Asus ROG Strix GL 12CX Review

Key Specifications

Review Price: £2999

Compact case design

Intel Core i9-9900K

16GB DDR4 RAM

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080

512GB SSD, 2TB HDD

CD/DVD drive

RGB lighting on the front

What is the Asus ROG Strix GL 12CX?

The Asus GL12 CX is an impressively compact PC that packs in masses of gaming performance. Inside its modest frame it houses an Intel Core i9-9900K, an Nvidia RTX 2080 and plenty of storage, RAM and an optical disc drive too.

All this doesn’t come cheap, with this version of the PC reviewed here costing a cool £3000. But, for that outlay you do get plenty of performance.

Elsewhere, there’s nothing particularly exotic going on with the design and build of this PC – just a few RGB lights on the front. However, if you simply want a hugely powerful, but not huge, PC then it’s worth a look.

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Asus ROG Strix GL 12CX – Design and build

We’ve seen our fair share of compact gaming PCs recently, such as the Alienware Aurora and astonishingly tiny Corsair One. As such, the GL 12CX isn’t breaking any new ground. Nonetheless, this is a smaller PC than many.

It measures 440 x 465 x 180mm and weighs in at 11kg, which compares to around 500 x 500 x 200mm and 15-20kg for a typical ATX PC.

In terms of design, it’s dominated by angular plastic sections that sit on the front and top of the otherwise black-painted steel case. The look is certainly a little different to your more generic rectangular box.

There are also a couple of glossy plastic sections on the front, along with some RGB lighting zones that are the calling card of Asus’ Strix-branded products. It’s a modest smattering of lights, however, with just a backlit Asus ROG logo and a couple of glowing lines on the front.

You can also remove the left side panel and replace it with an included plastic panel that allows you a view into the interior of the case. However, don’ expect the glass side panels and illuminated interiors that are all the rage in DIY PC building circles.

Indeed, overall, the GL 12CX’s design is somewhat underwhelming for such an expensive PC. While the PC does come in more modest configurations than the one reviewed here (although good luck finding them), the fact that the same case is used for such high-end components is a little disappointing. The likes of the HP Omen X, Corsair One and Alienware Aurora all outclass it.

As far as more practical considerations go, the GL 12CX’s case is largely a conventional affair. The steel side panels are held on by screws at the back and slide off to reveal the innards of the PC. On the left side is the main section with most of the components, while the right side panel reveals the underside of the motherboard tray and mass of cabling that connects everything together.

Along the bottom is a sectioned off area for the power supply and yet more cabling, while across the centre is the graphics card, which is held in place by a reinforcing bracket.

Up in the top, towards the front, is a CD/DVD drive and a bracket, alongside cabling for a 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD. In the box you’ll find a 2.5-inch drive tray that fits into this slot, so you can have a quick-release 2.5-inch drive accessible through the front. The main hard drive is a 3.5-inch model that sits in the bottom of the case, while the SSD is attached directly to the motherboard via a strange riser card.

Cooling is taken care of by a variety of solutions. The CPU uses an all-in-one liquid cooler whose 120mm radiator and fan is attached to the top of the case. The graphics card then uses a single radial fan that blows air across the card and out the back of the case. The power supply in the bottom of the case also has its own 120mm fan that pulls air from the bottom of the case and out the back.

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All other ventilation for the case is handled by a single 120mm fan sucking air in at the front and a 92mm fan blowing air out the back.

Back to the front of the case and you can access that DVD drive by removing a magnetically attached plastic plate that covers the front. Once removed, the case looks decidedly less smart. A solution that sees the front plate flip upwards on a hinge seems like it would have been a bit more elegant.

Above this area you’ll find a selection of ports, consisting of two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an SD card reader and headphone jack. That’s a useful selection, although a USB Type-C port would have been welcome too.

Meanwhile, round the back of the PC you’ll find six USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, five audio jacks and optical digital audio output along with the video outputs from the graphics card. It has two DisplayPorts, one HDMI and one USB Type-C port. You also get in-built 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi.