ASUS ROG NUC 970 Review – A Gaming Mini PC Ready to Challenge Consoles

As the battle of “PC vs Console” rages on, we’ve seen much more activity on the PC side of the battle since the current generation of consoles has been released. With the introduction of the handheld gaming PC, we’ve seen competitors rise against the Nintendo Switch, which easily held the top spot for many years in its category. While the battle between console and PC has always been heated, the easiest victory for consoles has been how much more compact and portable it is. That was until ASUS announced it would be taking over support and manufacturing of the Intel NUC. Before long, we saw the release of the ASUS ROG NUC 970, a gaming mini-PC.

With the majority of the ASUS NUC series focused on delivering business units, the ROG NUC 970 stands apart with its gaming-enabled configuration, which includes either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or 4070 GPU, along with other performance-leading internals. The PC master race has always boasted its flexibility in upgrading to higher-specification hardware as its best feature. So, with the added mobility and compact size of the ASUS ROG NUC 970, how does this upgradability affect its competitiveness against the console?

ASUS ROG NUC 970 Build and Design

At its most basic, two general designs from the ASUS NUC series exist. There’s the basic square unit in various sizes and the larger rectangle, which features a few more intricacies in its design. The ROG NUC 970 falls into the latter category, which it shares with the NUC 14 Performance.

Kicking things off with one of its main features – its size. The chassis measures 180x270x50mm (7×10.6×2″), with less than 2.5 litres in overall space occupied. Despite its size, it features all the main ports and inputs of a conventional desktop gaming rig, but at 10 times less in size. That’s quite an impressive feat. Most of this is derived from how the internals are laid out, but more on that discussion later.

Several USB ports are scattered across the top and rear of the device. This includes x4 USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, two on the top and two on the rear, and an additional x2 USB 2.0 ports on the rear. A single Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port (DP 2.1) is on the rear. It would’ve been ideal to have included one or two additional Type-C ports to future-proof the NUC, but one is sufficient for now, specifically for my m.2 portable drive.

Further to the USB ports, the device also features an Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet port, HDMI 2.1 port and x2 DisplayPort 1.4a ports. Additional connectivity options include the Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1690i and Bluetooth 5.3. Lastly, an SD Express v8.0 card reader is included for all the creatives.

The device weighs in at 2.58KG (or 5.7 lbs). While it isn’t that heavy as a standalone device, it is worth pointing out that it’s roughly 600g to 1KG heavier than modern gaming laptops. This is significant, especially if you consider it doesn’t include the charger. So, if you plan to carry it to various locations, be prepared for a little extra weight per trip.

The NUC 970 is even more compact than your average laptop. It may be significantly more, but it doesn’t make it any less mobile. It has decent aesthetics, with the default ASUS diagonals and ROG red LED lighting.

ASUS ROG NUC 970 Specifications

There are a few different variations of the ROG NUC. For the unit received for review, the specifications include: 

• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, cTDP 40W 

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, 8GB GDDR6 

• Dedicated GPU: Intel Arc GPU2 

• RAM: 32GB, x2 DRAM modules 5600/8G 

• Storage: 1TB PCIe4 m.2 

• OS: Windows 11 

The variation options on the NUC are primarily the CPU and GPU. The CPU options are the Intel Core Ultra 7 or the 9, while the GPU is an option of the GeForce RTX 4060 or 4070. For easy reference, the NUC’s naming convention is almost directly linked to its internals. As an example, the unit I reviewed was the NUC 970. This refers to the Intel Core Ultra 9 series CPU and the GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. Other options include the 760, 770 and 960 if the two variants on the CPU and GPU are to be considered. There’s very little of this naming convention on official websites, but when purchasing your NUC, just keep this in mind.

Overall, the hardware specifications on the NUC 970 (and variants) are excellent. In addition to this, the device is also easily upgraded, specifically for its RAM and SSD modules. Users can quickly flip a switch to remove the covering and switch out these two modules when ready to upgrade.

However, the CPU and GPU aren’t as quickly switched out, with a more integrated module to fit the design. ASUS sells some of these modules, and hopefully, they will become more widely available, especially for higher-powered CPU and GPU options, which are currently unavailable.

Performance

The ROG NUC 970 performed exceptionally well as an all-around PC, both as a productivity tool and for gaming. The various benchmark scores from PCMark, 3DMark, GeekBench and Cinebench confirm this. Mostly, the scores were above average while not being dominant. This was an early indicator that the device would be great for 1080p gaming with reasonable framerates while struggling on the 4K resolution side.

These indications would prove true in the end when testing and playing through the various AAA games. For starters, running a staple among game testing, Cyberpunk 2077 on 1080p with all settings on Ultra, the NUC 970 pulled off an average of 60-65fps. The significant difference occurs when flicking the DLSS toggle, boosting performance up to 100fps. If you’re leaning towards higher frame rates on a 120Hz screen, turning down the settings could reach the 160fps range. However, using higher resolutions of 1,440p and 4K, the returns are much less, but you could still be able to pull the magical mark of 30fps.

Similar scores were observed in other games, including MK1, RDR2, and Spider-Man. At Ultra graphics, the NUC could reach up to and higher than 60fps using Ultra settings on 1080p, with diminishing returns on higher resolutions. In the end, you’re paying for the ultra-portability of the NUC 970 when compared to conventional desktop gaming rigs when it comes to cost per FPS.

Outside of gaming, the NUC 970 is a workhorse. Whether you’re a creative or back-office worker, the unit breezes through tasks, editing and more. The benchmark scores on multitasking and multicore workloads make for great reading. The 14^th generation Ultra 9 CPU is a beast. Under these workloads, the unit ran relatively cool throughout the testing. There was a notable switch at times when the fans kicked into gear, but overall, it was not very noticeable to the point of irritability.

What Problem Does the ASUS ROG NUC 970 Solve?

As with most modern tech, especially those of novel or unique form-factor or features, the question of what problem it solves is key to its effectiveness as a product. The ASUS ROG NUC 970 mini PC aims to resolve the space and storage issue for PC gamers. This may not necessarily be in direct competition with the Xbox and PlayStation consoles, but it falls within the realms of comparison. Does it do the job adequately well? Yes, it does. But there are a few more talking points to be added.

Unlike most desktop PCs, the NUC is based on laptop hardware, specifically the GPU. This means that while it has a 4070 GPU crammed into its internals, you’re not getting the same performance from the desktop variant. However, that’s not too much of an issue, as we’ve seen many gamers switch to laptops over the past decade without too many shortcomings. The overall performances are sufficient to meet the needs of the end-user.

In terms of the mobility of the device, it’s pretty nimble. It can easily be packed into your backpack, even alongside your business laptop, and set up in a remote space – as long as a monitor, mouse, and keyboard is available. Yes, it’s quite a bit heavier than your average laptop, but in terms of portability, it can be transported wherever you go if it fits into your backpack.

Lastly, there’s the price. At a starting price of R29,999 for the 4060 variant and around R34,999 for the 4070, it’s not the most cost-effective option. When you compare the device to your average gaming laptop with similar specifications, even from within ASUS’ stables, the price of the NUC isn’t very competitive. Users may be able to find an ASUS ROG gaming laptop with similar specifications for just a little more, which then has the added benefit of a screen and keyboard readily available. When plugged in, the laptop won’t fit snugly behind your TV or surrounding objects as good as the NUC.