Asus ROG Strix GL12CX - Review 2022

Similar many spendy gaming desktops, the ROG Strix GL12CX (starts at $3,299.99; $three,799.99 as tested) is all-out racked and stacked for folks who take their play very seriously. With this rig, however, Asus targets the most enthusiastic of that lot: professional person (or aspiring) esports players. While this jacked-upwards PC will please any gamer by powering through games at tip-top settings, its design and feature set up target those seeking to maximize speed as much as tote-around convenience. That dual focus levies a price premium, only yous do get gaming prowess past the bucket: The GL12CX serves every bit our first look at Intel's spanking-new Core i9-9900K processor, and it packs a fresh Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics bill of fare, too—taken together, a mouthwatering proposition for anyone. If the machine's expect and design don't grab you, simply you accept a large budget, high-end configurable options such as the Origin PC Neuron and Velocity Micro Raptor Z55 may pack more punch.

Esports Focused, for Better and Worse

Dissimilar some desktops chock with power, the ROG Strix GL12CX is on the compact side, at 18 by 7 by 15.7 inches (HWD). The speediest machines often accept the bulk to match; witness the XXL-size Acer Predator Orion 9000, or the slightly downsized Velocity Micro Raptor Z55. The ROG Strix is not truly minor-form-factor, like one of Falcon Northwest's Tiki or MSI's Trident machines, but more in line with manageable systems like the Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop or the Lenovo Legion Y520 Tower. The Alienware Area-51 Threadripper Edition is, well, a pattern that's almost all on its own.

The tower is a mix of materials. The front face and top are plastic, while the side panels and rear are metallic, which makes the chassis surprisingly heavy, at 24.3 pounds. The front end console has a somewhat busy design, with a crisscrossing line pattern on the bottom and a plainer pinnacle half accented by customizable LED strips. A magnetic detachable plate covers the height portion of the front face, hiding an optical bulldoze and a hot-swap SSD bay. When you're not using these, or when y'all're done accessing them, you lot can snap the embrace right dorsum into place—which is good, since the chassis looks much nicer with it in place, covering the bay accesses.

The SSD bay is a curious characteristic for the average user, though I could come across a few niche uses for it. Co-ordinate to Asus' marketing materials, it is included specifically with professional esports players in mind. The bay is a small metal tray for a 2.5-inch difficult bulldoze or SSD; you lot drop in a bulldoze (no tools needed, though you can screw it downward, if you similar) and slide it right in or out the forepart of the case. No drive comes installed by default, just you could pull out the tray and swap in a new drive without opening the side panels. While the pros can use it, with a 2.v-inch SSD, to bring their profiles and settings with them betwixt booths at competitions, that scenario doesn't exist for most other folks. If you practise happen to have a different scenario that requires you to switch SSDs frequently, though, take eye: This was built only for you!

Within the case are much more standard (and useful) design touches. Getting within is easy plenty—either side console pulls away after y'all remove its two rear screws. Both panels are opaque metal past default, but Asus also includes an optional clear-plastic door for the left side so you tin meet into your system, if you like. There's good reason to practice this, because there'due south a small light prove going on within, and some overnice parts you might as well be able to see. It'due south non much of a tinkerer's case: Yes, you could swap out actually any of the components, since it's a not a bespoke system, but it'southward actually designed and pre-congenital to be plug-and-play.

That said, should y'all get tweaking inside, you lot won't notice much room to maneuver, but at to the lowest degree everything is tucked away neatly. A metal bar runs horizontally across the unabridged interior, serving every bit a stabilizing brace for the graphics card (important, given this example's intended luggability) and a holder for an LED strip that shines from its back edge onto the carte. A large black shroud covers the power supply and entire bottom portion of the instance, funneling cool air in from a dedicated front fan and out the rear, while hiding much of the cablevision mess. The residual of the case is cooled past another front fan, and a small rear fan.

The Core of the Thing

As for the components packed within, it's easy to see what drives this examination configuration's price close to 4 large. The centerpiece is the Core i9-9900K, Intel'south new flagship processor on its 9th Generation mainstream desktop CPU line. It's the get-go Cadre i9 chip that's role of the main consumer platform, non the enthusiast Cadre X-Serial family, which by itself may be enough to turn some heads.

Information technology'due south a killer chip for multithreaded applications, an eight-core, 16-thread CPU capable of boosting to upwards to 5GHz, a feature Intel is specifically touting as useful for gaming (and afterward going then far as to dub it the "world's best gaming processor"). It's beneficial not merely for gaming itself, simply for multi-taskers who may also exist streaming while playing or doing other CPU-intensive tasks.

Also worth noting: It's the only chip amid the initial 9th Generation Core releases supporting Hyper-Threading. With the launch of 9th Generation on the desktop, Intel removed that feature from the Core i7 and inserted it just at the Core i9 level, which may exit some shoppers disgruntled. For many more details on the flake and Intel's current lineup, read our deep-dive Core i9-9900K review. For how it performs in this particular organisation, I'll become into some specific benchmark numbers beneath. To go on it running absurd, a Libation Master MasterLiquid Pro 120mm closed-loop liquid cooler is installed, with a nifty clear embrace over the CPU oestrus sink. If yous're a hardware tweaker, you'll want liquid cooling on a system using this fleck; the reviewer of the Core i9 found that for any kind of ambitious overclocking, liquid was a big help.

Aslope the bit is the still-fresh Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card, an Asus version. While these new pieces of hardware may offer an only moderate upgrade for those already rocking a GeForce "Pascal" card, they are still downright powerful in their own right. (More on that beneath.) Asus also packed 32GB of DDR4 memory in our build, alongside a 512GB M.ii solid-state drive and a separate 2TB platter-based hard drive. The M.ii SSD is configured in unusual, Asus-specific fashion: Information technology'due south mounted vertically in what Asus calls a "DIMM.2" slot next to the memory slots, much like a stick of RAM. This vertical organisation makes it easier to access and helps the module run cooler. (Most of the time, M.2 SSDs get installed flat against the motherboard, and oftentimes in the shadow of a hot graphics card.) The housing for the DIMM.2 module is also equipped with some low-central mood LEDs, rounding out the system glow. (That said, the RAM modules themselves, living adjacent door to the DIMM.ii associates, are curiously utilitarian green PCBs.)

The case, existence the size it is, doesn't take much room for many more than additions. In total, you take ane M.2 connector for Wi-Fi, two more for Grand.two SSDs, two DIMM slots, and the empty front end-confront SSD tray. As configured, you have no RAM slots free, and a unmarried PCI Express x16 slot means no physical room for two graphics cards. This is the lay of the $3,799 test model I have on hand; Asus also sells a $three,299 base model with a ticked-down Cadre i7-9700K CPU, half the memory (16GB), the same GeForce RTX 2080, and a one-half-size (256GB) SSD with the same 2TB hard bulldoze.

On-Point Ports, Superior Peripherials

For all the peripherals an enthusiast gamer needs, on this ROG Strix yous'll discover plenty of ports for a chassis this size. On the front panel are four USB Blazon-A ports (ii each of USB 2.0 and iii.1), an sound jack, and an SD flash-bill of fare reader...

Effectually back are two more USB two.0 ports, four USB three.ane ports, and two USB 3.1 Gen two ports (all Blazon-A). Also hither are an HDMI-out connection (for the Cadre fleck'south integrated graphics, unused in favor of the RTX card'southward outputs), an Ethernet jack, and the usual surround-capable audio lines and S/PDIF. The GeForce RTX card supplies three DisplayPort outputs and one HDMI.

The ROG Strix also comes with a gaming mouse and a mechanical keyboard, both Asus-branded, getting players ready to get out of the gate. Both are a cut above the usual and RGB-lit. The keyboard included is the ROG Strix Flare Mechanical, a dainty metal keyboard adorned with per-cardinal LED lighting, true Cherry MX primal switches, and a glowing underbelly, besides as media controls. It feels squeamish to type on, certainly much better than the average PC pack-in peripheral. The mouse, the ROG Gladius Ii, is a flake more basic but still much nicer than average. It features a 12,000dpi sensor, interchangeable switches, and enough of LED bling.

The mood lights on both peripherals, equally well as the case'southward mood lighting, can all be synchronized using Asus' Aura lighting via the included Armoury software. The lighting scheme here also has a special connexion with the blockbuster title Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, in that the RGB tin can automatically display unique hotkey lighting and indicators. This isn't exactly useful, only information technology's a great gimmick that doesn't have whatever downside.

On the whole, between the prime-cut components and the better-than-your-boilerplate-bear peripherals, the ROG Strix levies a cost premium. The CPU and GPU are patently pricey, and the rest of the components are no slouches, simply it's still a petty expensive considering the whole bundle. The chassis isn't especially luxe, at to the lowest degree non to the point that you'd await this rig to be and then costly just by looking at or touching it. The pre-built nature will delight shoppers seeking such simplicity, simply information technology, likewise, amps up the cost. The target buyer here is not the average shopper or gamer looking for top value. You should exist a gamer seeking a compact desktop that can game all-out, and right now, please.

i9 Plus RTX Equals...Well, It'south Very Fast

With this tantalizingly high-cease hardware, all eyes are on performance. It should be no surprise that past any objective measure out, the Core i9-9900K is lightning-fast. Whether yous should specifically opt for i to center your build around for all-time value is a question better answered by our standalone review of the chip. (TLDR: It's superfast and won't exist a clogging for your games, only the final-gen Core i7-8700K is no slouch, either.) But I'll happily talk virtually the speed it demonstrates for this arrangement.

On the PCMark 8 Piece of work Conventional exam, the ROG Strix GL12CX scored a wildly high 4,224 points, one of the loftiest showings we've recorded. The Velocity Micro Raptor did outscore it here despite being built effectually a slightly older Core i7-8086K Limited Edition CPU, which says more virtually how this particular examination doesn't take full advantage of the slightly superior chip.

The multimedia tests exercise better at flexing the Core i9-9900K's muscle: Its Handbrake, Cinebench, and Photoshop results are topped or matched in this group just by counterparts using Cadre i9 X-Series Extreme Edition or AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X chips. As you can see, the Core X-Series contender even so outclassed the Core i9-9900K in a few other areas. The results in the chart really tell yous what to need to know on their own, with a Core i7-8700K and a GeForce GTX 1080 included for context courtesy of the Acer Predator Orion 5000. The Core i9's performance is no doubt amend than this, but whether plenty to be worth the added cost is a unlike question. As I said, though, that'southward a word better fitted for the private flake reviewed, tested in the same testbed rather than in differently configured systems.

The 3D capability of this system is also worth special attention. While not quite as minty-fresh equally the processor, Nvidia'south late-2018 "Turing" platform is yet the very new child on the block in the graphics-menu world, and we're yet getting a sense of what to expect from the new hardware. I mentioned before that the 20-series cards may be of questionable value to those already running a GeForce GTX 10-series model, just in that location's conspicuously an uptick in performance, and both the GeForce RTX 2080 and the truly elite-level RTX 2080 Ti are objectively powerful. The ROG Strix's GeForce RTX 2080 card handily bettered the GeForce GTX 1080 on our tests, from the synthetic 3DMark benchmarks to the game simulations Heaven and Valley. Information technology's worth noting that a lot of the head-to-head comparisons are a bit unfair to the ROG Strix, as the pricey competitors that had comparable processors were dual-bill of fare systems, whereas the Strix has simply one RTX card.

This is the starting time opportunity, though, that we've had in PC Labs to see what the GeForce RTX 2080 tin can do in a pre-congenital organisation, so I ran the tests at the total range of popular resolutions. Its 1080p numbers are, of class, stratosphere-high. If you're simply playing on a 1080p/HD monitor and prioritize frame rates over all else, the results of 163 frames per second (fps) and 161fps on Heaven and Valley at Ultra quality settings show that the GeForce RTX 2080 is way more than capable—information technology'south frame-rate gluttony. When I bumped upward the resolution to 1440p (2,560 by 1,440 pixels), those frame rates dropped to 99fps and 104fps, respectively. Not bad, even if you're running a high-refresh-rate monitor in excess of 60Hz.

Come across How We Exam Desktops

Playing at 4K (3,840 by ii,160 pixels), as ever, is an entirely different animal. The ROG Strix only managed 45fps and 48fps on the same settings. Heaven and Valley were a bit harsher than some real-world tests, possibly due to lack of DirectX 12 support. And then I fired upwardly a couple of belatedly-model, demanding AAA games.

On Far Weep 5 and Ascension of the Tomb Raider, with each game set to the maximum detail preset and 4K resolution, the ROG Strix scored 54fps on each—better, merely however brusque of the ideal consistent 60fps. There's a reason few gamers fifty-fifty bother aiming for 4K gaming, as it's merely too enervating for all but the priciest hardware or dual-card systems. Full HD (1080p) and 1440p are much more common gaming resolutions for a reason, and the ROG Strix handles them with ataraxy. Pop esports titles (namely MOBAs and shooters) are less concerned with sky-high resolutions and extreme allegiance, anyway; in competitive games like these, information technology's all nearly smooth operation in the form of high frame rates. On that front—for its target audition—the ROG Strix excels.

An "A" for Esports Pros; Others, Shop Smart

The ROG Strix GL12CX does what it says on the tin: It'due south a cutting-border, fully featured gaming desktop aimed at close-to-the-edge enthusiasts and serious esports players. That means it is very fast, it is very expensive, and it has some features the average user simply doesn't have much use for.

Y'all tin can find more economical (and honestly, spiffier- and flashier-looking) means to spend $3,800 on a computer, and then we would advise comparison-shopping fifty-fifty if you're smitten. If you do autumn into the target audience, such equally being a buyer of a passel of PCs for an esports team, play facility, or tournament, the ROG Strix GL12CX will prove to exist an constructive plug-and-play solution that also looks swell when the cameras pan over information technology. Alternatives in this plush range come up in the form of highly configurable boutique systems, meaning information technology largely comes down to which example design you similar the most. Equally such, if yous're considering the Strix, also exercise your due diligence: Accept our exact review configuration's prices with a grain of salt, and choice the right parts for your budget and needs from amid our favorites, such as the Origin PC Neuron, the Falcon Northwest Talon, the Velocity Micro Raptor Z55, and the Origin PC Genesis. See which one delivers the best residual for what you actually demand. The answer may surprise you, and it volition differ depending on what kind of situation y'all're buying for.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/first-looks/30091/asus-rog-strix-gl12cx

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