Intel’s venture into creating tiny, semi-modular, yet remarkably powerful desktop computers, known as NUCs (Next Unit of Computing), faced challenges that eventually led to the discontinuation of the NUC division last year. However, in a surprising turn of events, Asus stepped in to embrace Intel’s dream, birthing the ROG NUC as the inaugural result of this collaboration. Positioned as a reimagining of the high-end NUC Extreme line, the ROG NUC squarely targets the gaming community.
Adopting the Republic of Gamers (ROG) sub-brand, the ROG NUC is a visual homage to Intel’s earlier designs, characterized by a slender form factor and an illuminated ROG eye logo, replacing the iconic skull. Within its compact 2.5-liter chassis resides the latest Core Ultra 7 or Core Ultra 9 CPU with a maximum power consumption of 65 watts, accompanied by an Nvidia RTX 4060 or 4070 graphics card (140w max), up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM utilizing laptop SO-DIMMs, and an impressive three M.2 Gen4 2280 slots for storage.
The front panel of the box features a full-size SD card reader, complemented by dual USB-A ports and audio jacks. Turning to the rear, users are greeted with a powerful Thunderbolt 4 port (capable of handling DP2.1), four USB-A ports (with only two operating at full-speed 3.2 Gen 2 spec), HDMI, dual DisplayPort, and 2.5-gig Ethernet. Asus claims that leveraging all three video ports and Thunderbolt enables the ROG NUC to run four 4K displays simultaneously. Integrated Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 further enhance its connectivity options.
Although Asus touts a “toolless” design and the possibility of customizing the integrated logo, the extent of user accessibility to the hardware remains unclear. While the GPU is described as “discrete,” it is likely a mobile card soldered to the motherboard. The primary points of customization seem to revolve around the RAM and storage.
Pricing details for this intriguing kit, presumably excluding memory and storage, are yet to be disclosed. Anticipated to launch within this calendar year, the Asus promotional page provides minimal information on the release specifics.
