Asus unveiled its first device ROG NUC Back at CES 2024. We got a look at the unit itself along with some launch specs, but the price and release date have yet to be revealed. We now have a good idea of ​​both thanks to the pre-order list at European retailers Pro shop (via NotebookCheck).
The listing reveals a launch price of €2,500. This is for the high-end version that comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and an RTX 4070 laptop GPU. This SKU comes with 2 x 16GB DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD. The Proshop listing indicates a release date of April 10.
2500 euros is a lot of money. At this price, we're unlikely to see this composition top the bestseller lists. Fortunately, there is at least one affordable version coming. according to Asus product pagea version with a Core Ultra 7 155H processor and RTX 4060 graphics will also be available.
As a dedicated fan of mini-PCs, I'd be happy to own a ROG NUC, even if its €2,500 price tag makes it a difficult purchase when you can build your own mini-ITX PC for much less.
Regardless of the price, the 2.5-liter ROG NUC looks like an impressive little piece of hardware. The unit specifications are not very demanding, so are the cooling and noise levels should not be be a problem. It can hold up to 64GB of DDR5 SO-DIMM memory, three PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, and has WiFi 6E, 2.5GB LAN, and Thunderbolt4/USB4. The latter supports DP 2.1, which combined with dual DP 1.4a and a single HDMI port, means the ROG NUC supports up to four displays.
The ROG NUC is the first NUC from Asus after announcing its partnership with Intel. The two companies have agreed to a term sheet, whereby Asus will sell and support the 10th to 13th generation NUC product lines while giving Asus a non-exclusive license to design systems like the ROG NUC.
The ROG NUC is the first of many upcoming Asus NUCs. It's possible to use the NUC for Strix or TUF gaming, but there are other interesting possibilities as well. Commercial NUCs or perhaps some sort of Zen or Vivo NUC at some point in the future are also certainly possible. Assuming some of them come with integrated Intel Xe graphics and not-so-expensive discrete GPUs, hopefully they'll avoid ROG NUC sticker shock.
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