was able to keep up with the competition in terms of performance, its price is prohibitively high, making it a very hard PC to recommend. A version with mid-range components – a Core i5 and GTX 960, for example – would make far more sense, and would cost less, but alas that option isn’t yet available.

Further reading: Your guide to the slimmest, lightest and most powerful laptops of 2016

Asus RoG G20B specifications
Processor	Quad-core 3.4Ghz Intel Core i7-6700
Processor socket	LGA1151
RAM	16GB
Memory type	DDR4
Maximum memory	32GB
Motherboard	Not stated
Motherboard chipset	Not stated
Front USB ports	2x USB3
Rear USB ports	4x USB3, 2x USB2
Other ports	None
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet
Case type	Mini-ITX
Case dimensions HxWxD	108x358x340mm
Memory slots (free)	2 (0)
Drive bays 2 1/2" (free)	1 (0)
Drive bays 3 1/2" (free)	1 (0)
Drive bays 5 1/4" (free)	1 slimline (0)
Total storage	128GB SSD, 2TB hard disk
Memory card reader	None
Optical drive type	DVD rewriter
Graphics card	4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Graphics/video ports	3x DisplayPort, 1x DVI, 1x HDMI
Sound card	Realtek HD Audio
Sound card outputs	6x 3.5mm
Keyboard	Asus U78K
Mouse	Asus U79M
Operating system	Windows 10 64-bit Home
Warranty	One year RTB
Price including delivery (inc VAT)	£1500
Part Code	G20CB