ASUS ROG Strix G700 Extreme black 2024 Review

The ASUS ROG Strix G700 Extreme is a virtualization monster with a 6.0GHz Core Ultra 9, 128GB DDR5 RAM, and 11TB of storage, but it's held back by an average RTX 4060 Ti for gaming. Prices range from $3,099 to $4,507, so stick to the low end if you buy. Skip it unless you absolutely need that much RAM and storage in a ready-to-run box.

ASUS bills the ROG Strix G700 Extreme as a gaming desktop, but that's only half the story. With a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, a staggering 128GB of DDR5 RAM, and 11TB of combined storage, this machine feels more like a compact server that wandered into a gaming case. It's aimed squarely at folks who need to run multiple virtual machines, compile massive codebases, or keep entire media libraries locally without breaking a sweat. The sleek mid-tower chassis and subtle RGB hints at its ROG roots, but the sheer specs make it a standout for home office and developer workflows where sheer compute muscle matters more than flashy lights.

At 14.97kg, this rig isn't going anywhere easily, and its compact score sits at just 30 out of 100 in our database. That's the trade-off: you get a desktop that can double as a homelab server or a data cruncher, but you'll need a sturdy desk and plenty of breathing room. The mesh front panel and glass side window look sharp, and the integrated headset holder and D-ring handle are thoughtful touches for LAN folks, though the weight makes that handle more decorative than practical.

Where things get interesting is the pairing of all that CPU and RAM muscle with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti with 8GB of VRAM. That's a solid 1080p card, but it's decidedly mid-range in a machine that otherwise screams high-end. This isn't a mistake; it's a deliberate configuration for buyers whose primary workload isn't triple-A gaming at max settings. We'll dig into what that means for different users.

Our database places the Core Ultra 9 285K in the 96th percentile among all desktop CPUs we've tested, making it one of the absolute best right now for heavily threaded tasks. Compilation times drop dramatically, and spinning up a dozen VMs in Hyper-V or VMware Workstation feels almost lazy for this processor. The 128GB of DDR5 RAM hits the 99th percentile, which is nothing short of insane for a prebuilt. You can assign 32GB to a test environment and still have plenty left for Chrome tabs and a real-time backup job. Multitasking is genuinely seamless, and the 1TB NVMe SSD keeps the OS and primary apps snappy.

The RTX 4060 Ti, however, sits at the 64th percentile for graphics cards, which is about average. It handles esports titles and older AAA games at 1080p without complaint, but push it to 1440p with ray tracing and you'll watch frame rates dip below 60fps in demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077. For GPU-accelerated creative work like video editing or 3D rendering, the 8GB VRAM can become a bottleneck with large assets. The 10TB HDD is a best-in-class inclusion for bulk storage, though real-world use shows a slight spin-up delay when accessing files after the drive has idled, a common quirk of large mechanical drives. It's fast once it's running, but that brief lag is noticeable.

There's no MSRP listed, but vendor prices run from about $3,099 to $4,507. That's a massive $1,408 spread, so if you're eyeing this machine, hunt for the lowest price and don't pay a cent above $3,300. At the low end, the value proposition gets interesting: a 128GB DDR5 kit alone costs a small fortune, and the Core Ultra 9 285K is a premium chip. If you need exactly this combo for a work rig that'll run databases, VMs, and containers 24/7, it's not outrageous compared to building it yourself, especially with Windows 11 Pro included.

But for gaming, the equation falls apart. You could spend $1,500 less on a system with a Ryzen 7 and an RTX 4070 Super and get vastly better frame rates in modern titles. That 10TB HDD is a nice bonus, but a high-capacity external drive is cheap and doesn't lock you into a GPU mismatch. So the value here is entirely workload-dependent. If your job is running software stacks that eat 80GB of RAM, this prebuilt saves you the headache of sourcing parts and building a stable system. Otherwise, it's a tough sell at any price above the floor.

The HP OMEN 45L GT22-3080 often comes with an RTX 4070 or 4080 for a similar or slightly lower price, but you'll typically get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD without the massive hard drive. That's a much smarter buy for gamers or streamers. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 10 also tends to favor GPU performance over excess RAM, pairing a Core i7 with an RTX 4070 Ti in some configs, while skimping on secondary storage. Both are better picks if your primary concern is high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p or 4K.

On the other end, boutique builder CLX SET systems can be configured with comparable RAM and storage, but you'll pay a custom loop tax. The Dell XPS EBT2250 leans into workstation vibes with Xeon options and ECC memory, but its GPU choices are even more conservative. Where the ASUS carves a niche is the prebuilt convenience with a Core Ultra 9 and 128GB of DDR5 already paired: no other mainstream competitor offers this exact RAM capacity out of the box without jumping to a full-blown workstation. If you're a dev who wants a local Kubernetes cluster in a box, this is unique. For everyone else, the trade-offs favor the HP or Lenovo.

Hardcore gamers and content creators who need top-tier graphics performance should skip this config. The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB will leave you wanting more in demanding AAA titles or GPU-accelerated rendering tasks, and you'll find much better frame rates in machines like the HP OMEN 45L or Lenovo Legion Tower 5i with RTX 4070 Ti or 4080 cards for similar or less money. This is also a terrible choice if you're tight on space, given its 30/100 compact score and 15kg weight.

If your work involves heavy GPU compute, look at systems with at least an RTX 4070 Ti Super or RTX 4080, and consider building your own if you can. The massive RAM and HDD are wasted on pure gaming or light office work, so unless you have a specific need for 128GB and 10TB local storage, you're paying for overkill that won't improve your experience one bit.

If you're a developer, data scientist, or IT pro who regularly runs multiple virtual machines, large compilations, or local test environments that devour RAM, the G700 Extreme is a compelling off-the-shelf solution. The 128GB of DDR5 and 10TB HDD let you consolidate labs that would otherwise require a rack of noisy servers. At the lowest vendor price, it's even somewhat reasonable, considering the cost of the CPU and memory alone.

Gamers, content creators relying on GPU rendering, or anyone hoping for a balanced $3K+ gaming PC should look elsewhere. The RTX 4060 Ti simply can't keep up with the Ryzen and Core i7 rigs that offer RTX 4070 Super or 4080 performance for less money. But for the narrow sliver of users who need a quiet, powerful, and extremely RAM-rich desktop right now, the Strix G700 delivers, HDD spin-up quirks and all.