Pros: Of the numerous pre-built units on the the market, this one is the smallest i have been able to find. Not only is it small, but it has an attractive and unique look that is certain to draw most anyone in. The processor and gpu are solid choices for a gaming pc, providing a format for someone who may not have a desktop powerful enough to run most modern games with respectable quality.

Cons: First and foremost is the build quality of the unit. The guts of the machine are nice on paper; at least for an entry level enthusiast build. However, this desktop fails in practice as it overheats with the default components. This isn't just a matter of it shutting down after long periods of use; this computer will overheat to the point where it will damage internal components beyond repair.

This means that the unit cannot be upgraded past it's current state. Within a matter of years, anyone who owns this PC will be frustrated with the fact that they can't improve their $900-$1200 machine. Keep in mind, this computer already lacks the capability to run some (admittedly taxing) games currently such as Dying Light without risk to the computer. While one may be able to run games on lower graphical settings for now, there will be no chance or ability to improve one's experience without making modifications to the chassis itself to allow for better airflow throughout the unit. This would be an expensive process, unless one has the ability to do it his or herself. On top of that, it would ruin one of the main selling points of the unit, that being its distinct look

Finally, this is more of personal preference, but the external power supply for the G20 is a really poor design decision. Asus choose 2 external power bricks to reduce the size of the unit, but it ultimately causes more inconvenience than if the tower were just slightly larger and had an internal power supply. The thing takes up two outlets with about 8 foot of cord between to back of the unit and the outlet, making it look really messy and unruly.

Other Thoughts: My friend purchased this unit mainly for its size as he thought it would be easy to lug around to friend's homes and LAN parties. During the first few months of owning it, the computer had overheated twice (though no internal damage had been done). After owning it for approximately 6 months, he decided that he wanted to attempt to upgrade the unit by putting in a better GPU. A mere week after doing so, the computer overheated to the point where the motherboard was completely fried. I would caution anyone who wants to purchase this computer for any reason. One would be better off doing the research and building his or her own PC.

If you are looking at a price range this high, you can get a PC far more powerful and reliable than this unit by simply building it yourself.

Pros: Fast powerful

Cons: no SD card slot

Pros: Works great when it works!

Cons: It never works! Seriously, this thing has had issue after issue (blue screen of death after 48 hours--somehow got it restored) culminating in what I'm dealing with now: complete motherboard failure. Seriously. At 14 months this needs a new motherboard. This problem is widespread. This is utter junk. Never, ever buy this.

Other Thoughts: ASUS customer support is useless.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. All ASUS products undergo intensive quality control testing and inspections. If you are experiencing stability issues with the unit, I recommend sending it in for service. Before sending it in for service, I recommend checking if the unit is running with the most current BIOS version. If WINDOWS update were installed and the unit is running with an older BIOS version, it will cause system stability issues or BSOD. Also, we recommend updating the chipset and VGA drivers after successfully updating the BIOS and installing recommended WINDOWS Update. If these troubleshooting tips were already performed and the problem persists, please email me at cl-rodel@asus.com and I would be more than glad to help.

Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.

Regards,

Rodel
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: I bought the G20AJ about 6 or 7 months ago and do not have a lot of games or anything on it. I use it more for watching movies. The other night the monitor went black and the cooling fans went on full blast. After being off over night the fans still will not shut down. The monitor is back and it other wise functions but the cooling fan goes full blast non stop. It is very loud and intrusive. I have updated all the bios and drivers and still nothing. I am reading about it more and more and it turns out this is a common issue with this model.

Cons: The system over heats, and the fans do not turn off.

Other Thoughts: I bought the G20AJ about 6 or 7 months ago and do not have a lot of games or anything on it. I use it more for watching movies . The other night the monitor went black and the cooling fans went on full blast. After being off over night the fans still will not shut down. The monitor is back and it other wise functions but the cooling fan goes full blast non stop. It is very loud and intrusive. I have updated all the bios and drivers and still nothing. I am reading about it more and more and it turns out this is a common issue with this model. Buyer beware. ~Devin

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for the positive comment. I apologize for the inconvenience if the cooling fan started to generate excessive noise after 7 months of usage. ASUS provides warranty coverage for the unit. I recommend sending the unit in for service. If you need help with the warranty service process, please email me at cl-rodel@asus.com and I would be more than glad to help.

Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.

Regards,

Rodel
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Great design, compact, usually quiet, upgrade options (while voiding the warranty)

Cons: Factory GTX 760

Other Thoughts: This is a terrific gaming rig if you're looking for something smaller, quieter, and less power hungry than most large case PCs. Even with the GTX 760 I could run many games (Elite Dangerous, Titanfall, The Witcher 2, Tomb Raider, Skyrim) in 1080p at high to ultra without a problem. Now with the GTX 980 upgrade I can run nearly everything maxed out. It looks great and doesn't take up much more room than a modern console. The customizable LEDs are a nice touch with such a striking design. The i7 is very powerful and with Hyperthreading Windows sees it as an 8 core processor.

The system vents heat in two ways. The video card vents through the back near where you plug in your HDMI, DVI, VGA cables. The CPU vents through the top of the case. You'll want to be sure that both areas are free to vent, preventing overheating. I have had this system for over a year and upgraded it to a GTX 980 to run Oculus Rift and have had no issues with it.

Many issues that owners are running into are due to the factory GTX 760 that ships with the system. These can overheat and fail causing owners to believe the system is faulty due to overheating and cause there to be no video signal. My recommendation is to either purchase a model with a video card other than the GTX 760, upgrade the video card (you will void the warranty by opening the case), or accept and understand that if you do run into issues, it is probably the GTX 760.

The only compliant I really have is the dual PSU that it comes with which consists of two laptop style power supplies, each requiring their own power outlet. One is dedicated for the video card while the other is for the CPU, motherboard, hard drive, DVD drive and other components. This is a great idea for the variety of configurations but ugly in terms of design.

Pros: Good Mid range GPU

Cons: Everything else

If I could give this less than 1 egg. I would!

Other Thoughts: While the specs for this do look good on paper. This is the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. Starting from day 1 I have had nothing but problems with this pile of trash.

It runs games fine, for a few minutes. Then it crashes. Update Windows and it corrupts the whole system making you have to completely re-install everything.

Asus finally agreed to "repair" the computer after 10 months of me complaining about issues this computer has had. I got it back last week and it runs slow, crashes and won't even install steam.

Do NOT buy this computer. It's been to long to return it, plus with a 10 month battle just to receive a product that's worse than before. it's not worth the hassle. I'll take a $1000 loss.

You can't even open the case to upgrade the 1TB hard drive or you void the warranty. Avoid this thing like the plague!

(Funny enough though, the Asus Monitors I bought with this computer are great!!! So stick to monitors Asus cause your computers suck!)

Pros: On paper, this is a fantastic machine. Excellent specs for its price range, and when it works it is more than capable of handling what a typical gamer can throw at it.

Form-factor is definitely a plus. It looks like the offspring from a B-2 bomber, which certainly makes it a nice conversation piece! The dual external power supply may put off some people (meaning this machine requires three plugs - with a monitor - instead of two), but honestly I appreciate how it reduces the bulk of the system.

Cons: The trouble is two-fold.

First, ASUS update software conflicts with Windows Update in 8 and 8.1. This, as has been noted in reviews on this site and elsewhere, causes frequent crashes during the update process. Sometimes this can result in a corrupted OS, requiring a complete re-install of the OS. This sadly occurred to me.

Second, this system suffers from SEVERE overheating issues. This was not apparent until after I re-installed my operating system, but ever since my machine alternates between periods of sublime bliss worthy of its hardware and price range, and moments of absolute outrage. I will not run games for longer than 10-15 minutes before the system overheats and crashes. Don't expect to be able to install a temperature monitoring utility, either, because most programs do not interface correctly with ASUS software and return incorrect readings. (I can assure you, Mr. [Insert temp software name here], my CPU temp is *not* at 125 degrees Celsius. Motherboards don't work that way.)

I emphatically discourage you from purchasing this machine. Support is limited or non-existent for either of these issues. Nor is it possible to ascertain who is at fault for the issues: ASUS or Windows 8.1. Do yourself the favor and just avoid it.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Christian,

Thank your for your time in posting a review about our products. On behalf of ASUS, We would like to apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. What is the error message that you see when the computer crashes? For more information about the support you may visit the our website at http://www.asus.com/us/Desktops/ROG_G20AJ/HelpDesk_Knowledge/. For further assistance, please email me at customerloyalty@asus.com and place the case #N150623469 in the subject line for reference.

Thank you for choosing ASUS products.

Best regards,
Jerry
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Cool Case, Slim Size, Good components.

Cons: The lack of ventilation is what makes this system crash, as other reviewers mentioned. I call ASUS from help, and they wanted me to send it in, for what? No sure. I took it to two PC techs and the quickly found the GPU was over heating when playing games. I had to cut a large hole in the chassis myself and put mesh in front of it to allow the GPU to get some air. I have no had an issue since I modified the chassis. Problem I have is, with the price, I should not have had to do a thing.

ASUS is becoming the new Alienware / Dell. **** quality, ****ier customer service. I mean, really, they have horrid service.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Cody,

Thank you for the positive comment. It is normal for the unit to generate heat under heavy load but if this is excessive and is causing a system lockup or freeze, the unit needs to tested and diagnose further if the heat issue is within the threshold. I apologize for your dissatisfaction with the quality of your recent customer service experience. We do value our customers and take negative customer service experience very seriously. Please be informed that we continually strive to improve our approach and processes in order to achieve customer service excellence. If you need further assistance, please email me at cl-rodel@asus.com and write down service# N150572129 on the subject line.

Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.

Regards,

Rodel
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Great parts at a good price

Cons: Only works for basic browsing etc, playing AAA games will cause it to crash after 10-15 minutes every time. Apparently a common problem with owners apparently due to the video card. I RMA'd mine and they returned it after 5 weeks and it still will not play a game without crashing after 5 -10 minutes. Upgraded to this computer to play Dragon Age Inquisition, ESO etc and now I'm afraid I am out $1200 as this is useless and returning it won't help.

Very disappointed as ASUS came with a good reputation

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
I apologize if you are experiencing stability issue with the laptop. In order to improve system stability and performance, please install all recommended WINDOWS Updates before using the system. If you are accessing web applications, please verify if the laptop is within range to an established wireless router and internet service is working properly. If you need further technical assistance, please email me at cl-rodel@asus.com and write down service# N150387542 on the subject line.

Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.

Regards,

Rodel
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Cool case, decent price

Cons: Constant crashes when playing games. Sometimes on boot it just cycles through colors and never reaches a boot screen.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer

I certainly understand your concern in regards to your produt that constantly crashes and unable to boot up. The first thing that might be causing this, is your memory card (RAM) or the Graphics Card. To be sure if your motherboard is still in good working condition, unplug and replug the RAM and power on the PC. You should hear continuous beep sounds. If you hear this then your motherboard is fine. If placing the memory card in another slot does not work then the problem lies with the memory card itself. You will need to replace it. You have to do the same thing with the Graphics Card. I need you to do this for us to isolate the issue and locate it's exact problem so that we can fix it. Let me know how it goes, email me at customerloyalty@asus.com and place case # N150384655 in the subject line for a reference.

Best regards,
Manuel
ASUS Customer Loyalty