Asus goes compact with powerful VivoPC X gaming system

Alongside its heftier gaming desktops, Asus is looking to offer something new and exciting to the space-saving gamers of the world at this year’s consumer electronics show. To that end, it’s introduced the VivoPC X, a compact gaming system with an innovative cooling system, and enough power under the hood to play just about anything at high specs.

To kick things off with the VivoPC X, Asus gives it a seventh-generation Core-i5 CPU with 8GB of DDR4 memory and a GTX 1060 for powerful gaming abilities. Storage-wise you can have up to 2TB of HDD storage, coupled with a speedy 512GB M.2 SSD, keeping you from waiting too long for anything to load.

Not only do these specifications make this system more than capable for traditional 2D gaming, but Asus happily certifies it for virtual reality too, so it could make for a decent, portable VR gaming system. To make sure you can plug all of the needed accessories in for something like an Oculus Rift, there are four USB 3.0 ports and a pair of USB 2.0 ports, alongside video ports like twin HDMI connectors and a DisplayPort.

The big selling point with the VivoPC X, though, isn’t its power — of which it has plenty — but its size. It packs all of that into a chassis that is just five liters in size, making it about the same size as your average gaming console. Designed to fit beside a TV or in a bedroom, the VivoPC X uses a clever thermal design to route the warm air out of the case as quickly as possible, using active cooling funneling and a robust heatpipe design.

The VivoPC X is available for anyone to take a closer look at this week at the Asus booth at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, but will become available to purchase starting March and will be priced at $800.