ASUS launched a new series of commercial PCs under the Expert series which include laptops and desktop.

Currently, in Malaysia, there are only a handful ExpertCenter models available; the ExpertCenter D3, ExpertCenter D6 and ExpertCenter D7.

Thanks to the folk from ASUS Malaysia, we received the ASUS ExpertCenter D3 Tower D300TA for review and, this is also our first pre-built desktop review.

Check out our first look of the desktop tower;

The ASUS ExpertCenter may not be an average desktop that to be used in the household but, with the PCs shortage situation, this Commercial PC could be an option for work from home and student online classes.

Nevertheless, the build and specification are business-grade with pre-installed Microsoft Windows 10 Professional. ASUS told us that, this desktop has no fixed pricing as it’s a highly customizable desktop to tailored the user’s environment need.

Design

To my surprise, the outlook of the mid-tower size PC is not as boring as per what “Commercial Desktop” that I imagine. There are some textures on the front cover that features a DVD drive, USB ports, audio ports and power button. I wouldn’t mind to place it on the table next to the monitor.

If you opt with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, it comes with a magnetic antenna that sticks on the case.

There are plenty of ports that you could possibly need. On the front casing, there are four USB Type-A ports (2x USB 2.0 & 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1), earphone and mic ports.

As on the rear, there are also four USB Type-A ports (2x USB 2.0 & 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1), HDMI and VGA output that supports dual monitor, a Gigabit LAN port and audio I/O. Unfortunately, no USB Type-C to be found.

The desktop is MIL-STD 810G US military standards certified that withstand 11 heavy load stress tests.

Expandability

Most common problem with pre-build desktop is expandability. Due to some proprietary hardware and design, upgrades are limited. The ExpertCenter D3 Tower D300TA is exception, due to mid-tower size, most of the components inside is quite flexible.

There are an empty Memory DIMM slot where it can go up to 64GB DDR4 3,200Mhz, a M.2 slot for faster storage, a SATA connector for SSD/HDD expansion, a 16x PCIe 3.0 slot for graphic card upgrade and a 1x PCIe 3.0.

ASUS uses a reliable 300W Power Supply Unit rated with 80+ Bronze for better efficiency. Due to only 300W PSU used on this desktop, the graphic upgrade option would only be limited to lower power consumption discrete card and the best it can go is NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 that doesn’t require any external power.

Security

Beside hardware security offered to the desktop like Kensington & Padlock slot and Trusted Platform Module. ASUS also has pre-installed ASUS Business Manager software that allows easy to monitor your system, get updates and even security management like USB drive read/write control which is nifty for centralized IT management.

• 

• 

• 

Performance

The Intel Core i5 10500 with 8GB of RAM that I have here is pretty good and more than enough for everyday business use. If you need higher processing power, the ASUS ExpertCenter D3 Tower D300TA can be beefed up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 and 64GB of RAM.

Here is PCMark 10 synthetic benchmark result;

Despite there are no casing fans installed on the case, the thermals are pretty well controlled with CPU peak temperature at 64°C max during the PCMark benchmark test. There is plenty of room and mesh for heats dissipated.

It uses an outdated 3.5-inch mechanical drive as a boot drive which kinda surprises since SSD drive price has come to a more affordable price point. This may not be an issue for those who are using it for light processing like data entry, POS and etc.

Price

Pricing of the ASUS ExpertCenter D3 Tower D300TA is varying to customization needs. ASUS allows complement some of the hardware like CPU, GPU, Storage, Connectivities & Ports for different environments needs.

You may reach ASUS Malaysia for enquiries and quotation: https://www.asus.com/my/event/ContactUsCommercial