Asus ROG GR8 II 4-litre gaming PC announced

[HEXUS]

Updated GR8 II model features Kaby Lake Intel i5/i7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU.

Read more.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

"Asus customised GTX1060" - what does that mean??

I assume the system can take a normal sized PCI-E card as an upgrade?? Or is it some MXM card used??

[jigger]

Nowhere near enough RGB on this. Not only that Asus are still using gen 1 RGB! Come on Asus it's 2017.

[kompukare]

"Asus customised GTX1060" - what does that mean??
I assume the system can take a normal sized PCI-E card as an upgrade?? Or is it some MXM card used??

Worse than that if my image search is accurate. Kitguru review v1:
http://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/le...rs-gr8-review/
Looks like a laptop/AiO type thing with no expansion aside from HDD, 2.5" HDD and RAM. One heatpipe cooling both the CPU and GPU.

[jim]

The original GR8 was a laptop design as I recall. It even used two laptop-style power bricks to run it, which didn't look great.

Thankfully, it looks like ASUS have fixed that.

Effectively, it's from the Steam machine way of thinking - i.e. a console for people who want to play PC games. In that regard, I think it's a really nice product, but obviously won't get much love on a forum where people build their own PCs!

[scaryjim]

... I assume the system can take a normal sized PCI-E card as an upgrade?? Or is it some MXM card used??

One look at the chassis pictures in the article should disavow you of that notion - there clearly isn't a standard expansion slot there. It's a micro-PC; it's not designed to be upgradable - as jim said, think of it more like a Windows 10 console: it's aimed at the majority of people who buy a PC, plug it in, then don't think about it for 5 years. It's definitely not aimed at the enthusiast crowd who love to tinker and upgrade.

[3s-gtech]

Looking at the new product page, the display outputs aren't on the mainboard any more. If you look at the Game Cool, Play Silent section of https://www.asus.com/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-GR8-II/ you see what looks like a discrete card. It's missing a display output where you'd expect one which makes the bracket look too short. The rest of the page doesn't mention upgradeability of the GPU, but it does mention to storage. I suspect it is discrete and can be upgraded with a little gentle modding. Would be much cheaper for them to build rather than build a custom motherboard.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

One look at the chassis pictures in the article should disavow you of that notion - there clearly isn't a standard expansion slot there. It's a micro-PC; it's not designed to be upgradable - as jim said, think of it more like a Windows 10 console: it's aimed at the majority of people who buy a PC, plug it in, then don't think about it for 5 years. It's definitely not aimed at the enthusiast crowd who love to tinker and upgrade.

Meh,so you might as well get a PS4 PRO then,since paying £950 for a PC with a non-upgradeable GTX1060 3GB seems rather expensive. For that sort of money you would expect at least a GTX1060 6GB.

Edit!!

You can get a PS4 PRO for £350 and that has a downclocked RX480 too. £600 will get you a nice TV,or a cheaper £250 TV and a £350 Playstation VR bundle for the same price.

[cptwhite_uk]

Didn't they just announce a very similar PC, cheaper, lighter (2.25Kg vs 4Kg) and same specs for $800?

http://hexus.net/tech/news/systems/100996-asus-vivo-pc-x-compact-pc-vr-gaming/

[scaryjim]

... If you look at the Game Cool, Play Silent section of https://www.asus.com/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-GR8-II/ you see what looks like a discrete card. ....

It certainly looks like a big fat blower cooler, but if you look just above the "GPU" in that picture it appears to have a custom connector. The best case scenario would be a ribbon connector that has a conventional PCIe x16 at one end and whatever custom connector the mobo needs at the other, and even then you'd have to at least remove the back bracket and potentially mod the outputs (given it has only one row). But my money would be on the card having a custom connector also...

EDIT for cptwhite's crosspost:

The two are certainly quite similar, although the VivoPC X seems to be limited to Kaby Lake i5 processors, and the outputs on offer seem to differ too (e.g. the GR8 2 has optical SPDIF and USB type C, which the VivoPC X seems to lack). Plus, the GR8 II has that awesome gamer styling - that's got to be a worth a few extra bucks, right?

I suspect there might be a spec difference in the GPUs too, although it wouldn't surprise me if they were base don the same custom model, looking at the IO section layout for the two boxes...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It certainly looks like a big fat blower cooler, but if you look just above the "GPU" in that picture it appears to have a custom connector. The best case scenario would be a ribbon connector that has a conventional PCIe x16 at one end and whatever custom connector the mobo needs at the other, and even then you'd have to at least remove the back bracket and potentially mod the outputs (given it has only one row). But my money would be on the card having a custom connector also...

But its not worth £600 over a PS4 PRO,and once the XBox Scorpio is out its probably still going to cost less than it and blow its back doors off.

It defeats one of the main advantages of a PC if you make it non-upgradeable. It would not surprise me if you could have BOTH a PS4 PRO and XBox Scorpio for less than the price of the system in the OP.

I mean you could get both a PS4 PRO and a desktop gaming PC with a GTX1060 3GB for the same price(or slightly more):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-PlaySt.../dp/B01GVQVL0Y
http://www.ebuyer.com/762139-pc-spec...c-pcs-d1135873

[qasdfdsaq]

Meh. You can get faster CPUs and GPUs in laptops smaller and lighter than this, and VR-ready laptops that are half the size. Granted they'll probably cost more, but it makes the size claims pretty much spurious.

[HW90]

Didn't they just announce a very similar PC, cheaper, lighter (2.25Kg vs 4Kg) and same specs for $800?

http://hexus.net/tech/news/systems/100996-asus-vivo-pc-x-compact-pc-vr-gaming/

The Vivo PC X is lighter but has a larger volume and is based on mobile tech, it's also not ROG branded.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

So basically most of these new SFF desktops are glorified laptops in a small desktop case. So once the graphics card runs out of Steam() you might as well throw them away as gaming PCs.

But at least it has a Core i7,right?? :EPIC FACEPALM:

[jim]

But its not worth £600 over a PS4 PRO,and once the XBox Scorpio is out its probably still going to cost less than it and blow its back doors off.

It defeats one of the main advantages of a PC if you make it non-upgradeable. It would not surprise me if you could have BOTH a PS4 PRO and XBox Scorpio for less than the price of the system in the OP.

I mean you could get both a PS4 PRO and a desktop gaming PC with a GTX1060 3GB for the same price(or slightly more):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-PlaySt.../dp/B01GVQVL0Y
http://www.ebuyer.com/762139-pc-spec...c-pcs-d1135873

Thing is, it's not really competing with actual games consoles. There are plenty of people out there who want the console experience, but specifically want a PC.

A lot of that is down to YouTube and more recently Twitch, with games like Minecraft bringing in a new generation of PC gamers.

As you've pointed out, it does sound absurd, but there's a market out there for this kind of thing.

[HW90]

So basically most of these new SFF desktops are glorified laptops in a small desktop case. So once the graphics card runs out of Steam() you might as well throw them away as gaming PCs.

But at least it has a Core i7,right?? :EPIC FACEPALM:

It's the price for the small size, it's not like previous upgradeable SFF machines were anywhere near as small as this.