Among a sea of laptops at CES 2026, Asus’ ROG G1000 desktop stood out with its impressive size, sophisticated lighting features, and robust cooling system. And hey, it has holograms. The future is now!
The new-look ROG is aimed squarely at hard-core gamers, offering up to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. There’s a lot going on under the hood, but the real draw here is the case design, with three-zone airflow and customizable holographic side and front panels.
I was able to go hands on with this towering PC at an Asus CES preview event in New York. You can see a quick rundown in the video here; we’ve included lots more details and pictures below.
ROG G1000 Design: A Holographic Head Turner
Right off the bat, I could see that this was no system for the faint of heart. It’s a huge tower, with plenty of RGB flair.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Sure, lots of desktops will give you lighting elements like a strip along the top cooling chamber and down the front panel, but you won’t find anything like this Asus model’s eye-catching holographic animations. Both the side and front glass panels are outfitted with what the company calls “ROG AniMe Holo”—fast-spinning LED light bars mounted to the inside of the glass, whose rotation gives the hologram-in-motion effect.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
During the preview, Asus had these animated lights show custom company branding (the ROG logo on the side panel, and an ROG drink can on the front). During my hands-on time, I watched the ROG logo move upward and out of view, while the ROG beverage can rotated in place like an advertisement for an energy drink.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
It’s a pretty cool effect, and in a world of RGB-laden gaming gear, it stands out from the pack. End users can customize the visuals for themselves, though we won’t know the limitations until we get our hands on the system. Dancing lights may stray a little into gimmick territory, but most other RGB lighting effects and other flourishes can get garish, too. A desktop this big is made to be seen, so you may as well lean into the conversation-piece aspects.
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(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Three-Zone Cooling Is Key
The hologram lighting is the most visually obvious feature, but Asus put even more thought into the (less-visible) cooling system, with a dedicated CPU cooling chamber at the top of the chassis as part of a three-zone airflow design. This isn’t the first setup of its kind, but Asus takes it to the max, and it’s key in keeping the high-end components cool.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The top compartment houses the all-in-one CPU cooler’s 420mm radiator, a much larger solution than can fit in most cases. Cool air is pulled directly into this chamber from the sides, and warm air blown out the top—and the case offers a ton of surface area to let the machine breathe this way.
The Asus representative on hand demonstrated the airflow with a piece of paper, showing how much it fluttered from the airflow into and out of the case, even when the system wasn’t under load. (Below, some tissue paper is shown being pulled in against the side intake and partially suspended on the top exhaust.) While the event space was noisy, I couldn’t hear much noise out of the fans when I moved in close—though I would also have to judge how that changed while gaming.
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(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The other two cooling zones are located at the very bottom of the case, where the power supply unit (PSU) is housed in its own chamber, and in the middle section. The bottom compartment pulls in cool air, sends it across the PSU, and then out the back of the case without mixing with the middle zone (which houses the motherboard and thus the memory, graphics card, and processor, though the latter is taken care of with the liquid cooling system and top chamber). Cool air runs straight through the front of the case and out the back—itself not revolutionary, but more efficient since this zone is separate from the other two portions.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The rest of the build is admirable too, put together cleanly inside and offering some useful quick-control keys for the fans and holo effects on the top panel. The case also offers tool-free access, and it can house standardized components for future upgrades.
While Asus hasn’t shared the full range of specs options at this early stage, the ceiling—an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU—should excite and satisfy anyone. Asus packs that processing power into an X870 motherboard, with support for DDR5 memory and Asus’ auto-optimizing AEMP II.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
We’ll have to wait for systems to become available to test the efficacy of this monstrous build ourselves, so check back later this year for more coverage.
About Our Expert
Matthew Buzzi
Principal Writer, Hardware
Experience
I’ve been a consumer PC expert at PCMag for 10 years, and I love PC gaming. I’ve played games on my computer for as long as I can remember, which eventually (as it does for many) led me to build and upgrade my own desktops to this day. Through my years at PCMag, I’ve tested and reviewed many, many dozens of laptops and desktops, and I am always happy to recommend a PC for your needs and budget.