The Asus NUC 14 Performance is a small desktop computer with the guts of a gaming laptop. It supports up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H Meteor Lake processor and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTC 4070 graphics.
But since the NUC 14 Performance is a desktop rather than a laptop, there’s room for more ports and a few other features that you won’t typically find in a mobile device. You’ll need to bring your own keyboard and display though. And, of course, there’s no battery – unlike a gaming laptop, this mini PC is meant to be plugged into a power source at all times.
If the NUC 14 Performance looks familiar, that’s because it’s nearly identical to the Asus ROG NUC that Asus introduced earlier this year. But while the ROG NUC is marketed as part of the Asus ROG (Republic of Gamers) lineup and has a RGB backlit ROG logo on the cover, the NUC 14 Performance is positioned as more of a professional machine.
Functionally, they’re pretty much the same, but the Performance version doesn’t have RGB lighting incorporated in the case.
The little computer measures 270 x 180 x 50mm (10.6″ x 7.1″ x 2″) and weighs 800 grams (1.8 pounds), so it won’t take up much space on your desk.
But Asus packs plenty of ports into the little computer, including Thunderbolt 4, six USB Type-A ports (including four USB 3.2 Gen 2 and two USB 2.0), a 2.5 GbE Ethernet port, SD card reader, and 3.5mm audio jack. There are also two DisplayPort 1.4a ports and an HDMI 2.1 port. If you also use the Thunderbolt port for video, you should be able to connect as many as four displays to the NUC 14 Performance.
The system supports up to 64GB of DDR5-4400 memory and has three M.2 2280 slots for PCIe Gen 4×4 storage. It comes with a 330W power supply.
Asus says the computer can be used as a general-purpose PC, a digital signage or kiosk system, or for education, media, or business applications. In addition to discrete graphics, the NUC 14 Performance has an Intel AI Boost neural processing unit for hardware-accelerated AI features. But despite being less than a year old, Intel’s Meteor Lake NPU isn’t powerful enough for this device to qualify as a Windows Copilot+ PC.
| Asus NUC 14 Performance specs | |
| Processor / Graphics | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 |
| RAM | 2 x SODIMM slots DDR5 |
| Storage | 3 x M.2 2280 slots PCIe Gen4x4 |
| Front ports | 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1 x 3.5mm combo audio 1 x SD card reader |
| Rear ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 4 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2 x DisplayPort 1.4a 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (Intel) 1 x DC power input |
| Wireless | Intel Killer WiFi WiFi 6E BT 5.3 |
| Audio | Realtek ALC256 |
| Power | 330W power adapter |
| Dimensions | 270 x 180 x 50mm |
via VideoCardz