Greater than a 12 months has handed since Asus’ acquisition of the NUC model from Intel, which marked the primary main change the model had seen since Intel launched it again in 2013.
After greater than a decade of continuity — together with final 12 months’s transition 12 months the place Intel nonetheless had a say on design — this would be the actual first 12 months wherein Asus has completed a lot of the groundwork, fronting up with its personal designs and improvements. So how is the NUC totally different now on this new period? I spoke to Kuo Wei Chao, common supervisor of Asus IoT enterprise unit, to seek out out.
The brand new Asus NUC fashions and 2025 focus
The Asus NUC lineup introduced at CES 2025 in Las Vegas included the NUC 14 AI and the extra premium NUC 14 Professional AI+ with 48 TOPS NPU AI energy and a devoted Copilot+ button for fast entry to the AI assistant. They had been on show alongside two new highly effective mini-PCs for on a regular basis use that includes the newest Intel Core Extremely (Sequence 2) chips: the NUC 15 and NUC 15 Professional+.
A fourth mannequin, the NUC 14 Important is the effectivity workhorse, designed to supply most efficiency whereas sipping tiny quantities of energy. Final however definitely not least, Asus’ ROG NUC makes a comeback with essentially the most highly effective CPU and GPU mixture we’ve seen thus far.
Chao mentioned Asus’ focus for its second 12 months of NUC is threefold. Like different PCs at CES 2025, the addition of AI {hardware} is an enormous change permitting customers a excessive diploma of AI activity mobility. Asus can be eager to speak its dedication to “improving performance while keeping NUC sizes as small as possible.”
The third focus reeks of Asus’ firm ethos and is arguably the explanation why it has been so profitable with product traces just like the Asus ROG gaming laptops. Chao mentioned there was a concerted effort to “incorporate a lot of user feedback in the NUC range.” In different phrases, it has added options and design components that particularly tailor the NUC expertise to what customers need.
However what does all that product speak truly imply? I picked one mannequin, the 2025 ROG NUC to seek out out!
The Asus NUC 14 Important
Asus
The 2025 Asus ROG NUC leads the cost
The Asus ROG NUC is probably essentially the most spectacular of the 2025 NUCs, and the most effective instance of these Asus modifications to the NUC model in motion.
Right here Asus has not solely elevated the efficiency energy on provide by bumping the ROG NUC’s CPU and GPU as much as an Intel Core Extremely 9 cell CPU and cell Blackwell variant of the Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, respectively — each titans of Intel and Nvidia’s 2025 efficiency choices — however it has additionally made cooling, upgradability, and connectivity priorities in 2025.
Asus didn’t reveal what mannequin of the Intel Core Extremely 9 (Sequence 2) chip it has used within the 2025 ROG NUC at CES, however based mostly on the turbo clock velocity of 5.5GHz within the specs sheet, I surmise that it might probably solely be Intel’s flagship Arrow Lake cell CPU, the Intel Core Extremely 9 285HX.
No different mini gaming PC introduced at CES is as stacked for efficiency, upgradable, overclockable, and but so transportable.
The 2025 Asus ROG NUC.
Asus
It goes with out saying that’s one heck of a chip. It places 24 cores of uncooked processing energy at your disposal, together with 36 TOPS of AI energy to capitalize on improvements in AI.
Personally, I’m unsure what 5.5GHz seems to be like in a sport, not to mention the type of efficiency I’d get when that’s paired with 16GB of quick DDR5-6400 reminiscence and the 7,680 CUDA cores within the RTX 5080. However I’m actually excited to seek out out.
The RTX 5080 GPU specifically is a good selection in {hardware}. It means the 2025 ROG NUC’s GPU will likely be absolutely suitable with Nvidia’s new DLSS 4 AI know-how so it might probably entry a full suite of options together with Nvidia’s Multi Body Era, which older Nvidia RTX GPUs can not.
Extra modifications together with overclocking
One other cherry on high of the cake with this 12 months’s ROG NUC is, await it… overclocking! Yep, the bump up from an Intel H collection chip in 2024 to an Intel cell HX Sequence Arrow Lake chip in 2025 offers players extra management over their NUC’s most CPU velocity, for the primary time.
Overclocking is completed in Asus’ Armory Crate software program, the place players may also management their fan velocity settings.
Among the many different cascade of modifications is a “more comprehensive cooling system,” Chao defined. “It comprises an integrated triple-fan design with twin vapor chambers that not only provides enhanced cooling but also makes the 2025 ROG quieter than its 2024 counterpart,” he mentioned. It really works along with a perforated chassis that gives extra airflow than earlier than, too.
Asus’ NUC mini-PC lineup. The Asus ROG NUC is proven high left.
Asus
A brand new chassis measurement measuring 11.1 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches does make this 12 months’s mannequin barely bigger (3 liters versus 2.5 liters in quantity), however the bigger measurement gives customers with “more capacity to upgrade,” Chao promised.
“We upgraded the CPU to support a higher TDP and reserved some buffers because we know that many gamers want to overclock and increase performance. So, gamers who want to upgrade, it will be easier to do that,” he mentioned.
In regard to that upgradability, the 16GB starter RAM might be expanded to a whopping 96GB. Swapping out RAM can be made simpler by a brand new single-screw design that permits players to entry the interior elements in seconds.
Connectivity choices galore
The ROG NUC additionally hits the proper be aware with connectivity. In actual fact, the I/O lists off like a high quality wine menu, together with a minimum of 6x USB-A 3.2 ports, 2x HDMI 2.1 FRL ports, and 2x DisplayPort 2.1 ports. It additionally has a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port, a 3.5mm combo jack, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 make up the wi-fi connectivity.
The selection of Thunderbolt 4 port as a substitute of the newer Thunderbolt 5 is an fascinating selection contemplating that Asus’ personal 2025 XG Cell eGPU makes use of the latter this 12 months. On that time Chao mentioned:
“We listened and had many discussions with gamers. I think that Thunderbolt 5 would be very important in the long term. But I think right now, from an ecosystem perspective, it’s not so complete and in its infancy. So, we focused on what the majority want and the best choice for gamers in 2025 — that’s Thunderbolt 4.”
On high of all that, Asus’ ROG branding brings the machine according to Asus’ ROG portfolio aesthetically.
If you happen to’re pondering Asus simply received over a complete lot of players this 12 months, it’s possible you’ll be proper. No different mini gaming PC introduced at CES is as upgradable, overclockable, stacked for efficiency, and but so transportable. Let’s hope it lives as much as expectations.
