Asus' gaming brand, Republic of Gamers, has unveiled a new high-spec desktop replacement known as the ROG Mothership and it’s a monster.
This new device immediately strikes with a familiar resemblance to theMicrosoft Surface Prowith the way it stands tall on the desk. That’s where the similarity stops though.
It might have similar detachable design cues and be loosely referred to as a desktop replacement, but the Mothership is so much more. It’s a veritable gaming powerhouse in a small form factor.
Asus ROG Mothership (GZ700)
As you’re able to see from the specs, the Asus Mothership is no slouch. This is a powerfulgaming machinethat’s packed full of high-end tech.
There’s the brand new Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU alongside the incredible Intel Core i9-8950HK CPU. Combine that with up to 64 GB of DDR4 2666MHz SDRAM and NVMe SSD storage and you get a beastly gaming laptop with plenty of prowess.
As if that wasn’t enough, both the CPU and GPU have been factory overclocked to push them to their limits with the CPU running at 4.8GHz in Turbo mode.
All this power obviously requires a capable chassis to house it in. The ROG Mothership is designed to stand tall while you game - all part of a design that’s intended to pull air in and keep the machine running cool.
This shape came about when engineers sought to combat the problem with airflow in gaming laptops where cool air is drawn from below the machine via a gap between the base and the desk. With the components situated behind the screen, the Mothership is able to pull in air from behind the device instead.
This cooling system is also apparently self-cleaning and should provide efficient cooling even after heavy use.
It’s also built with a detachable keyboard and the ability to fold to fit different gaming situations. A hinged design allows for a variety of setup angles to suit your preference for a comfortable gaming session.
Like theAsus ROG Zephyrus S GX701, the Asus Mothership, is lovingly crafted from solid aluminium slabs using a CNC-milling process. This process apparently takes around 20 hours, which shows how much attention to detail goes into this machine.
This dedication to perfection carries on into the 17.3-inch Full HD IPS-level display that includesNvidia G-SYNC technologyand is capable of a 144Hz refresh rate with a 3ms response time.
The addition of the new GeForce RTX 2080 GPU means that gamers can enjoy the benefits ofreal-time ray tracing, artificial intelligence and programmable shading as they play. Smoother visuals and high frame rates should result in gaming joy too.
The Asus ROG Mothership is also capable of supporting up to three external displays via the various connectivity options. All these connection options also result in an overall experience that’s easily comparable with a desktop machine.
A variety of compatible software includes the Armoury Crate app that we saw in theAsus ROG Zephyrus S GX531which allows you to remotely control a variety of settings remotely via your smartphone. Everything from cooling to RGB lighting is controllable on-the-fly without pausing the action.
TheAsus ROG Mothership (GZ700)will be available in Q2 2019, pricing and regional configuration options will be announced nearer that time.
