Beyond the many products that Taiwanese computing brand ASUS has for the consumer market, the company does cater to businesses too. One example is the ExpertCentre P500SV desktop tower, launched today alongside the ExpertBook laptops. It comes with a wide range of tools to make sure you get the job done, and as seamlessly as possible. This also includes scenarios where the job is opening it up and upgrading it, ensuring you don’t need tools yourself.
Of course, the nature of the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV means that, it’s strictly meant for business. And it’s expected to last too – the elements to some degree, but also the test of time. With all that being said, is this something for the business you’re running? Let’s find out.
What Am I Looking At?
At its core, the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV is a desktop tower that you buy, plug it in, and immediately start being productive. You even get a wired keyboard and mouse bundled in with your purchase. So while that step may involve a handful of things to actually plug in, you’re good to go once that’s done.
And once you do get going, the package will give you little reason to stop. Well, mostly – your mileage may vary when it comes to the McAfee Plus Premium that it comes bundled with. But beyond that, you’ve got a commercial-grade BIOS and at least five years of BIOS and driver updates. Speaking of commercial-grade, the company has made sure that the motherboard in the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV has capacitors that lasts twice as long, even when under heavy load.
Then you go into the software side of things, and that’s where you get AI-based tools to smoothen out the work process. This includes generating minutes based on the online meeting you just had, or noise-cancellation while it is ongoing. When multiple languages are involved, you get subs for it live, too. Finally, there’s webcam watermark that lets you overlay things over your webcam feed, be it contact details or, well, your traditional watermark over your presentation. All this is wrapped under the AI ExpertMeet umbrella.
What’s Good About It?
Part of what makes the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV good is, as mentioned earlier, the way it can be used immediately after you pull it out of the box. That part of the process is also pretty easy, as the thing weighs only slightly over 5kg. You get a good variety of ports, though in today’s day and age it could do with more USB-C ports.
While in use, the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV is operating quietly, even when under heavy load. The company claims that it performs as quiet as the rustling of leaves while in its Performance mode. And indeed, while running synthetic benchmarks, the AC fan in our office was more audible than the desktop tower. Granted, there are limits to what it can do at full load, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
If there comes a time when you decide the machine needs more memory or storage, it’s pretty easy to get that done too. As mentioned earlier, the tool-less design means you don’t need a screwdriver handy. And while ASUS gives the ExpertCentre P500SV a single stick of 16GB RAM by default, it has two slots and can support up to 64GB. Similarly, by default it has a 512GB M.2 SSD, but you can pack two 1TB M.2 SSDs and one 2TB HDD in there if you choose to.
What’s The Catch?
For what is essentially a workstation, the ExpertCentre P500SV is pretty good for what it does, and what it costs. But if there was something for me to complain about, it’s that it’s strictly a work machine. Solidifying this characterisation is the NVIDIA RTX A400 GPU.
To start with, it’s not a particularly powerful GPU as it is. Adding on to that is its being optimised for accelerating workflows with AI. Sure, you can game on the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV to some degree. But ultimately it is not made for it, so the experience will always be one that’s not optimal.
Should I Buy It?
With prices ranging from RM3,599 to RM4,099, the ASUS ExpertCentre P500SV is a pretty good pick for businesses looking to supply a small office. And for what it is meant to do, it does well enough. Jury’s out on the longevity claims as far as this review is concerned though.
That being said, a lot of its productivity chops is tied to the AI ExpertMeet suite of tools. That, plus the Copilot tools that Microsoft has left accessible by default, should tide you over for non-graphically intensive tasks.
Of course, beyond productivity, it’s good for the most basic of entertainment. Think music, videos, and social media. Going any further and stepping into gaming territory besides, say, solitaire, will likely be an exercise in futility. But then again, that’s not exactly a bad thing for a purely work machine.
