08.03.2019 
We recently received in testing one of ASUS' latest mini-PCs, called PB60G. Even if it is a small form factor PC, that does not stop it from being powerful. It comes with 8th generation Intel processors, up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, 4K Ultra HD video output and many ports, including USB 3.1 Gen2 and USB Type-C. Furthermore, it also boasts a modular design, which means that you can stack additional modules such as an optical media drive or a dedicated video card. If you want to find out more about the ASUS Mini PC PB60G and see how it performs in real life, read our review:
ASUS Mini PC PB60G: Who is it good for?
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G is an excellent choice for people who:
- Need a small form factor PC for their office, which does not take much space
- Want a Mini PC to which they can later add a powerful discrete video card
- Want to be able to connect many displays to their Mini PC (up to 7)
Pros and cons
There are many good things to say about the ASUS Mini PC PB60G:
- It has a modular design, meaning that you can stack additional components onto it, and it has a small footprint on your desk
- Simple looks and solid build quality
- You get to choose from multiple options in terms of processor, RAM, and storage
- Its price is dynamic, depending on the hardware you equip it with
- It has a wireless card that supports fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi networks
- It offers many ports, including HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.1 Gen 1 & 2 Type-A, and Type-C ports
- You can configure one of the ports on it to be VGA, DisplayPort, or COM so that it also supports legacy devices
- It is VESA-compatible
As for the negative aspects:
- Most of the USB ports are positioned on its front, including the Type-C port, and some people might not like that
- Its price can get very high if you choose the best possible hardware configuration
Verdict
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G is an excellent small form factor PC for business users as well as home users. If you work on a small desk where free space is important, but you also need a powerful PC with many connectivity options and ports, then we recommend that you at least try the ASUS Mini PC PB60G. It is an excellent device for Office work, professional multimedia editing, browsing the internet, listening to music or watching videos, and it is also a great option if you work with multiple monitors. It can even do a decent job with gaming too if you are not too picky and you add the Nvidia Quadro P1000 video card module to it. All in all, the ASUS PB60G is an excellent mini PC at a reasonable price.
Unboxing the ASUS Mini PC PB60G
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G comes in a medium sized box, made of premium cardboard. Its sides are dark gray, while the top and bottom use a shade of light gray. On its top side, ASUS printed a large picture of the Mini PC and its series name. On the back, you can see the serial numbers of your new device.
Inside the box, there is the ASUS Mini PC PB60G, its AC adapter, a VESA mount kit, a stand, and all the standard documentation: the quickstart guide and the warranty card. In some regions, ASUS also offers a Chrome wireless keyboard and mouse.
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G comes in a premium box, and bundles everything you would expect it from, plus more. Our first impression is positive.
Hardware specifications
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G draws its power from an Intel processor that, depending on your model, can be an Intel 8th generation Core i7-8700T, Core i5-8400T, Core i3-8100T, or Pentium Gold G5400T.
The sample that we tested came with the six-core Intel Core i7 8700T processor running at 2.40 GHz and up to 4 GHz in turbo mode. It is an excellent processor that was launched in the second quarter of 2018. It has six cores and 12 threads, a cache memory of 12 MB, and a maximum TDP of 35 Watts.
The processor is complemented by up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM running at a frequency of 2400MHz, on two SO-DIMM slots. The Mini PC that we tested had the maximum 32 GB of RAM installed.
The basic graphics are handled by the Intel HD integrated chip offered by the processor: Intel UHD Graphics 630. It offers support for 4K, at a maximum resolution of 4096 x 2304 pixels and a frequency of 60 Hz. The video chip's base frequency is of 350 MHz, and the maximum is 1.20 GHz. It also offers support for DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5.
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G has a stackable, modular design that lets you easily add optional components, such as an optical drive or a dedicated video card to it. It lets you adapt your Mini PC to your needs, and that is a good thing. Together with the Mini PC that we received for testing, we also got an optional component: an Nvidia Quadro P1000 video card.
The NVIDIA P1000 is a small form-factor professional graphics card. It is equipped with a 640 CUDA core Pascal GPU, 4GB GDDR5, and supports up to for four 4K displays with a native resolution of 4096x2160 at 60Hz.
As for storage, you can choose to equip the ASUS Mini PC PB60G with a 2.5" hard drive of 500GB up to 1TB, or an NVMe SSD drive of 128GB up to 256GB. The one we tested had a 256GB SSD made by Samsung.
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G is also generous with the ports and the connectivity options it offers. For starters, you get a wired network card capable of data transfers at 10/100/1000 Mbps, and a wireless card that supports the 802.11a/b/g/n/ac network standards and Bluetooth 5. On its front side, the ASUS Mini PC PB60G has one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A and two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, one combo audio jack, and one microphone jack.
On its back, there are two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 port, one HDMI, one DisplayPort, one RJ45 LAN, one Kensington Lock, one power input, and one configurable port for which you can choose COM, VGA, or DisplayPort.
Without any additional components mounted, the Mini PC has a small size: 6.89 x 6.89 x 2.76 inches (175 x 175 x 70.2 mm) in width x depth x height. If you stack the Nvidia Quadro P1000 or another component, the Mini PC's dimensions double in height. You should also know that the Mini PC weighs only 3.51 pounds or 1.59 kg.
As for the operating system, you can buy the ASUS Mini PC PB60G with Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro installed. The model we reviewed had Windows 10 Pro installed on it.
If you want further details about all the official hardware specifications, you can find them here: ASUS Mini PC PB60G - Specifications.
Using the ASUS Mini PC PB60G
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G is a small device, but it's also a good example of powerful technology. Although its dimensions are restrictive, ASUS managed to squeeze inside enough computing power to match a desktop PC. That makes it an excellent choice for offices and businesses which need powerful computers but prefer them in small size.
Although many of its components are likely similar to the ones you would find in a laptop, the connectivity options and ports available on it are just as numerous as you would get on a full-fledged desktop PC. Here's a look at just how many of them you find on the back of the mini PC:
Furthermore, the front side of the mini PC also hosts another five USB 3.1 ports (4 USB Type-A and one USB Type-C). However, although this is impressive, there is also a negative aspect: most of the USB ports are on the front, not on the back of the mini PC. That means that your desk can easily become cluttered if you use many USB devices. On the other hand, if you use a wireless keyboard and mouse that connect via Bluetooth, you should not need all the USB ports. 🙂
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G that we tested had the most powerful processor available for it (the Intel Core i7-8700T), the highest amount of RAM possible (32GB), and the additional Nvidia Quadro P1000 video card, as a stackable module. All these components make it a powerful device, especially considering its small size. As you can imagine, tasks such as surfing the internet, working with Office apps and watching 4K videos are easily handled by the mini PC. It can also handle professional multimedia apps (CAD, DCC, medical, prospection, and visualizing applications).
Another nice thing about the ASUS Mini PC PB60G is that you can mount it on the back of your computer monitor or TV because it's VESA-compatible.
While we used it, we also appreciated how silent the ASUS Mini PC PB60G is, although it has coolers both for its processor and for its stackable video card module.
Finally, even though the ASUS Mini PC PB60G is designed mainly for professionals and businesses, where office work is the main objective, we also wanted to see how it fares in 3D games. We found out that the Nvidia Quadro P1000 graphics card is powerful enough to let you play any game you want, although demanding ones can only run at low quality. In less demanding games such as League of Legends or Diablo 3, however, the framerates we saw were more than satisfactory. For instance, in League of Legends, we consistently got over 100 fps.
The ASUS Mini PC PB60G is a mini PC that offers plenty of computing power and a lot of ports and connectivity options. The mini PC looks good, and you can mount it on the back of any computer monitor or TV that's VESA compatible, making it an excellent choice for small desks. If you also add the fact that it supports up to seven displays at 4K resolutions (with the Nvidia Quadro P1000 module), you understand why we like it.
On the next page of this review, you can find out more about the apps bundled with the ASUS Mini PC PB60G, and the performance we measured in various benchmarks.
