Prebuilt gaming PCs offer a convenient way out for those who shrug at the idea of building a PC from scratch or find it a daunting process. That said, there aren't too many reliable prebuilt small form-factor (SFF) PCs out there on the market, with most manufacturers favoring the high-end builds featuring huge form factor PC cases. That's where the ASUS ROG G22CH slots in as a phenomenal gaming tower, which is about the same size as a PS5, if not smaller.

The ASUS ROG G22CH SFF PC packs a powerful punch in a stylish, compact design, and it's great for those seeking high performance on a small footprint. It doesn't compromise on power and is surprisingly capable at handling demanding tasks and gaming. However, like many SFF PCs, the G22CH does come with some drawbacks that you should be aware of. None of them are deal-breakers that should keep you away from this mighty gaming PC, in my opinion, but this PC is strictly for space-saving enthusiasts who welcome SFF challenges with open arms.

About this review: ASUS sent us the ROG G22CH PC for the purposes of this review. The company had no input in this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Pricing, availability, and specs

Available now with plenty of configurations

The ASUS ROG G22CH PC has been on the market for a while now, and the company is now selling an updated version of it with Intel's new 14th gen desktop processors. The base variant of the G22CH with an Intel Core i5-13400F and an RTX 3060 GPU starts at $1,100 in the U.S., while the top-of-the-line unit with Intel Core i9-14900KF and an RTX 4070 GPU will set you back $2,500.

The variant featured in this review comes with an Intel Core i7-14700KF and the RTX 4070 GPU, and it's priced at around $1,900. It's definitely a bit on the expensive side, considering a similarly specced PC can be built for a relatively cheaper price, but keep in mind that this is a small form-factor PC that demands SFF components that tend to be more pricey. It's only available in black, and comes with both a wired mouse and a keyboard in the box.

Design and build quality

Smaller than a PS5

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One thing I absolutely love about the ASUS ROG G22CH desktop is its form-factor. It's an impressively compact gaming PC, coming in at just 10 liters of volume. As far as the dimensions go, the G22CH desktop stands just 11.3 inches tall, and measures about 4.5 inches wide. This particular prebuilt PC is smaller than a PlayStation 5 console. In fact, it's almost the same size as my UPS, which is pretty crazy considering how ASUS has packed it with so many powerful components. The variant I received for review also comes with an AIO liquid cooler, complete with a radiator assembly with two 80mm fans.

Things certainly look a little cramped in the case upon close inspection, but I'm surprised ASUS managed to throw so many components into what is arguably one of the smallest gaming PCs I've had on my desktop in a while. The components of the G22CH desktop are housed inside a sleek metal case with plenty of cutouts and mesh ventilation for airflow. ASUS has used a custom circuit board for this particular PC, separating the GPU and the CPU and putting them on the opposite side of a B760 motherboard. It's a densely packed case and that explains why it's surprisingly heavy, too.

The G22CH also offers a good selection of ports, with connectors on both the top as well as the back panels. The top IO panel sports two USB-A ports, a single USB-C, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a power button. The rest of the ports are at the back of this case, and they include an HDMI 2.0a port, an HDMI 2.1 port, three DisplayPort 1.4a ports, an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB-A ports, and three audio jacks. I also like the tasteful use of RGB lights on this machine, and I'd say it's one of the first ASUS ROG devices that didn't make me open the Armory Crate software and instantly turn off the lights.

It's fairly easy to work your way into the PC case with just the help of a screwdriver, but I'm afraid there's not much to do once you crack it open. The internals, as I previously mentioned, are tightly packed and even the cables are routed meticulously to ensure no space is being wasted within a relatively compact chassis. The SFF chassis, while it has its own merits, leaves very little for upgrades and improvements. The bundled 600W PSU will keep you from introducing something beefier than the included RTX 4070, even if you manage to find a graphics card that's more powerful and just as compact. The only thing you can do is swap out the RAM modules and introduce a new M.2 SSD in the name of upgrades in the future.

Parts and performance

Packs plenty of powerful components for a great experience

You won't have to rely on making a lot of upgrades to make the most of the G22CH, thankfully, as it's packed with a lot of powerful components and is fairly powerful out of the box. The unit I received for review is powered by an Intel Core i7-14700F, which is a 20-core CPU featuring 12 E-cores and 8 P-cores. Games and other graphics-intensive tasks are handled by an RTX 4070 GPU with 12GB VRAM. It's not the most powerful graphics card out there, but its dual-fan design makes it a good fit for this case.

My review unit also shipped with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD. As a prebuilt PC, the G22CH also comes with Windows 11 out of the box, ready for you to get started. On an unrelated note, I also want to quickly highlight that the G22CH comes with a wired keyboard and mouse, which the website says is "optional." If they are anything like the ones I received in the box with my unit, then you can safely ignore them because they're both incredibly basic and look like they belong on an office desk.

I had my doubts about the performance of this machine given its compact form-factor, but I have to admit that it performed admirably well on the suite of benchmarks and games I ran to test its overall performance. Here's a quick look at the scores put out by the G22CH across some popular benchmarking utilities:

I also used the G22CH as my main gaming rig for the better part of a week to see if it was capable of handling some of the more demanding titles, and I was pleasantly surprised by the kind of performance it was able to put. It shrugs at 1080p gaming and even handles most titles at 1440p without any issues whatsoever. It performed very well across the titles I had in my test library, complete with ray-traced graphics with DLSS.

The G22CH's thermals, though a bit on the higher side compared to my liquid cooled gaming rig, were still under acceptable limits for an SFF PC, in my opinion. I say that because the Core i7-14700F was averaging at around 55 degrees Celsius, hitting a peak of 88 degrees Celsius during my testing. The RTX 4070 peaked around the same 88 degree mark during one of my Helldivers 2 runs when the GPU utilization was at 99%. While the system didn't really throttle during the test, I have to point out that it gets unbearably loud.

Seriously, this is one of those machines that will force you to wear a pair of headphones. Two 80mm fans on top of the radiator are set to spin at max RPM when things start to heat up, and you can really hear them going at it. It would've been nice to have some additional fans in the chassis to take some load off those two units spinning at max RPMs most of the time, but I doubt that's possible without tweaking the design and form-factor of the machine. The result is a system that simply gets too loud for it to be a comfortable gaming experience without headphones. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker, but definitely something to consider.

Should you buy the ASUS ROG G22CH?

You should buy the ASUS ROG G22CH if:

• You want a reliable small form-factor gaming PC, but don't want to build it yourself.
• You don't mind paying a premium for a well put-together SFF assembly with liquid cooling.
• You're looking for a stylish and good-looking gaming PC that'll last you a few good years.

You should NOT buy the ASUS ROG G22CH if:

• You care about upgradability and swapping out parts in the future.
• You can't put up with the noise of spinning case fans.
• You are stretching your budget thin and are looking for a budget gaming PC.

There is plenty to like about the ASUS ROG G22CH compact gaming PC, and it is a capable machine that should be on your list if you are shopping for a good SFF PC for gaming. It's not a flawless machine as it barely leaves any room for upgrades and makes a lot of noise while running under load, but I have absolutely no qualms about recommending the G22CH if you are open to embracing the limitations of an SFF PC that is ready to go out of the box. It is true that the unit I reviewed will cost you close to $2,000 in the U.S., but it's packed with a lot of great components that will serve you for a long time without demanding any upgrades to run games.

There's not much in the name of competition for the ASUS ROG G22CH in the prebuilt SFF market, either, barring a few like the Falcon Northwest Talon or the MSI Trident desktop. But neither of those are particularly cheap, nor do they pack more punch than the G22CH in a small form factor. You can always turn to gaming laptops, too, but the overall performance and user experience isn't necessarily going to be the same.