As far as gaming desktops go, the brand new ASUS ROG STRIX GL10CS is an nearly pure suggestion exterior of 1 deadly flaw.
ROG could also be identified for going all out, however the for-gamers-by-gamers model has by no means shied away from extra conservative {hardware}. Amongst the blinding RGBs and intense gamer high-ends, the corporate has all the time identified easy methods to please a budget-friendly PC gamer. Sometimes, that’s by way of decrease funds equipment, different instances it’s by way of superior mid-range builds.
The ASUS ROG STRIX GL10CS is strictly that: a elegant mid-range expertise that isn’t designed to rock your socks off, however it’s as an alternative strong sufficient to hold you thru above-console high quality efficiency for years to come back. Unsurprisingly, the ROG engineers have developed a system that manages to crank out efficiency nicely sufficient for such a modest machine.
While theASUS ROG STRIX GL10CS does embrace the corporate’s plain adoration for the wonders of RGB lighting, the rainbow strip alongside the system’s smooth matte-black case is extra conservative than different gaming PCs. Even in comparison with earlier ROG merchandise, and even present cell ones, it’s a stark distinction. Yes, everybody will know that your rig is suitably gamerfied, however they received’t suppose you’re making an attempt too exhausting.
Outside of its slight gamer aesthetic, ROG’s delicate desktop its remarkably sensible. The assortment of built-in IO isn’t precisely spectacular, however you’d be shocked on the variety of PCs that fail to incorporate such apparent ports. Two HDMI ports, one for GPU and one other for the motherboard, attend alongside a singular show port and a DVI-D port. There’s an Ethernet port, thank God, and full audio capabilities.
This appears to be ROG’s purpose with the pre-built rig: nothing right here is overly fashionable or balls-to-the-wall excessive, however they handle to really feel comfy. The similar goes for the internals: a GTX 1660Ti powers the graphics that means crisp high-resolution visuals that can actually maintain you in high-to-medium settings for the foreseeable future. A ninth-generation i5-9500f powers the system, a formidable low-power chip. No matter what we chucked on the system – Kingdom Come Deliverance, Gears 5, CS:GO, and extra – each sport carried out nicely over 60fps. Complete with a 1TB HDD and a 128GB SSD, you’ll actually be capable to retailer numerous video games, too.
Unfortunately, whereas lots of the system’s internals do carry out nicely, that doesn’t assist the ASUS ROG 2 from being a moderately loud machine. Cooled by way of a thermal design that includes two remoted air chambers, the system does maintain remarkably cool. Even throughout intense stress, like a Cinebench run or a CPU-Z benchmark, the ASUS ROG GL10CS solely ever blew out chilly air. It’s a formidable cooling resolution that all the time makes positive your system isn’t throttling, however it positive is loud.
With a formidable cooling resolution, Asus’ engineers have created a system that refuses to thermal throttle.
With all of those constructive components, one would suppose that ROG’s latest system is a hands-down suggestion. That’s not the case. While the spectacular cooling and acceptable specs permit for an nearly magical system, ROG’s system does fail in a single key space: a tiny pool of 8GB of RAM. With the next-generation coming in full swing and with present era titles asking for greater than 8GB, ASUS’ system does fall far behind. For an £850 pricetag on the time of writing, 8GB of DDR4 RAM simply doesn’t reduce it.
For it’s pricetag, the ASUS ROG GL10CS is a strong choose. While lots of its internals do impress, a shallow RAM pool for the upcoming years of gaming does put a damper on its in any other case nice gaming efficiency. For £850, this can be a strong gaming desktop; with only a few tweaks this may very well be one thing really nice.
