Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

We finally know the price of Asus’ most powerful gaming NUC

By
The Asus ROG NUC on a desk surrounded by three monitors.
Asus

The first Asus ROG NUC (Next Unit of Computing) model is just around the corner. The small form factor PC is now up for pre-order at a German retailer, and although it’s powerful enough to rival some of the best laptops, it costs more than many comparable models — and you’ll still have to pay extra for a monitor.

Asus’ first take on Intel’s portable PC contains a lot of compute power in a small chassis. Although there are a few configurations of the PC, the one that was spotted up for sale ahead of time comes with Intel’s latest Meteor Lake-H CPU, the Core Ultra 9 185H, which sports 16 cores and 22 threads and can be boosted to run at up to 5.1GHz, all with a thermal design power (TDP) of 45 watts. However, Asus allows overclocking, meaning that the CPU can run at up to 65 watts instead.

Recommended Videos

Although the Meteor Lake CPU has its own, fairly decent integrated GPU, the ROG NUC comes with a discrete model instead, and it’s one of Nvidia’s best GPUs — the laptop version of the RTX 4070. The graphics card has a maximum TGP of 140 watts. Having such a capable GPU isn’t the norm for NUCs, which typically run on iGPUs instead of dedicated graphics — although there have been exceptions to that rule.

Aside from the above, the new Asus NUC 14 ROG comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. According to Asus, the new ROG NUC will be able to support up to four 4K monitors at the same time.

A listing of the Asus ROG NUC 14.
ProShop / Asus

The specs are impressive, but so is the price. The Asus ROG NUC was priced at 2,500 euros ($2,718 at the time of writing) by ProShop, a German retailer. For that amount of money, you can get yourself a solid gaming laptop, and it’ll come with a built-in screen; here, you’ll still need to buy a separate monitor. On the other hand, Asus’ first ROG NUC should be a powerful PC all on its own, and the 2.5-liter case volume will make it useful for gamers who travel often, as well as for people who need it for various resource-heavy workloads.

Comparable laptops range from a similar price of $2,200 to almost $5,000. However, it’s the combination of the Core Ultra 9 185H and the RTX 4070 that makes such a setup so expensive. Laptops with an RTX 4070 and a 13th-gen Intel CPU can be found for much less, such as the for $1,500.

Asus officially took over the NUC product line from Intel in October 2023. The company now handles the manufacturing, shipping, and support for Intel NUCs from the 10th to the 13th generation, and will continue making its own. The Asus ROG NUC is the first iteration of the mini PC after the takeover.

According to ProShop, the NUC is set to start shipping on April 10, so it shouldn’t be long until we know the official recommended list price.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
Intel Battlemage graphics cards: release date speculation, price, specs, and more
Intel Arc A770 GPU installed in a test bench.

Despite a rocky start, Intel's Arc GPUs are now among the best graphics cards you can buy. Targeting budget PC gamers, Intel has established itself as a major player in gaming graphics cards, and all eyes are on Team Blue with its next generation of GPUs, codenamed Battlemage.

We know Battlemage GPUs are coming, and Intel has slowly been dropping hints about the graphics cards over the past year. Although we're still waiting on an official release date, specs, and pricing details for Battlemage GPUs, there's a lot we can piece together already.
Intel Battlemage: specs

Read more
Nvidia might power your next handheld gaming PC
Starfield running on the Asus ROG Ally.

Rumor has it that Nvidia is working on a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that could power PCs and even future handheld gaming devices. The speculation comes from Dan Nystedt, who says that Nvidia is working with MediaTek to develop an AI processor that could be revealed as soon as June.

Adding further weight to the rumor is XpeaGPU, who also claims Nvidia is working on a handheld SoC. The leaker says that Nvidia thinks the chip has "good market potential." This isn't the first time we've heard about Nvidia looking at the growing market of handheld gaming PCs, either. In March, leaker Moore's Law is Dead claimed that Nvidia is "worried that it's missing the boat here" with handheld gaming PCs.

Read more
You might not be able to afford the ROG Ally X
Forza Horizon 4 runs on an Asus ROG Ally.

Asus has teased that it has a new handheld coming soon. The ROG Ally X is an updated version of the original model that Asus is launching on June 2. Although official details are light, leakers are already stepping in to fill in the gaps that Asus left -- and you might not be a fan of all of the changes.

In particular, leaker MysteryLupin (via Notebookcheck) says that the ROG Ally X will come in at $800. That's $100 more expensive than the most expensive version of the base ROG Ally. Despite the higher price, the leaker also claims that the handheld will come with the same Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and 7-inch 1080p display, confirming earlier reports.

Read more