Gigabyte’s Aorus Model S 12th is a Compact Mini-ITX Gaming System That Doesn’t Rely on Liquid Cooling

Gigabyte has tried its luck at building compact gaming systems in the past, mainly part of its BRIX family of mini PCs, but none really took off. Last year the company introduced the Aorus Model S, although it didn’t seem to garner much traction either, but it seems like Gigabyte is ready to give it another try, as the Model S 12th was introduced at Computex last week. Unfortunately there was no-one at the Gigabyte booth at the time that could tell us anything about it, so we had to go and dig up some details on our own. The base model appears to come with an Intel Core i7-12700K processor, which is fitted to a Z690 based Mini-ITX motherboard, paired with 32 GB of DDR5 4800 MHz memory. There’s also a GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card with 8 GB of memory and a 2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

However, what makes this system a bit special, is that it has a massive combined CPU and GPU cooler, with the entire system being cooled by one 120 mm and one 140 mm fan. The design is reminiscent of the Corsair One, albeit a bit more square and not quite as refined. The Model S 12th comes with all the features you’d expect from a higher-end PC these days, such as 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) port and a 750 W 80 Plus gold rated PSU. The system measures 190 x 189 x 400 mm (WxDxH) and has a volume of 14 litres. A decent, if not spectacular specification, although as we don’t know the pricing, it’s hard to say if it’ll be good value or not.