Asus makes gaming PCs. And Asus makes mini PCs. And now that the company has largely taken over Intel’s NUC line of compact computers, it’s bringing those two things together with the launch of the first ROG NUC compact gaming desktop.
The little computer has a 2.5 liter chassis that houses up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 Meteor Lake processor, up NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, and enough cooling power to allow those components to consume more power than they would in a laptop for better sustained performance.
For example the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and Core Ultra 9 185H processors that are available in this little computer are designed to be 45-watt chips made for laptops and mini PCs. But Asus says they can run at up to 65 watts in the ROG NUC. And the company uses 115-watt NVIDIA GPUs for the little computer, but allows them to run at up to 140 watts.
The ROG NUC measures 270 x 180 x 50mm (10.6″ x 7.1″ x 2″), and features RGB lighting, because… gaming. But it also has a more console-like design than a typical business-professional 4×4 NUC system, but it’s got a reasonably flexible design: you can lay it down horizontally or prop it up vertically with the help of a stand.
Asus says you can open the case without using any tools, making it easy to perform upgrades, repairs, or just clean out dust.
Inside the case, there’s dual-channel DDR5-5600 memory and an Intel Killer WiFi 6E AX1690i wireless card. And Asus says the system can drive up to four 4K displays, thanks to a set of ports that includes Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1a, DisplayPort 1.4, and 2.5 GbE Ethernet.
Pricing and availability haven’t been announced yet.
| Asus ROG NUC specs | ||
| Model | RNUC14SRKU7168A0I | RNUC14SRKU9189A0I |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H | Intel Core Ultra 9 185H |
| Graphics | Intel Arc (integrated) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (discrete) | Intel Arc (integrated) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (discrete) |
| RAM | Up to 32GB 2 x SODIMM slots DDR5 | |
| Storage | 3 x M.2 2280 slots PCIe Gen4x4 | |
| Front ports | 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1 x 3.5mm combo audio 1 x SD card reader | |
| Rear ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 4 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2 x DisplayPort 1.4a 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (Intel) 1 x DC power input | |
| Wireless | Intel Killer AX1690i WiFi 6E BT 5.3 | |
| Audio | Realtek ALC256 | |
| Power | 330W power adapter | |
| Dimensions | 270Â x 180 x 50mm | |
Now this is the kind of thing I’d love to get Steam OS on and make a modern Steam Machine out of.
Is this Michael king who went to Kennedy high school in burien?
Great for dorms, studio apartments, bungalows, RVs/campers. Even… Busses-turned-portable gaming cafe?
That’s not particularly compact, could be a “recycled” laptop motherboard just like on the Miniforum NUCXi7.
It has some interesting specs not seen on most NUCs though, like the full size SD card reader and the 3 x m2 slots that could attract creators for editing purposes.
Hopefully it allows 96GB of Ram and isn’t overpriced !
The available CPUs for this thing launched less than three months ago, there hasn’t been time for them to be recycled yet.