How iconic NUC mini-PCs are being reimagined for a new era

More than a year has passed since Asus’ acquisition of the NUC brand from Intel, which marked the first major change the brand had seen since Intel launched it back in 2013.

After more than a decade of continuity — including last year’s transition year where Intel still had a say on design — this will be the real first year in which Asus has done most of the groundwork, fronting up with its own designs and innovations. So how is the NUC different now in this new era? I spoke to Kuo Wei Chao, general manager of Asus IoT business unit, to find out.

The new Asus NUC models and 2025 focus

The Asus NUC lineup announced at CES 2025 in Las Vegas included the NUC 14 AI and the more premium NUC 14 Pro AI+ with 48 TOPS NPU AI power and a dedicated Copilot+ button for quick access to the AI assistant. They were on display alongside two new powerful mini-PCs for everyday use featuring the latest Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) chips: the NUC 15 and NUC 15 Pro+.

A fourth model, the NUC 14 Essential is the efficiency workhorse, designed to provide maximum performance while sipping tiny amounts of power. Last but certainly not least, Asus’ ROG NUC makes a comeback with the most powerful CPU and GPU combination we’ve seen to date.

Chao said Asus’ focus for its second year of NUC is threefold. Like other PCs at CES 2025, the addition of AI hardware is a big change allowing users a high degree of AI task mobility. Asus is also keen to communicate its commitment to “improving performance while keeping NUC sizes as small as possible.”

The third focus reeks of Asus’ company ethos and is arguably the reason why it has been so successful with product lines like the Asus ROG gaming laptops. Chao said there has been a concerted effort to “incorporate a lot of user feedback in the NUC range.” In other words, it has added features and design elements that specifically tailor the NUC experience to what consumers want.

But what does all that product talk actually mean? I picked one model, the 2025 ROG NUC to find out!

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The 2025 Asus ROG NUC leads the charge

The Asus ROG NUC is perhaps the most impressive of the 2025 NUCs, and the best example of those Asus changes to the NUC brand in action.

Here Asus has not only increased the performance power on offer by bumping the ROG NUC’s CPU and GPU up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 mobile CPU and mobile Blackwell variant of the Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, respectively — both titans of Intel and Nvidia’s 2025 performance offerings — but it has also made cooling, upgradability, and connectivity priorities in 2025.

Asus didn’t reveal what model of the Intel Core Ultra 9 (Series 2) chip it has used in the 2025 ROG NUC at CES, but based on the turbo clock speed of 5.5GHz in the specs sheet, I surmise that it can only be Intel’s flagship Arrow Lake mobile CPU, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX.

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It goes without saying that’s one heck of a chip. It puts 24 cores of raw processing power at your disposal, including 36 TOPS of AI power to capitalize on innovations in AI.

Personally, I’m not sure what 5.5GHz looks like in a game, let alone the kind of performance I’d get when that’s paired with 16GB of fast DDR5-6400 memory and the 7,680 CUDA cores in the RTX 5080. But I’m really excited to find out.

The RTX 5080 GPU in particular is a great choice in hardware. It means the 2025 ROG NUC’s GPU will be fully compatible with Nvidia’s new DLSS 4 AI technology so it can access a full suite of features including Nvidia’s Multi Frame Generation, which older Nvidia RTX GPUs cannot.

More changes including overclocking

Another cherry on top of the cake with this year’s ROG NUC is, wait for it… overclocking! Yep, the bump up from an Intel H series chip in 2024 to an Intel mobile HX Series Arrow Lake chip in 2025 gives gamers more control over their NUC’s maximum CPU speed, for the first time.

Overclocking is accomplished in Asus’ Armory Crate software, where gamers can also control their fan speed settings.

Among the other cascade of changes is a “more comprehensive cooling system,” Chao explained. “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 said. It works in conjunction with a perforated chassis that provides more airflow than before, too.

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A new chassis size measuring 11.1 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches does make this year’s model slightly larger (3 liters versus 2.5 liters in volume), but the larger size provides users 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 said.

In regard to that upgradability, the 16GB starter RAM can be expanded to a whopping 96GB. Swapping out RAM is also made easier by a new single-screw design that allows gamers to access the internal components in seconds.

Connectivity options galore

The ROG NUC also hits the right note with connectivity. In fact, the I/O lists off like a fine wine menu, including no less than 6x USB-A 3.2 ports, 2x HDMI 2.1 FRL ports, and 2x DisplayPort 2.1 ports. It also 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 wireless connectivity.

The choice of Thunderbolt 4 port instead of the newer Thunderbolt 5 is an interesting choice considering that Asus’ own 2025 XG Mobile eGPU uses the latter this year. On that point Chao said:

“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 top of all that, Asus’ ROG branding brings the device in line with Asus’ ROG portfolio aesthetically.

If you’re thinking Asus just won over a whole lot of gamers this year, you may be right. No other mini gaming PC announced at CES is as upgradable, overclockable, stacked for performance, and yet so portable. Let’s hope it lives up to expectations.