ASUS ROG NUC 970 Review
Conclusion
Conclusion – What we think of the ROG NUC 970
When looking at ASUS’ ROG NUC 970, there are several factors that we must consider. First, we have the system’s size. Next, we have its user experience. Finally, we have its raw performance.
The ROG NUC 970 is a small system. You can’t build a PC this small with off-the-shelf components. This is a NUC, a proper NUC, not one of Intel’s old NUC Extreme systems that closely approached the size of mini ITX home-built PCs. This NUC occupies less space than an Xbox Series X or a PlayStation 5, but it contains a lot of PC performance that’s begging to be utilised.
With this system size comes trade-offs. Compact PCs are limited when it comes to cooling and power draw. If there is limited space for heatsinks and physical hardware, a system’s performance is limited. You can’t fit a desktop-grade RTX 4090 into a PC like this. Furthermore, you can’t tame power-hungry desktop CPUs like Intel’s i9-14900K.
Why are we talking about size so much? Because that’s the reason why this system’s performance isn’t as high as larger desktop systems. This PC has a 16-core Intel Core Ultra 185H CPU and an Nvidia RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. That’s the best hardware that can be placed in this system, at least until next-generation CPUs and GPUs arrive. If you want more performance than this, you need a bigger PC. That said, these parts can deliver some great gaming experiences.
The ROG NUC delivers a solid gaming experience
With the right settings, this NUC can play all modern games with solid framerates. That said, given the power levels of the GPU inside this system, we would call this a 1440p gaming system, not a 4K system. Yes, 4K gaming is possible, but users will need to rely more heavily on upscaling solutions, settings tweaking, and frame generation to achieve solid 60+ FPS framerates. Even so, the ROG NUC is a solid gaming system.
Considering the limitations of this system’s form factor, the ROG NUC gives us little to complain about from a performance perspective. This is a solid gaming system, and it remains fairly quiet under full load. Having used both, I would say a standard PlayStation 5 is louder than this NUC. When gaming, your TV or speakers will be loud enough to make this system seem pretty much inaudible.
Pricing-wise, the ROG NUC is an expensive piece of kit. This system uses high-end laptop components and has an ROG badge. Yes, you can build a full gaming PC for less than this NUC, but that PC would be much larger, even if it is Mini-ITX. What makes the ROG NUC 970 special is how everything comes together. You can’t build a gaming PC this small that’s this powerful. Is it worth the money? That depends on what want from your PC.
ASUS ‘ ROG NUC 970 deserves OC3D’s Performance Award for bringing such a solid gaming experience to this tiny form factor. Yes, you can build stronger gaming PCs, but can you do it in this form factor? Honestly, I am excited about what ASUS has planned for the NUC form factor. What will be achievable with next-gen RTX 50 GPUs and Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs?
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