ASUS ROG NUC 970 Review

I/O Options and Upgradability

I/O Options and Upgrades

ASUS’ ROG NUC has a wealth of input/output options. At the front, the system has a UHS-I SD card reader, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. At the rear, ASUS has kitted out their system with a wealth of ports.

For the system’s GPU, we have two DisplayPort 1.4a connections and a single HDMI 2.1 output. Additionally, there is a Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port that has DisplayPort 2.1 capabilities. The system also has an RJ45 LAN port (2.5 Gb ethernet), two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports. In total, the ROG NUC can be connected to up to four displays.

Looking inside the ROG NUC 970

At the center of the ROG NUC’s back panel, a single screw can be loosened. This is a captive screw, which means that it won’t get lost after it is unfastened. Once this screw is loosened, users can remove the top and rear panels of the NUC, exposing its innards.

Once the top metal shielding plate is removed, users of this NUC can access all of its upgradable components. Note that the system has four 2280-sized M.2 slots, only one of which is occupied. The system also has two occupied DIMM slots, which have 16GB DDR5-5600 modules installed. Note that these are the only upgradable parts of ASUS’ ROG NUC.

What’s upgradable?

Users of ASUS’ ROG NUC can add two extra M.2 SSDs to the system and upgrade the PC’s existing SSD and DDR5 memory modules. While 32GB of DDR5 memory is plenty for gaming workloads, some users may require more memory if they intend to use this system as a mini workstation. 2x32GB or 2x48GB DDR5 modules could be installed to give this PC 64GB or 96GB of memory.

The primary upgrade that I expect RUG NUC users to utilise is adding extra SSD storage to the system. After all, it’s not hard to fill a 1TB SSD. If games continue to be 100GB+ in size, I can see a lot of ROG NUC users taking advantage of the system’s extra M.2 slots.

Mark Campbell

Mark Campbell

A Northern Irish father, husband, and techie that works to turn tea and coffee into articles when he isn’t painting his extensive minis collection or using things to make other things.

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