Intel’s Meteor Lake H-series processors promise modest gains in CPU performance over the previous-gen Raptor Lake chips, but big boosts in graphics performance. And while many of the first Meteor Lake PCs announced were laptops, they’re also starting to show up in compact desktop computers.
The new ASRock NUC Ultra 100 Box and NUCS Ultra 100 Box series mini PCs support up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 96GB of RAM, and video output to as many as four 4K displays.
Both lines of little computers are pretty similar to the 4×4 NUC form-factor, with bodies that measure 117.5 x 110mm (4.63″ x 4.33″). The key difference is the that NUC Ultra 100 BOX measures 49mm (1.93″) tall and has room for a 2.5 inch hard drive or SSD, while the NUCS Ultra 100 Box is a shorter system at 38mm (1.5″) and has no room for a hard drive. There are also some differences in the port selection.
ASRock offers models with a choice of 14-core, 18-thread Core 5 Ultra 125H or 16-core, 22-thread Core Ultra 7 155H chips. Both processors feature Intel Arc graphics for up to 2X the GPU performance you’d get from a previous-gen Raptor Lake-P chip, making these little computers viable systems for entry-level gaming, video editing, or other tasks… but if you want discrete-level graphics, you may want to leverage the single Thunderbolt 4 port to connect a graphics dock (or look to another computer entirely).
Intel’s Meteor Lake chips also feature a neural processing unit for hardware-accelerated AI tasks, enabling Windows Studio Effects for video calls, hardware-accelerated photo and video editing effects, and other edge AI applications.
ASRock hasn’t announced how much these systems will cost or when you’ll be able to buy them, but the company has released detailed specs for all models.
| NUCS BOX-155H | NUCS BOX-125H | NUC BOX-155H | NUC BOX-125H | |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/8 Xe cores | Intel Core Ultra 5 125H 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/7 Xe cores | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/8 Xe cores | Intel Core Ultra 5 125H 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/7 Xe cores |
| RAM | Up to 96GB (48GB per DIMM) DDR5-5600 2 x SODIMM slots Dual Channel | |||
| Storage | 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 1 x M.2 2242 PCIe Gen 4 x1 | 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 1 x M.2 2242 PCIe Gen 4 x1 1 x 2.5″ SATA 3.0 HDD or SSD | ||
| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (w/DisplayPort Alt Mode) 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2 x HDMI 2.1 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (Intel I226LM 1 x 3.5mm audio | 1 x Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (w/DisplayPort Alt Mode) 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2 x HDMI 2.1 2 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (1 x Intel I226LM + 1 x Intel I226V) 1 x 3.5mm audio | ||
| Wireless | WiFi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 | |||
| Power supply | 19V/120W | 19V/90W | 19V/120W | 19V/90W |
| Dimensions | 117.5 x 110 x 38mm 4.63″ x 4.33″ x 1.5″ | 117.5 x 110 x 49mm 4.63″ x 4.33″ x 1.93″ | ||
| Weight | 1 kg 2.2 pounds | |||
ASRock is one of the first companies to unveil Meteor Lake mini PCs, but we’ll likely see many others in the coming months. Chinese PC maker MECHREVO recently introduced the imini Pro Mac Mini lookalike with a Core Ultra 5 125H processor for the Chinese market.
It’s a crying Shame that AMD released no Ryzen 6000G or Ryzen 7000G socket packaged processors(Desktop G series APUs) for the DIY market and for any ASRock Desk Mini or InWin Chopin system builds. And Intel added to that by releasing no Meteor Lake S Socket Packaged variants and so no Intel based ASRock Desk Mini or Inwin Chopin Builds as well as those systems/builds are using socket packaged processors with the iGPUs. And Ryzen 5000G/Vega 8CU was the last of the desktop G series APU released by AMD. And the Intel processor offerings with that 96EU graphics that’s been around since Alder Lake, and maybe a little before, that’s been carried through to Raptor Lake/Raptor Lake R and that’s the last integrated graphics for any socket packaged APUs/SOCs from either x86 maker.
And so we have these Mini desktop PCs that are based on BGA Packaged “Mobile” Processors where there’s no upgrading or replacing of the processor possible(Soldered to the MB) but they are in some instances being given cTDPs as high as 70W in some Ryzen(7840 Series) based Minisforum/BeeLink systems as the OEMs have provided sufficient cooling solutions to handle the wattage and ETA Prime has tested many of these systems. And that’s a higher cTDP for a BGA based Ryzen APU than was allotted any Ryzen G series Desktop APU that was usually allotted 65W cTDP max Like the Ryzen 3400G in my ASRock X300 Desk Mini or the Ryzen 5700G that I’m considering upgrading my Desk Mini to.
But these systems are hard to get via Micro Center as their Mini Desktop PC selections are so limited to some Ryzen 4000U series ASUS Mini Desktop PCs and various Intel 11th/12th generation NUCs offerings. Micro Center even stopped carrying the ASRock X300 Desk Mini just as I was considering building a second system built around the 5700G and repurposing my other Desk Mini for a NAS Build.
I sure wish that the 2nd M.2 on these Intel Meteor Lake based offerings was PCIe x4 instead of x1 and Intel’s usually offering better I/O and PCIe lane count and other connectivity features for Intel’s mobile platforms than AMD offers for its Ryzen mobile platform.
They release them already? There are socketed Zen 4 Apu now.