ASUS’ Republic of Gamers G20 mini-PC Sports Standout Aesthetics, Lots of Features

One of the greatest benefits of the advancement of technology is that our small devices and components continue to become more powerful and efficient with every new generation. That’s as true for our PC hardware as it is our smartphones and tablets. At this point, we’ve come far enough along where a company like ASUS can create a small form-factor PC and slap a gaming logo on it – and mean it. Case-in-point: The Republic of Gamers G20.

It sure looks like an RoG offering, doesn’t it? With its aggressive lines and Mayan-inspired markings – and not to mention customizable LED lighting – the G20 is definitely a PC that’ll stand out in a crowd. But looks are not all that matter, and that’s fine: The G20 brings other goods with it to the table.

In “Eco Energy” mode, the G20 can idle at just 10W while utilizing Intel’s Ready Mode technology, which would be perfect for when you want to use it as a home server; otherwise, it’ll run at about 20W idle. Despite its small frame, the G20 will run at much lower than normal ambient noise-levels; about 22dBA.

ASUS says that its G20 is capable of handling games at up to 1440p, but that assumes that you’re going with the more expensive $1,179 model which includes NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 760. While that card isn’t particularly “high-end”, our previous testing of the card showed us that it can handle anything at 1080p with great detail, and 1440p at 60 FPS when settings are scaled-back a little bit. For a mini-ITX PC, that kind of performance is nothing short of awesome.

Also available in that $1,179 model is a quad-core Intel Core i7-4790, 8GB of DDR3, a 1TB hard drive, a 1TB hybrid SSD (8GB NAND), 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and something I didn’t expect: An optical drive. The $699 model includes much of the same internals, except it swaps the GTX 760 with a much slower GTX 745 and the i7-4790 with a dual-core i3-4150.

As seen in the shot above, ASUS offers a total of 6 USB ports (two of which are 3.0), Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI (one internal, the other on the discrete GPU), dual DVI, DisplayPort, and also a full set of audio jacks. If you peer really hard into the image, you might also be able to see that the G20 includes Windows 8.1. That keyboard and mouse seen below? Also included.

Not seen in any of these shots is the ability to adjust the LED lighting that bleeds through the front and bottom. You’re able to choose pretty much any color possible, and as you’d expect, that’s all done with ASUS’ homebrewed software. Also bundled in with the PC is ASUS software designed to customize your gaming experience from an audio and LAN standpoint.

I don’t think the G20’s styling will be for everyone, but it definitely appeals to me. This could either be a killer PC to lug around to different LAN parties, or to use as a primary desktop when you appreciate not only cool designs, but cool operation and lower noise.