Asus is about to launch a new range of mini-tower barebones models that will go under the T4 or Terminator 4 brand. The T4-series features a complete redesign compared to the previous T3 model, and looks a bit more up to date.

From what we know, the first model will feature the Intel G31 chipset and will as such work with Core 2 Duo and Quad processors. The motherboard should be mATX; if the information we have is correct then the motherboard will have a single x16 PCIe slot and a PCI slots. It will also have a pair of memory slots, four SATA connectors, onboard Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel sound with optical S/PDIF, FireWire and four USB 2.0 ports.

The case itself has a 5.25-inch drive bay and the second front flap, which hides a built-in card reader, also has a pair of USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port as well as a headphone and mic jack. There's also a small LCD display on the front, but we're not sure if this does more than just display the time. We wouldn't expect to find more than one or two 3.5-inch drive bays inside this tiny chassis.

There will also be a lower-end priced model based on the 945GC chipset. but this model only has one x16 PCIe slot and one PCI slot, which is (oddly enough) occupied by a PCI Ethernet card, as that model doesn't have onboard LAN.

We'll update you when we have more information on this new barebones model which we expect to see launched at CeBIT.