Asus Crams Big Graphics in a Little Box

The Essentio CS5110 measures just over 11 inches tall and 3 inches wide, but still gets a powerful GeForce 8600M under the hood, making it the smallest PC with discrete graphics ever made, according to Asus.

While mini desktops with high-efficiency CPUs and low-noise cooling systems seem to be especially in vogue lately, gamers and performance enthusiasts have largely overlooked the computers due to their lackluster integrated graphics chips. Asus’ new Essentio CS5110, announced on Tuesday, may change that. The company claims its Mini PC is the world’s smallest desktop to boast a discrete graphics card.

Packed into its 11-inch tall mini tower shell, the CS5110 boasts a GeForce MN8600M GT 256 that uses the Mobile PCI Express Module (MXM), a graphics interface originally developed for notebooks. Other key features for home theater users include 1080p high-def video output, 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF output, and an optional Blu-ray drive. It also supports the 802.11n wireless standard for streaming high-def content without hiccups, and a new cooling system that cuts noise to 23.9dB.

For all the specs Asus dropped on Tuesday, the company did not see it fit to hammer down or even hint at when the Essentio CS5110 would be appearing for sale, or what it would cost. Given the price of its  other compact PCs, like the Nova P22 which retails for around $899 and offers no discrete graphics card, we would imagine the Essentio should at least hit the $1,000 mark.