Desktop case, laptop computer chip? The Asus TUF T500 is a bizarre little gaming PC

Mini PCs are all the trend for the time being, cramming laptop computer elements right into a teeny-tiny house to provide you a desktop that’s low cost and highly effective, and at the least somewhat bit upgradeable. However with most of them counting on AMD APUs, their gaming is restricted. Are you able to make that setup work in a bigger desktop kind issue? Asus thinks you possibly can, and at Computex it’s sport to strive.

The TUF Gaming T500 appears to be like like a small-ish desktop tower, full with a clear window on the facet to point out off its elements. However whereas the pre-installed graphics card is clear (an RTX 5060 Ti on this model). Take a gander above it, and also you’ll see what appears to be like just like the smallest cooling setup ever on prime of its processor, instantly linked to a rear exhaust fan. It’s tiny as a result of that’s a laptop computer processor, an Intel Thirteenth-gen i5 or i7, relying on which model you purchase. It’s additionally soldered in place — this isn’t an ATX or mATX motherboard, it’s proprietary. That CPU is the one one which the desktop will ever have.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t any improve choices. With a desktop-style PCIe slot for the graphics card, two DDR5 SO-DIMM (laptop computer) RAM slots, a pair of M.2 gen 4 slots for storage, and even two SATA ports, you’ve received loads of choices for almost all the pieces besides the processor. And that additional house means cooling is far simpler and extra environment friendly than on any laptop computer or mini PC. You may even improve the wi-fi with one other M.2 card in case you like.

The TUF collection is Asus’ mid-range or price range gaming line, versus ROG. So the T500 is, nominally, mid-range by way of efficiency. However with a beginning value of $1300, it’s probably not hitting under many pre-built gaming desktops with out its restrictions. A bit of fast purchasing on PCPartPicker let me construct a considerably extra highly effective desktop from elements, with an upgradeable Thirteenth-gen Core i5, for on the similar stage…and that was even together with a wildly inflated RTX 5060 Ti value within the present market. And that’s the top-end possibility in response to the specs, I don’t assume you’ll get that card for $1300.

So like Adam on the ground at Computex, I’m skeptical of to whom this gaming PC will truly enchantment. Granted, there are a lot who simply need to play and aren’t all that involved about what’s underneath the metaphorical hood…even in case you can see by way of this one. However I nonetheless assume it wants to supply a greater worth compromise if it’s going to face out from different pre-built designs.

For extra on the most recent PC gaming {hardware}, you’ll want to subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube, and take a look at our weekly podcast The Full Nerd.