It's been a month since ASUS Malaysia announced the availability of the ASUS ROG GR8 Gaming Console PC, one of ASUS's Epic Gaming Equipment introduced during Computex 2014 held in Taipei, Taiwan. A huge thanks to ASUS Malaysia for their awesome support, we have the ASUS ROG GR8 here at our lab for today's review.
The ASUS ROG GR8 is a console-inspired gaming PC with an Intel® Core™ i7 4510U processor and NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750Ti graphics for Full HD gaming. It features up to 16GB DDR3L memory, a hard disk drive or high-speed solid state drive, built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and comes preinstalled with Windows 8. ROG GR8 also has a built-in Miracast receiver and special slide-off covers for easy access to the 2.5-inch drive expansion bay and SO-DIMM memory slots for quick upgrades. Ideal for bedrooms, living rooms and LAN parties, the GR8 has a matte-black finish with Mayan-inspired detailing, and a pulsing illuminated ROG logo.
Technical Specifications
Model Name | ASUS ROG GR8 |
Operating System | Windows 8.1 |
Processor | Intel Core i7 4510U |
Chipset | Integrated |
Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX750Ti 2GB Intel HD Graphics 4400 |
Memory | 8GB (Support up to 16GB) Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz 2 x SO-DIMM |
Storage | 2.5" 500GB up to 1TB SATA 6Gb/s HDD 2.5" 128GB up to 256GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD 2.5" x 1 extension bayt for additional HDD/SSD |
Wireless Data Network | Built-in Miracast Receiver, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
LAN | Intel Ethernet 10/100/1000/Gigabits Mbps |
Audio | ROG SupremeFX Audio High Definition 5.1 Channel Audio Sonic SoundStage/ Sonic Sense Amp/ Sonic Radar II DTS Connect |
Front I/O Ports | 1 x Headphone 1 x Microphone 2 x USB 2.0 |
Back I/O Ports | 4 x USB 3.0 1 x HDMI 1 x RJ45 LAN 1 x Kensington Lock 1 x DC-in 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 1 x Display Port 3 x Audio Jacks ( Line in/Mic in/Speaker out) |
Power Supply | 120W Power Adapter |
Dimension | 60mm x 245mm x 238mm |
Weight | 1.284 kg |
Accessories | Keyboard-Mouse (Optional), Wired, USB 2.0 AC Adapter Power Cord Warranty Card User Manual Quick Start Guide *All accessories may vary in different market |
Software | Adobe Acrobat Reader ASUS WebStorage Kaspersky Anti-Virus (1 year full license) Office 2013 Trial Windows Live Steam *Software may vary in different market |
Utilities | AI Suite 3 ASUS HomeCloud with Wi-Fi GO! |
Certificates | BSMI/CB/CE/FCC/Energy Star/C-Tick/VCCI |
Note | 1:1 x USB 2.0 at front supports USB Charger function |
The GR8
The ROG GR8 Gaming Console PC, stunning appearance it has. Compact sized machine alright, but how compact can it be?
A quick size comparison with Apple iPad 4, small and easy to carry around - the perfect LAN Party machine yet?
Powered with the Intel Core i7 4510U, ultra low voltage dual core processor with Intel HD 4400 graphics designed for ultrabooks. Each core has a base clock speed of 2.0 GHz and capable of 3.1 GHz with the Intel Turbo Boost Technology.
Thanks to the low power consuming Intel i7 4510U and NVIDIA GTX 750Ti, all it need is a 120W power adapter.
The iconic ROG logo on the other side.
The ROG GR8 comes shipped with 1TB storage and 8GB memory, but there's still headroom for some upgrade. Removing the side panel reveals the 2.5" drive and memory expansion slot for a limited upgrade on memory and storage.
It supports one more 2.5" HDD /SSD and SO-DIMM memory up to 16GB.
On GR8 front panel, you'll find:
USB Charger support on the front USB port lets you charge devices twice as fast, even with the PC off or in hibernate mode.
At the rear I/O panel:
There's nothing much to mention for the bottom part but here's the ventilation grill for air intake.
- Power button
- Miracast receiver button
- Audio jacks (headphone & microphone)
- 2 x USB 2.0 port
USB Charger support on the front USB port lets you charge devices twice as fast, even with the PC off or in hibernate mode.
At the rear I/O panel:
- 1 x Kensington Lock
- 1 x DC-in
- 4 x USB 3.0
- 1 x RJ45 LAN
- 1 x Display
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x Optical S/PDIF out
- 3 x Audio Jack(s) (Line in/Mic in/Speaker out)
There's nothing much to mention for the bottom part but here's the ventilation grill for air intake.
Heat generated by the internet components is removed through the ventilation grill located on the top of the GR8 unit.
Bundled Gaming Peripherals
Just like a gaming console would have, the ROG GR8 has its own controller as well. Featuring the bundled gaming peripherals; the ROG Gladius optical mouse and M801 mechanical keyboard!
Both ships with gold plated USB connector that is less susceptible to oxidation compared to normal USB connectors.
The braided cables gives the pair a more premium feel in overall.
The cables of both are detachable for the convenience of those who travels a lot.
M801 Mechanical Keyboard
The M801 mechanical keyboard is comes in the form a tenkeyless keyboard.
Instead of the common Cherry MX switches, the M801 uses the imitated switches from Kailh which has shown improvement in build quality over the years since its first appearance on the Rapoo V500 mechanical keyboard. Unlike the Cherry MX red with 45g actuation force, Kailh red requires 50g actuation force.
Longer keycaps like spacebar uses metal wire stabilizer that resembles the Costar made stabilizer but from what we can see here, the metal wire appears to be thinner and touching against the switch which largely affected the overall experience.
Cable routing path at the bottom gives you the option to route the cable to your preferred side.
Large rubber feet helps to keep the keyboard in place during heated up gaming session.
ROG Gladius Optical Gaming Mice
ROG Gladius gaming mice is the first of its kind that offers easy to swap omron switches, putting an end to the disastrous double clicking issue once and for all.
Specially crafted for right-handed users for better grip, leading to better overall gaming experience.
Mayan inspired detailing rubber grip to represent the ROG epic gaming equipment can be found on both sides of the gaming mice.
The ROG logo at the back of the ROG Gladius with internal pulsating glow.
Featuring the Avago S3988 optical sensor capable of 6400 dpi and 4 large teflon mouse glide for smooth gliding experience.
Both M801 and Gladius has what's best to represent ASUS ROG's traditional color scheme, red LED on black peripherals.
Add-ons
Aside of the commonly known AI Suite III, ASUS HomeCloud and USB Charger which can be seen on most ASUS motherboards, the ROG GR8 comes with a few little extras that might come in handy in the future - Kaspersky Anti Virus 1 year full license (worth $39.95) and 100GB worth of ASUS WebStorage (worth $22.99).
Cooling Performance
The ROG GR8 has its cooling performance put to the test with synthetic stress test followed by a whole lot of gaming, under ambient temperature of 32°C. For those of you who are still in doubt with its cooling performance, you can now leave all the worries behind as the data we've collected here show no signs of overheating albeit the temperature does seems a little bit too warm to our liking.
Gaming Performance
We gave the ROG GR8 a run with several graphically demanding games followed by synthetic benchmark on 1920 x 1080 with 4xAA and it turns out that the ROG GR8 manage to keep the frames at the level where these games is still considered as playable under the frame per second (FPS).
It's undeniable that the numbers doesn't seems favorable to many due to the fact that the GPU contained in the ROG GR8 is an entry level GPU for gaming, but it's one really capable entry level GPU just like the ASUS GTX 750 PH OC that we've previously reviewed.
Verdict
Games that we've tested on the ASUS ROG GR8 is considered playable on high settings given that the NVIDIA GTX750 Ti itself to be a very capable entry level gaming graphics card and it’s up there with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but with the added flexibility of the PC.
Despite of its compact design, the ASUS ROG GR8 has no issue with its cooling performance as we've tried stressing the system with synthetic stress test and no overheating issue is observed. The upgradability is somewhat limited, but you'll still be able to add on another 2.5" HDD/SSD and SO-DIMM memory of up to 16GB.
RM3499 is a price that will ward off many but if your priority is on the mobility, we'd say that the ASUS ROG GR8 will be a worthy asset to invest on - most games will do well on medium settings as we've already tested it with some of the graphically demanding games that did fairly well on high settings. What's more, the ASUS ROG GR8 is bundled with freebies such as Kaspersky Anti-Virus 1 year full license, 100GB ASUS WebStorage for an entire year, ROG Gladius gaming mouse, M801 mechanical keyboard that will cost you a few more hundred bucks if purchased individually.
Pros
- Very portable
- Low power consumption
- Lots of USB ports
- Built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi
- Bundled with ROG Gladius gaming mouse and M801 mechanical keyboard
- Decent cooling performance
- Decent gaming performance
- Upgradable memory and 2.5" drives
Cons
- Costly
- CPU and GPU cannot be upgraded
- Video output is limited to HDMI and Display Port only
- Design issue of the metalwire stabilizer on the M801 keyboard that touches against the switch
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