ASUS, a company popular for its line of enthusiast motherboards and gaming notebooks, recently unveiled three new Ivy Bridge powered desktop systems. Although specific pricing is still up in the air, the three systems span the range from low powered desktop systems to the high end enthusiast computer.

The ASUS CM6870 desktop is a low end desktop that is powered by Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processors (Core i3/i5/i7 Pentiums), up to 16GB of dual channel DDR3 1600MHz RAM, and a choice from a variety of low end (mainly HTPC class) discrete graphics cards including the NVIDIA GT640 on the top end and the AMD HD5450 on the low end. The system also has Gigabit LAN, up to 4TB of hard drive space, a 300W or 350W PSU, four USB 3.0 ports, 6 USB 2.0 ports, headphone/microphone jacks, and a 16-in-one card reader. The system runs Windows 7 Home Premium x64 or Windows 7 Home Basic x64.

The ASUS CG8270 features higher end CPU and GPU choices, making it suitable for entry level gaming. It uses either a Core i5 or Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor, up to 16GB of DDR3 1600MHz memory, up to 4TB of hard drive space, and up to a NVIDIA GTX560 Ti 1GB graphics card. The system comes with a 400W or 500W power supply, depending on what GPU the user chooses. It also features Gigabit LAN, headphone and microphone jacks, a 16-in-1 card reader, four USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and 8 channel analog audio output. This desktop has an angled brushed aluminum front panel and dark chassis. It also runs Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

Occupying the high end is the ASUS CG8580 desktop. At first glance, the desktop has a large black case with an angled design that sports the ROG (Republic of Gamers) branding. It has a front panel that opens up to reveal the drive bays and an LED light that illuminates the ASUS logo. The case further has five open vents to improve airflow. On the inside is a liquid cooled Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor, a NVIDIA GTX 680 (or GTX560 Ti SLI) graphics card, up to 16GB DDR3 1600MHz memory, up to 10TB of hard drive storage, dual 128GB SATA III SSDs in Raid 0, and a Xonar DX sound card (optional). IO includes headphone and microphone jacks, four USB 3.0 ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, PS/2 port, Gigabit LAN, 8 channel audio, S/PDIF out, and a 16-in-1 card reader. The desktop also comes with a 700W power supply. It comes equipped with Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

The back of the CG8580 Gaming Rig

The three Ivy Bridge powered desktops are coming soon, but there is no word yet on pricing. In the meantime, please check out our Intel Ivy Bridge and NVIDIA GTX 680 GPU reviews to brush up on the new architectures.