ASUS Equips ROG Huracan G21 Mini PC with 8 cores and RTX 2080

[AleksandarK]

ASUS launched its ROG Huracan G21 mini gaming PC a long time ago intending to provide a small form factor gaming machine. Today, ASUS decided to update the Huracan with the latest hardware available. Inside a 17.7 liter chassis measuring 129.9×372.4×366.1 mm, ASUS managed to pack some powerful hardware. Starting with CPU, the ROG Huracan G21 is a house to Intel's Core i9-9900K 8 core, 16 thread CPU. There are also configurations available with Intel Core i7-9700K and Core i5-9400 CPUs. The CPU is installed on Mini-ITX Z390 motherboards made by ASUS, so it is technically possible to overclock it, however with an inadequate cooling solution for that it is not recommended.

To make a gaming PC, you need to have a good GPU to push all the framerates, and ASUS opted to equip the G21 with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card with a blower-type cooler. Other options include GeForce RTX 2070 and RTX 2060 GPUs as well. For storage, there are quite a few options. There is one M.2 SATA SSD which can range from 128 GB to 512 GB in capacity. In addition to a 3.5-inch HDD that is available in 1 TB and 2 TB capacity, there is a hot-swap bay for a 2.5-inch drive. As far as the main memory goes, there is room for up to 32 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz memory. For IO, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port is available on the front of the chassis. In the back, there are two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports, along with four USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports. Video outputs are dependant on which graphics card is equipped in a given configuration. Additionally, to power this PC, ROG Huracan G21 relies on external power adapters that come in 180, 230, or 280 Watt options that again depend on the configuration of the machine. It is also worth pointing out that for audio, the G21 uses Realtek ALC1150 with ESS DAC and amplifier. Support for RGB is not lacking and of course, and it is compatible with ASUS Aura Sync software.


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[Object55]

Intel only ? What is this 1998 ?

 

[Ferrum Master]

Intel only ? What is this 1998 ?

A bit wrong with year. During that time socket 7 existed. We had Cyrix, Winchip, AMD K5 and super socket 7 K6 emerged... it was more fun.

 

[Object55]

A bit wrong with year. During that time socket 7 existed. We had Cyrix, Winchip, AMD K5 and super socket 7 K6 emerged... it was more fun.

It wasn't meant literally.

P.S. I had K6-2 at that time. First PC

 

[Deathy]

Am I the only one who likes his rectrangle boxes instead of some abstract forms that seem to waste space with unnecessary angles? Give me some space efficient designs over this any day.

 

[Vayra86]

Am I the only one who likes his rectrangle boxes instead of some abstract forms that seem to waste space with unnecessary angles? Give me some space efficient designs over this any day.

Oh no you're not. The dust this guy will collect is going to be insane. All those angles...

I also struggle to understand why a design was aimed at making something look bigger and more uncanny than it really is. It almost looks like a business desktop case (the ones you put the monitor on top of) they mangled beyond imagination.

 

[milewski1015]

Is that an optical drive I see beneath the power button in the 4th picture? Thought those were dead...

Also, does that gray text-covered panel fold closed to cover the geometric metal frame? What's the thought process here? Giving the user both window/no window options?

 

[robot zombie]

I was trying to figure out why I kinda like this thing and then it hit me...

Aggro Crag!

 

[neatfeatguy]

Is that an optical drive I see beneath the power button in the 4th picture? Thought those were dead...

I love my optical drives - let's me rip my movies and install old physical copy games I still own and even back up data to DVDs from time to time. In fact, they are one of the main things I need if I were to go looking for a new case. I'm not look for one, but it would be a requirement if I was in the market.

They may eventually die off, but right now they're still clinging on to life.

 

[milewski1015]

I love my optical drives - let's me rip my movies and install old physical copy games I still own and even back up data to DVDs from time to time. In fact, they are one of the main things I need if I were to go looking for a new case. I'm not look for one, but it would be a requirement if I was in the market.

They may eventually die off, but right now they're still clinging on to life.

Yeah, there's definitely a niche for them. I don't have any use for one myself, but my dad still prefers to physically own any music he buys, so he buys CD's off Amazon and then rips them to his iTunes library. He also copied old family VHS tapes to DVD and then rips the video off it and uploads it to an unlisted YouTube channel so we have them for years to come.

Coolermaster's NR600 has an ODD bay I believe. That's probably the case I would buy if I needed one with an ODD - optical drive support coupled with a full mesh front for good airflow and good cable management features.

 

[Ruru]

I love my optical drives - let's me rip my movies and install old physical copy games I still own and even back up data to DVDs from time to time. In fact, they are one of the main things I need if I were to go looking for a new case. I'm not look for one, but it would be a requirement if I was in the market.

They may eventually die off, but right now they're still clinging on to life.

You're absolutely in the minority these days. Personally those games which I own on a disc, are that old that I can play those with a laptop from the early 2000s. And for movies (dvd/bluray), I use PS3 for them. I can't even remember when I used an optical drive on my main PC the last time, I had a bluray drive few years ago but I didn't actually even use it. Sold it away with the same price I paid for it.

Though an external one could be useful, been thinking about getting one.

 

[bonehead123]

Well, except for all those weird angles & such, it's STILL just anutha S.O.S.S. rectangular boxen, so what's all the huff about anyways ?

But at least it has a USB-C port on the front, so I'll give'em credit for that

Also, who in there right mind would wanna run a so-called "gaming pc" containing a 9900k + a 2080 but with only a 280w psu.... geez, I can see the plumes of smoke billowing upwards from here....

 

[cucker tarlson]

I don't like the rog branding.
good components but not worth the horrendous markup on the cards,boards,coolers and psus.

 

[robot zombie]

I don't like the rog branding.
good components but not worth the horrendous markup on the cards,boards,coolers and psus.

I actually enjoy the general look of the ROG stuff... the jagged shapes and the mix of grays they use stands out to me. Couldn't tell you why. It just generally looks premium. Very gamery, but somehow I'm okay with it. I'm just drawn to the textures and materials. It's slick. Rockin some Strix stuff now that's actually pretty solid.

But then I didn't pay more than $120 for my X370-F, in a time when they were over $200, which is ridiculous for what is actually just a decent, no-frills mobo with a good 6-phase. The 2060 was only like $50 more than the cheapest, crappiest ones, and a good 100+ below basic 2070's. $20 less than founders. You kind of were getting something for that in that it had one of the absolute best cooling solutions and absolute best performance of all the models out there. Also has very good bracing... something they improved on recently. Really just a good build. I saw a lot of 20-series cards and I don't think any were quite as nicely-made. They're really good, quiet cards. Though again I caught it on a downswing at $400. I saw them going as high as $500, at which point you could actually just buy a 2070. Who the hell is something like that supposed to be for? I don't care how good the card itself is if I can have a better GPU for the same cash.

Coolers and PSUs I definitely steer clear of, as well as most of their peripherals. Just the epitome of over-glorified crap. It's not junk, but it also ain't that special. If you can find a good board open-box like I did, it's a really good buy. Same with the cards. Generally it's all overpriced as hell, but there can be exceptions.

Their smartphones have always interested me. If one were to fall into my life magically I'd probably love it.

Something worth mentioning that you DON'T get for the premium, which is why I don't recommend ASUS even though I actually like their products... the support is among the worst I have dealt with these past couple of years. Churned-out, unhelpful crap... like they don't even try to comprehend what you're asking if you want to know something or something isn't working. They fire off some general thing vaguely related (I swear, they're almost like bots,) as if to say "So that was it, right?" And then there are RMA's where you get the exact product you sent out back after 2 weeks. The software is okay when it works, but phones home too much and often DOESN'T work, or inexplicably stops working one day. In which case you're stuck talking to idiots who I suspect are not native english speakers (going by their lack of comprehension and a few wording oddities,) and then of course digging around. Aura can be great, or it can be hell and pain.

BIOS updates are hit or miss, too. They've had Crosshair boards that were crippled for months and months with features not working, as well as abysmal RAM compatibility/OC problems, which is just not okay for a premium boards built for performance. They always seem to get there eventually, but man. It's such a shame, they still have one of the better BIOS interfaces out there in terms of features and usability.

 

[remixedcat]

A bit wrong with year. During that time socket 7 existed. We had Cyrix, Winchip, AMD K5 and super socket 7 K6 emerged... it was more fun.

In '98 I had a cyrix cpu (forget the model it was a 330mhz one) and a whopping 32mb of ram...lol

 

[cucker tarlson]

I actually enjoy the general look of the ROG stuff... the jagged shapes and the mix of grays they use stands out to me. Couldn't tell you why. It just generally looks premium. Very gamery, but somehow I'm okay with it. I'm just drawn to the textures and materials. It's slick. Rockin some Strix stuff now that's actually pretty solid.

But then I didn't pay more than $120 for my X370-F, in a time when they were over $200, which is ridiculous for what is actually just a decent, no-frills mobo with a good 6-phase. The 2060 was only like $50 more than the cheapest, crappiest ones, and a good 100+ below basic 2070's. $20 less than founders. You kind of were getting something for that in that it had one of the absolute best cooling solutions and absolute best performance of all the models out there. Also has very good bracing... something they improved on recently. Really just a good build. I saw a lot of 20-series cards and I don't think any were quite as nicely-made. They're really good, quiet cards. Though again I caught it on a downswing at $400. I saw them going as high as $500, at which point you could actually just buy a 2070. Who the hell is something like that supposed to be for? I don't care how good the card itself is if I can have a better GPU for the same cash.

Coolers and PSUs I definitely steer clear of, as well as most of their peripherals. Just the epitome of over-glorified crap. It's not junk, but it also ain't that special. If you can find a good board open-box like I did, it's a really good buy. Same with the cards. Generally it's all overpriced as hell, but there can be exceptions.

Their smartphones have always interested me. If one were to fall into my life magically I'd probably love it.

Something worth mentioning that you DON'T get for the premium, which is why I don't recommend ASUS even though I actually like their products... the support is among the worst I have dealt with these past couple of years. Churned-out, unhelpful crap... like they don't even try to comprehend what you're asking if you want to know something or something isn't working. They fire off some general thing vaguely related (I swear, they're almost like bots,) as if to say "So that was it, right?" And then there are RMA's where you get the exact product you sent out back after 2 weeks. The software is okay when it works, but phones home too much and often DOESN'T work, or inexplicably stops working one day. In which case you're stuck talking to idiots who I suspect are not native english speakers (going by their lack of comprehension and a few wording oddities,) and then of course digging around. Aura can be great, or it can be hell and pain.

BIOS updates are hit or miss, too. They've had Crosshair boards that were crippled for months and months with features not working, as well as abysmal RAM compatibility/OC problems, which is just not okay for a premium boards built for performance. They always seem to get there eventually, but man. It's such a shame, they still have one of the better BIOS interfaces out there in terms of features and usability.

I prefer current Msi cards (trio), Gigabyte boards (master),nzxt clc coolers,super flower psus and Logitech/hyperx kb/m.
Better value and better looks.