ASUS ROG Strix G700 Extreme Black 2024

The ASUS ROG Strix G700 Extreme is a workstation masquerading as a gaming PC. With 128GB of DDR5 RAM and 22TB of storage, it's a data center in a box, but the RTX 4060 Ti holds back gaming performance. Prices range from USD 3,499 to USD 3,999, so shop around. Buy it for virtualization, development, and heavy multitasking, not for 4K gaming.

Let's talk about that CPU first because it's the star of the show. The Core Ultra 9 285K sits in the 97th percentile of all processors we've benchmarked. That's best-in-class territory. 24 cores and a 6.0GHz turbo clock means it chews through multi-threaded workloads like video encoding, 3D rendering, and running multiple virtual machines without breaking a sweat. For single-core tasks, that 6.0GHz boost is about as fast as consumer silicon gets right now. If you're compiling code or running heavy simulations, this chip will make you very happy.

The RTX 4060 Ti is where things get more modest. It lands in the 71st percentile, which is solid but not spectacular. For 1080p gaming, you'll get high frame rates in most titles. At 1440p, you'll need to dial back settings in newer AAA games. The 8GB of VRAM is the real limitation here. Modern games at higher resolutions are hungry for video memory, and 8GB is starting to feel tight. But here's the thing: if you're buying this for the CPU and RAM, the GPU is more than adequate for everything except serious 4K gaming. And the 128GB of DDR5 RAM means you can run a dozen browser tabs, a VM or two, and a game simultaneously without ever touching a swap file.

Against the HP OMEN GT22-3080 and Lenovo Legion 90Y6003JUS, the G700 Extreme is a different animal entirely. Those machines are gaming-first desktops with better GPU-to-CPU balance. The OMEN and Legion will push higher frame rates in games thanks to stronger graphics cards, but neither comes close to the G700's 128GB of RAM or 22TB of storage. If you want to game at 1440p or 4K, those competitors make more sense. If you want a workstation that occasionally games, the ASUS wins.

The Apple Mac Studio M4 Max is the most interesting comparison. It's in a similar price bracket and targets the same creative professional crowd. The Mac Studio will be more compact, more power-efficient, and likely faster in optimized creative apps. But it can't match the G700's storage capacity or RAM ceiling, and it's not a Windows machine, which matters if you need x86 compatibility for VMs or specific software. The Dell Tower ECT1250 and CLX SET TGMSETRTU5204BM are more traditional desktops that split the difference, but neither has the storage or RAM headroom of the ASUS.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place. We're seeing listings from USD 3,499 to USD 3,999 across three US vendors. That's a USD 500 spread for what appears to be the same machine, so shop around before you commit. The best deal we're seeing is at the USD 3,499 end, and honestly, at that price the value proposition starts to make sense for the right buyer.

Here's the math: a Core Ultra 9 285K alone runs several hundred dollars. 128GB of DDR5 is another chunk. 22TB of storage, even with a spinning drive for most of it, adds up. When you add the RTX 4060 Ti, case, power supply, and Windows 11 Pro, you're looking at a parts list that gets close to the asking price. You're not getting ripped off, but you're also not getting a screaming deal. The real question is whether you need all that RAM and storage, because if you don't, you're paying a premium for specs you'll never use.

The ASUS ROG Strix G700 Extreme is a weird and wonderful machine. On paper it looks like a gaming desktop, but the spec sheet tells a different story. You get a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 285K that boosts to 6.0GHz, a frankly absurd 128GB of DDR5 RAM, and 22TB of total storage split between a 2TB SSD and a 20TB hard drive. Then ASUS paired all that with an RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. That's like putting a jet engine in a family sedan and calling it a commuter car. It's not wrong, it's just... specific.

Who is this for? Honestly, it's for people who need a workstation that can also game, not the other way around. The 128GB of RAM puts it in the 99th percentile of all desktops we track. The storage is literally the best we've seen, 100th percentile. If you're running virtual machines, editing massive video projects, or treating your PC like a personal data center, this thing is built for you. The gaming side is fine, but the GPU is the bottleneck, and we'll get into that.

What makes it interesting is the mismatch. Most gaming desktops at this price point would pair a mid-range CPU with a high-end GPU. ASUS flipped the script. You're paying for compute power and storage capacity, not frame rates. And for a specific kind of buyer, that's exactly right.

If you're buying a desktop primarily for gaming, skip this. The RTX 4060 Ti is a mid-range card, and at USD 3,499 to USD 3,999, you're paying workstation prices for gaming performance you could get for half the money. Look at the HP OMEN GT22-3080 or Lenovo Legion 90Y6003JUS instead, both of which offer better GPU-to-CPU balance for gaming.

You should also skip this if you're tight on space. The compactness score is 29.2 out of 100, which means this is a big, heavy tower. At nearly 15kg, it's not something you'll want to move around often. If you need a small form factor machine, the Apple Mac Studio M4 Max is dramatically more compact while offering similar performance for creative work. And if you don't need 128GB of RAM or 22TB of storage, you're paying for specs that will sit idle. A more modest configuration would save you real money.

If you're a developer, data scientist, or IT professional who runs virtualized environments, this is one of the most compelling pre-built options we've seen. The 128GB of RAM means you can spin up multiple VMs without breaking a sweat. The 22TB of storage gives you room for massive datasets, backups, and media libraries. The Core Ultra 9 285K is fast enough for any compile job or simulation you throw at it. And the RTX 4060 Ti is plenty for CUDA-accelerated workloads that don't need massive VRAM.

For pure gamers, this is harder to recommend. You're paying a lot for RAM and storage that won't improve your frame rates. A machine with a Ryzen 7 or Core i7 and an RTX 4070 Super or 4080 would deliver a much better gaming experience for similar money. The G700 Extreme is a workstation wearing a gaming PC costume. If you need the workstation, buy it and enjoy the occasional game. If you just want to game, look elsewhere.