Asus Republic of Gamers series has delivered some high-octane performers in the past and recently it launched the ROG G20CB which could be termed as a future-proof gaming PC. The compact tower shaped Asus PC features top of the line specification under the hood which is second to none on paper. To give a complete picture, we have been living with the gaming PC for some time now and here’s the Asus ROG G20CB Review or so to say what we think about you buying this gaming computer.
Out of the box, the G20CB looks stunning. For a ROG product, the looks and specs were expected to be impressive, and the G20CB doesn’t disappoint. The exterior of the tower is designed to look like 2 halves joined by a red strip. The design takes a techno-designer-grill look on the front, top, and bottom. On close examination, we found that the design was not just for aesthetic reasons but it serves to reduce the noise output by the tower. Moreover, the cabinet is lined with RGB LED customizable lights on the front panel that continuously change colors to add to the aesthetics of this gaming machine.
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Frankly speaking, it is by far the quietest gaming tower we have seen. With such high specifications, the device is supposed to either sound like it’s from hell or heat-up like it. We found it to run cool and silent even through heavy stress tests.
Apart from the beautiful design, the tower contains all required ports and devices that other gaming towers may contain. Keeping the size small was a good (and certainly difficult) design decision, but including all required ports and drives along with it is an added bonus.
The array of components cased in the compact gaming cabinet includes a 256GB M2 SSD, 3TB storage drive, NVidia GTX 1080 GPU, a Blu-ray optical drive, 32 Gigs of DDR4 RAM at 2133Mhz, and an overclockable Intel Core i7-6700 Processor running at 3.4Ghz. For connectivity, it includes Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11ac modem which theoretically is capable of trans-receiving data at 166 megabytes per second.
The back panel of the device is designed to bare the motherboard ports, but why the motherboard HDMI interface was left open is something that had us scratch our brains (ultimately we were distracted by the games we had on the device). From top to bottom, the back panel has 2x USB3.1, 2x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0 ports, along with RJ45 for Ethernet and the usual array of speaker ports followed by the HDMI port on the motherboard.
The bottom half of the back panel is left open for the ports on the Graphics card to be accessible. The NVidia GTX 1080 GPU has a multitude of outputs ports, namely HDMI and Display Ports, and lacks no issue with connectivity.
The time when the power brick was designed seems to us as the time when Asus decided to change the designer. It is a huge disappointment when considered for its design value. It’s designed to take 2 power inputs, both from an AC power sockets, and provide 2 different outputs at 180W and 230W. The dual power brick setup is cased in a plastic caddy.
The power outlets are separately used in the PC, one for the graphics card and the other for the rest of the PC. It is worth mentioning that the 180W power output is designed to be the exact amount of power input that the GTX requires for its functioning.
When we were done with adoring the beautiful design, we wasted no more time in any other tasks. Within minutes we installed Steam and some of our favorite games to take this baby for a test run. We ran the configuration at 1080p at the highest settings possible in all the games that we played. The average FPS throughout all games was in the 80s and the minimum encountered within a game was 57. With details like this, we don’t think we need to mention the maximum FPS, but for spec sheet enthusiasts, it was 147.
The PC chewed through all the physics and environment development we threw at it in games like Batman Origins, Far Cry 4, The Witcher 3 and DOTA2 (sorry people who prefer first-person shooters, we did not have enough patience to run Counter Strike GO and haggle through the process, only to end up losing the match with a crappy team on our side).
I was amazed at the level of detail that was obtained with the dedicated NVidia GTX 1080 graphics. The experience of gaming was splendid, with such detailed environment and gaming scenarios. Half the time I found myself admiring the game graphics than playing the actual games.
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After the test run (which lasted 2 mini quests in Witcher 3, one boss fight in Batman, one mission in Far Cry and multiple games of DOTA2), we finally decided to run benchmarks. The device was taken through rigorous tests on 3DMark, Unigine Valley, Unigine Heaven, Novabench, and GeekBench.
After we were done with the benchmarks, we decided to stress test the device using Firestrike in 3DMark. This is when the cabinet heated up to a noticeable level. By noticeable level, we mean that the device showed an 85°C on the temperature scale. The scores of all the tests run on the device are shown in the images below.
The upgrading of individual components is difficult but not impossible. The paneling can be pried open and the components can be upgraded, not that it is necessary for the near future.
In conclusion, all I can say it is an amazingly complete gaming rig (yes that’s what I am going to call it, even though it’s small enough to fit in my backpack). The tower is as silent as a stone and very powerful. It looks nice on a desk and is designed to captivate even the most unnoticing eye. With the RGB lighting, its looks even more beautiful in the dark.
The power adapter could have been more compact, so could the integrated software that controls the panel lighting, but as long as it serves its purpose, these issues can be overlooked. We did miss the presence of a USB Type-C port, but the presence of 2 USB3.1 ports was an unexpected treat.
Personally, I would say at Rs. 1.86 lakhs, it’s a bang for its buck. A complete gaming PC in such a small and designer casing, without compromising on any feature is a marvelous achievement, hence the price tag is justified in all senses.
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Pros:
- Beautiful design
- Superior gaming performance
- VR gaming supported
- Runs without noise
Cons:
- Dual power Adapters
- Average Keyboard and mice
