Asus is trying to do the unthinkable: breaching the gap between gaming consoles and PC to be the best of both worlds. They are achieving this by taking the specs of a hardcore gaming PC and will fit all of that hardware to a casing that is so small, it’s similar to an Xbox and Playstation. It’s one unbelievable innovation.
The looks of the GR8 is very similar to a gaming console. It has headset jacks, and a pair of USB 2.0 ports on the lower front while the power button and the Miracast button that can act as a receiver for media that you will stream from your smartphone or tablet to your TV are located on the upper side. At the back of this rig, you’ll find the audio out, audio in, microphone jack, S/PDIF (Toslink), an HDMI, a DisplayPort, an Ethernet port, and 4 USB 3.0 ports.
The system is packed with a built in WiFi adapter and uses an external 19V power supply which for me, is a bit too large when you compare to the cpu itself. The rig is very fascinating and pleasing to the eye because of its red body with sick angular edges that makes it look like a beast even when you are not turning it on.
You will have the option of bundling the rig with a mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse, both of which are wired. Asus should have packed it with wireless input devices and a gaming controller for maximum awesomeness, in my honest opinion. But hey, the ones bundled with it will not disappoint you as it is made for gaming.
Now here comes the juicy part. How well does the GR8 goes when it comes to gaming? Well, you would not be disappointed. Playing games works exactly as well as you would expect when you have a gaming rig that is packed with an Intel Core i7 working hand in hand with an Nvidia GTX 750Ti. This kind of set up is not the best and will not play every games available on ultra settings but rest assured that everything will be playable on the right image quality. Playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare gave me a satisfying 70fps on average. Here are the benchmark scores:
During heavy usage, you will hear the cooling fan working but you would not be irritated to its noise. Asus promised that you would not call the GR8 noisy and they sticked to their words. You will barely hear the rig running unless you put your ear directly to its case.
Aesthetics wise, the you would drool when you look at the GR8, you will be fascinated to its innovative size and body. The GR8 is a well performing system that can play most of the latest games at high image quality settings. The price can be a bit much higher to rigs that has the same specifications but when you realized that you paid for the efficient size and quality, it would be worth it.
