When it involves the tiniest of PC type components, the NUC is difficult to beat however the compact dimensions often imply you aren’t getting the most effective of {hardware} inside. The 2025 model of the Asus ROG NUC, although, boasts among the absolute best new elements available on the market. The solely drawback is that the worth is perhaps so excessive that you possibly can properly be higher off simply getting a desktop PC or laptop computer.
For these unfamiliar with the time period NUC, it stems from an innovation drive by Intel round 12 years in the past. The Next Unit of Computing was speculated to convey highly effective but tiny computer systems to properties and places of work world wide however regardless of being comparatively fashionable in enterprise and schooling, it by no means actually caught on with basic shoppers. In 2013, Intel pulled the plug on its NUCs and handed the baton over to Asus, which has been ‘gamifying’ the NUC since then.
Essentially nothing greater than the innards of a gaming laptop computer stuffed right into a tiny field, the ROG NUC eschews the normal boring design for one thing significantly extra bling. However, two issues have stood of their means of turning into an outright triumph: one, the selection of {hardware}, and two, the very excessive price ticket.
In the case of the previous, the 2025 model of the ROG NUC appears to be like set to deal with these issues on all fronts. CPU-wise you get the selection of a Core Ultra 9 or 7 Series 2 ARL-HX, aka laptop computer variations of Intel’s Arrow Lake chips. While the desktop variations aren’t wonderful for gaming, their low energy consumption is more likely to be a boon on this format.
For the second, there’s just one selection of GPU and that is the brand new GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile. The Blackwell structure is all about AI wizardry for gaming however exterior of that scope, you are still getting 7,680 CUDA cores and 16 GB of GDDR7 VRAM.
It’s not clear at this stage what energy restrict Asus will use with the chip however I believe neither the CPU nor GPU will have the ability to attain their full capability, as it might imply a mixed TDP of 310 W and that is an excessive amount of for a NUC to take care of.
Asus says the NUC’s cooling answer is sweet for 135 W which could appear very low however Arrow Lake actually does not use a lot energy when processing video games. That stated, it does not go away an enormous quantity for the GPU.
It’s excellent news on the RAM entrance, although, because the 2025 ROG NUC sports activities between 16 and 96 GB of DDR5-6400. While I’d have most well-liked 32 GB to have been the minimal spec, I’m happy to see that Asus has paired the cell Arrow Lake with the quickest base RAM that it helps and it ought to go no small means to assist counter its comparatively weak gaming chops.
For storage, you’ve got received a 1 or 2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and only a single screw separates you and the chassis if you wish to improve it for one thing much more substantial.
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Connectivity-wise, the 2025 ROG NUC is fairly first rate—a WiFi 7 module and a couple of.Fifth Generation Ethernet socket for fast downloads and 4 show sockets (2x DisplayPort 2.1 and 2x HDMI 2.1). Round the again, there’s one Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port and 4 10 Gbps USB Type-A ports, with an extra three (1x 20 Gbps Type-C, 2x 10 Gbps Type-A) within the entrance.
The foremost cause why one would ever contemplate the ROG NUC is, in fact, its tiny dimension. With a quantity of simply 3 litres, the footprint is so small that you possibly can pop it anyplace in your desk and barely discover it. However, the design means that it may possibly solely be utilized in a vertical association and whereas that is nice for not cluttering up your desk, it is not excellent if you wish to tuck it beneath a monitor.
Whether the 2025 Asus ROG NUC fares any higher than its predecessors will come right down to the worth. Previous fashions have been massively costly, although Asus has shaved a good bit of their value tags of late. But even so, you are still over £1,600 only for an RTX 4060 mannequin.
For that form of cash, you would be higher off constructing your individual SFF gaming rig or simply getting a good gaming laptop computer. Neither shall be as compact because the ROG NUC, however you are actually getting much more in your cash.
Let’s hope the brand new 12 months and new NUC are paired with a brand new, wise value.
