Introduction

The ROG GR70 is ASUS taking the Mini-PC format and packing it with hardware usually found in a high-end gaming laptop. It stands vertically, has the big ROG side panel and lighting, and uses an RTX 5070 Laptop GPU instead of relying on integrated graphics like most smaller systems. The closest comparison in my charts is the MINISFORUM AtomMan G7 Pro, since both are compact RTX 5070 Laptop systems with chunky external power bricks and enough gaming performance to sit next to a monitor instead of under a desk.



Our pre-production unit reports a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D in HWiNFO, with 16 cores, 32 threads, Zen 5 architecture, and ASUS' listed 70 W cTDP for the GR70 platform. ASUS pairs the closest retail configuration with 32 GB of DDR5-5600 memory in dual-channel, while our review sample shipped with 64 GB. Storage is also split between the retail listing and our sample: ASUS lists a 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD for the retail model, while our unit came with a Samsung PM9E1 PCIe Gen 5 SSD.

The RTX 5070 Laptop GPU (8 GB of GDDR7, with a 100 W target and another 15 W available through Dynamic Boost) is where the GR70 becomes especially relevant to our chart set, since the MINISFORUM AtomMan G7 Pro uses the same GPU class alongside Intel's Core i9-14900HX. The NZXT H2 gives us a—much larger—comparison point with its Core Ultra i9-285K and RTX 5080, but the more direct fight is against the AtomMan G7 Pro because both systems use compact hardware to deliver high-end gaming performance.

Connectivity is good for a compact gaming system, with one front USB-C port, two front USB-A ports, four rear USB-A ports, one rear USB4 Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1 ports, two DisplayPort 2.1 ports, 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and support for up to five displays at once. It also uses a 330 W external adapter and measures 282.4 by 187.7 by 56.6 mm.

ASUS confirmed a few final spec details during the review process. The RTX 5070 Laptop GPU uses 8 GB of GDDR7, and the final I/O layout is one front USB-C port, two front USB-A ports, four rear USB-A ports, and one rear USB-C port. The rear Type-C port is USB4, not Thunderbolt 4. Our pre-production unit reports a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D in HWiNFO, so I am listing the CPU based on the review unit tested. ASUS also confirmed that the closest retail model is the GR70-N90066AN at $2,800, with the main confirmed difference being memory: our unit has 64 GB, while the highest retail configuration currently ships with 32 GB.