Asus ROG GR8 II

[HEXUS]

Can a PC replace your games console?

Read more.

[scaryjim]

So it's a small, noisy PC that's adequate for 1080p gaming, and in the UK will cost almost £1000 despite having a weaker CPU and storage solution?

I'm ... well, gob-smacked, frankly. I know you're always going to pay a bit of a premium for cramming lots of hardware into a small space, but you can get a 1080p gaming laptop with an i7 HQ, a 6GB GTX 1060 and a boot SSD + storage 1TB HDD for ~ £1200... in other words, basically the same price once you add a monitor and peripherals to the GR8 II

I love the idea of this, but the implementation & pricing just isn't right...

EDIT:

Hmm, just had a browse of ebuyer, and now thinking maybe I've been too harsh - the core elements of the base UK spec - i5 7400, 8GB DDR4-2400, GTX 1060 3GB, supporting motherboard - come to £570 on their own, sourcing cheapest manufacturer for each. Throw in a case, decent PSU, Windows license, wifi/bluetooth module ... you could easily be up to £800 for an equivalent PC. The pricing is still on the high side, but not as ridiculous as it first appeared....

[el_tone]

I see they have taken their styling cues from the stealth fighter school of design, rather than the more understated look of the ps4.

[Kato-2]

scaryjim is right, implementation is way off.

People buy consoles because of the following
* physical media (a very big reason)
* ease of use
* costs under $/£ 500 (really 400 is more accurate)
* lower noise output

This machine fails in all 4 console categories.

Plus if your not wedded to Steam then Microsoft's Xbox Anywhere system offers a far superior solution allowing you to play games on Win10 PC then transfer over to the actual Xbox console, no need for a PC trying to be a console. It's a really slick system that works well and MS are pushing more publishers to make Xbox Anywhere versions.

If you are anti Microsoft Steam only person just buy a good laptop and use that plugged into TV, at least it has more use than a console PC or buy a Nintendo Switch/Playstation to scratch that console itch.

[Sixiepoo]

The sub title is "Can a PC replace your games console?" well the answer is YES, however it will never replace the pricepoint of a console anytime soon, so it will never be competitive against console.

but as for me... im a PC Gamer

[Corky34]

Is it just me who thinks it's odd to ask if a PC can replace your games console and then not compare it with a console, yes i know using tests to compare a PC with a consoles would be difficult because of the closed nature of consoles and Windows store games but i was a little disappointed to not see a single crossplay game.

[scaryjim]

Is it just me who thinks it's odd to ask if a PC can replace your games console and then not compare it with a console ....

I thought it was odd to ask the question in the first place, knowing that there's no meaningful way to make the comparison

The problem is, we know PCs play games, and we know that PC hardware is massively more powerful than console hardware. So if you consider the games console purely on the grounds of "you can play games on it", the PC is bound to come out on top - unless there's a console exclusive game you simply *must* play. Even when you start shrinking everything down to tiny little desktop cases, there's still plenty of scope for packing in enough hardware to easily outpower a console.

On a more interesting level, though, modern games consoles are far more than just gaming machines - they're an app platform; internet connected; media capable ... so perhaps there's actually a more interesting question in whether a games console can replace your PC? If your primary uses for a PC are writing emails, watching you tube videos and playing games, maybe it could...?

[Rubarb]

I kind'a think ROG is turning into the alienware, Butt ugly computers that cost too much.
don't get me wrong motherboards briliant... as long as you like the colour, everything else they seem to label ROG tho.... just a money trap

[outwar6010]

Nope just nope.

[Corky34]

I thought it was odd to ask the question in the first place, knowing that there's no meaningful way to make the comparison

Yea i agree, however once the question was asked i was expecting some attempt to answer it, either subjectively or possibly objectively.

Speaking of no meaningful way to make a comparison, and not knowing what's available in the way apps for the Xbox, is there anything on it that allows for measurement of performance? Something like FRAPS.

[wazzickle]

This doesn't interest me in the slightest, but I'd be well up for a new 'living room gaming console' form factor that gives some modular usage of daughterboards and so on in order to improve the chances of the pc successfully taking down the console.

[royo]

This will work out for some folks that don't want to build their own solutions, but the noise will annoy even those users.

[Strawb77]

I kind'a think ROG is turning into the alienware, Butt ugly computers that cost too much.
don't get me wrong motherboards briliant... as long as you like the colour, everything else they seem to label ROG tho.... just a money trap

soon as you see ROG you know it means your gonna PAY