Asus NUC 14 Professional AI mini PC evaluate

The Asus NUC 14 Professional AI is the newest mini PC from the Taiwanese emblem. This actual style was once introduced in December of ultimate yr and was once the 1st mini PC to characteristic Intel’s new Core Extremely processors (Sequence 2) at the side of Microsoft Copilot+.

The style we’ve right here lately is the flagship variant with the Intel Core Extremely 9 288V with 32GB of LPDDR5X reminiscence. Asus sells this software as a barebones PC, that means it does now not come with garage out of the field however our unit did include 1TB SSD incorporated for checking out.

Earlier than going additional into the checking out, it is value noting the cost. It is a bit difficult to get the pricing for Asus’ NUC fashions and even though you’re a buyer you wish to have to request a quote from the corporate to buy it. We have been knowledgeable that the style we have been despatched prices round $1100 however there is not any affirmation on the real MSRP in addition to what the opposite variants are priced at.

With that out of the best way, let’s get on with the evaluate.

Design

The Asus NUC 14 Professional AI has a well-known design. It might be honest to mention that it’s been impressed by means of the brand new Mac mini to some degree, making an allowance for Asus’ earlier NUC fashions all had a boxy form.

The form is the place the similarities finish because the NUC 14 Professional AI is nowhere close to as sexy or well-built because the Mac mini. As an alternative, the design is extra utilitarian with a focal point on plenty of simply available ports and uncovered air vents at the facet. The frame is most commonly plastic apart from for the detachable steel lid at the backside. Asus claims the NUC 14 Professional AI is constructed to ultimate with its military-grade MIL-STD-810H ranking for sturdiness.

The highest of the frame options the Asus NUC brand with a delicate print round it. Within the reverse nook is a fingerprint sensor that works with Home windows Hi.

The entrance of the software is fairly busy with a number of ports, an influence button, and a devoted Copilot key, which can also be configured to do different issues in Home windows settings. At the proper facet of the unit is the consumption vent, from which the air is pulled into the unit after which exhausted out the vent at the again. The left facet additionally has a dummy vent at the side of a Kensington lock slot. Then at the again are a number of extra ports at the side of the aforementioned exhaust.

The ground of the unit is a unmarried detachable panel, which comes undone with a easy locking mechanism. This offers get right of entry to to the SSD slot, which as discussed to start with, will have to come empty and must be populated by means of the consumer. You even have get right of entry to to the pre-installed Intel wi-fi adapter however that is just about the level of what is consumer available. Such things as reminiscence are built-in inside the CPU die.

Whilst the NUC 14 Professional AI is not successful the wonder contest subsequent to the Mac mini, it undoubtedly wins within the general port variety division. It additionally supplies a lot more straightforward get right of entry to to the insides and whilst upgradability is restricted, it could nonetheless be helpful for repairs causes. In any case, the built-in fingerprint sensor could also be a pleasing contact and does now not require making an investment in pricey aftermarket equipment.

{Hardware}

The Asus NUC 14 Professional AI runs on Intel’s newest technology Intel Core Extremely 200V sequence of chips in line with the corporate’s Lunar Lake structure. Those new chips use a unified design, with integrated CPU, GPU, NPU, and reminiscence inside of a unmarried bundle. Asus provides a number of 5 other CPU fashions, which come with the Core Extremely 5 226V and 228V, Core Extremely 7 256V and 258V, and in any case, the Core Extremely 9 288V that we have got in our unit.

All the chips have 4x P-cores and 4x E-cores without a HyperThreading however the principle distinction is within the clock pace and built-in reminiscence. The 226V and 228V, for instance, have the similar 2.1GHz base clock and four.5GHz spice up clock however the 226V has 16GB reminiscence whilst the 288V has 32GB reminiscence. In a similar fashion, the 256V and 258V have the similar 2.2GHz base clock and four.8GHz spice up clock however other recollections. In the meantime, the flagship 288V will get a three.3GHz base and 5.1GHz spice up clock with 32GB reminiscence. In every case, the reminiscence is 8533MHz LPDDR5x shared around the CPU, GPU, and NPU.

All chips have the newest technology Intel Arc graphics in line with the corporate’s Battlemage structure, with the Core Extremely 5 fashions getting 7 Xe Cores and decrease clocks whilst the Core Extremely 7 and 9 fashions get 8 Xe Cores and better clocks. In a similar fashion, the 5 sequence chips get 8MB Good Cache whilst the 7 and 9 sequence chips get 12MB. In any case, the 5, 7, and 9 sequence chips get 40, 47, and 48 TOPS NPU, respectively.

As has been mentioned a lot of instances already, the garage must be equipped by means of the consumer. It’s been a factor with Intel NUCs for the reason that starting as they’re essentially barebones PCs. The only SSD slot helps PCIe Gen4x4 drives in the usual M.2 2280 length. Our evaluate unit got here with a 1TB WD SN5000S NVMe SSD, which fits the specified specifications. The SSD does now not have a heatsink hooked up however Asus does use a thermal pad at the backside of the steel base quilt, which then makes the quilt act as a heatsink for the power.

Very similar to the Mac mini, the NUC 14 Professional AI has a unmarried inside speaker, which sounds nowhere close to as just right nor any place as loud. Alternatively, the NUC 14 Professional AI additionally features a microphone, which the Mac mini lacks, and makes the use of options like Copilot conceivable even though you do not need a headset plugged in.

Connectivity

The NUC 14 Professional AI comes with a just right choice of connectivity choices for plugging in stressed out equipment. At the entrance are two USB-A ports rated at 5Gbps bandwidth, at the side of a Thunderbolt 4 port, and a headphone jack.

At the again are two extra USB-A ports, this time rated at 10Gbps bandwidth, any other Thunderbolt 4 port, HDMI 2.1, and a pair of.5G Ethernet. Apart from the HDMI, each the Thunderbolt 4 ports additionally beef up DisplayPort 2.1 so you’ll be able to attach as much as 3 presentations immediately.

At the wi-fi entrance, you get Wi-Fi 7 at the side of Bluetooth 5.4.

Asus undoubtedly will get issues for having a strong set of connectors, each on the back and front. Alternatively, there are some caveats. The structure of the ports at the entrance could make one thing huge like a card reader rendering the opposite ports unusable. Just like the Mac mini, the NUC 14 Professional AI does now not have an audio jack at the again, which is inconvenient in the event you use audio system in addition to headphones. And in contrast to the Mac mini, the NUC 14 Professional AI has an exterior chronic brick, which takes up fairly a bit of of house and is most definitely greater than part the amount of the NUC itself.

Efficiency

The Intel Core Extremely 9 288V in our unit was once configured for a most bundle chronic of 37W. Relying at the chronic profile decided on within the MyAsus app, the chip can throttle right down to 23W within the Whisper mode or 34W within the Usual mode as soon as the PL2 window expires. Or it could simply keep on with the 37W prohibit when set to the Efficiency mode.

Beginning with the benchmarks, the CPU efficiency was once a bit of of a combined bag. The only-core efficiency was once just right; it is a notable development over the former technology Intel chips whilst additionally being sooner than the Snapdragon X Elite X1E 78 100 chip we examined ultimate yr in spite of the latter having a bigger chronic funds. Alternatively, when it got here to multi-core, the 288V wasn’t as spectacular, which is in large part right down to the 4x P-core and 4x E-core design without a HyperThreading. The Qualcomm chip here’s considerably forward with its 12-core design, all of that are similarly tough.

Alternatively, whilst you’ll be able to and will have to argue that this is not unexpected making an allowance for the Snapdragon chip can hit 50W beneath load, the 288V runs out of excuses when pitted towards the M4 within the new Mac mini. The M4 outperformed the 288V in each and every one in every of our benchmarks, being 36% sooner within the Cinebench 2024 single-core check and 43% sooner within the multi-core check. Within the Blender CPU check, the M4 was once a brutal 64% sooner whilst the GPU render was once an absolute beatdown, with the M4 being 145% sooner. And thru all of this, the M4 chip is pulling 10-15W lower than the 288V.

In real-world utilization, the efficiency most commonly feels good enough. The 288V within the NUC 14 Professional AI can handle your standard internet surfing and emailing wishes simply wonderful however is not able to cover its low-power cell design while you get started acting extra tough duties, reminiscent of working picture or video modifying methods. It has not one of the sense of urgency, fluidity, or pace of the M4 in such packages, which does not even really feel like a low-power chip and would possibly as nicely be a full-size desktop phase.

Asus places numerous center of attention at the AI functions of the device (they even added it to the title) however we lately do not need nice strategies defined for checking out AI efficiency apart from the Geekbench consequence. Additionally, if that is one thing you have an interest in, then a mini PC would possibly now not essentially be the play for you.

Gaming

The built-in Arc GPU at the 288V is unusually succesful. Intel has labored laborious on its built-in graphics over time and it presentations. Due to that, the NUC 14 Professional AI is a shockingly succesful gaming device.

Having attempted dozens of titles at the little device, I used to be inspired with how it was once in a position to take care of maximum of them. This was once additionally a possibility for me to take a look at Intel’s newest technology Battlemage structure, which has noticed fairly a couple of enhancements over the first-generation Alchemist.

The primary check was once to peer if the video games ran in any respect in this new structure and each and every unmarried one of the vital video games I attempted did release and run with none primary technical problems. Simplest two video games had problems post-launch, the 1st being Counter-Strike 2, which stuttered so much in-game, rendering it most commonly unplayable because of deficient frame-time efficiency. The opposite was once God of Struggle Ragnarök, which had some flashing artifacts on display screen now and then however was once differently utterly playable.

The whole efficiency of the device was once a couple of share issues higher than the Ryzen Z1 Excessive inside of gadgets just like the ROG Best friend, which additionally supposed it was once higher than the Steam Deck. This places the efficiency of the NUC 14 Professional AI someplace between the PS4 and the PS4 Professional, which isn’t dangerous for a low-power mini PC. With a mixture of optimized settings and symbol upscaling, I used to be in a position to get playable efficiency in just about each and every recreation I attempted.

With regards to gaming, there is not any comparability to the Mac mini. Whilst the Mac has come a ways, Home windows nonetheless will get the entire video games first and the NUC 14 Professional AI additionally runs them a lot better than the M4 Mac mini.

Thermals and Noise

The Asus NUC 14 Professional AI has just right thermal efficiency. Due to the rather low-power nature of the chip and considerable cooling, the software by no means thermal throttles.

Within the Efficiency profile, the temperatures height at about 78°C with the fan blasting at prime pace and the chip keeping up its height 37W goal indefinitely. Sadly, the fan is fairly loud on this environment, so it isn’t beneficial for on a regular basis use.

The Usual mode is the default and for just right reason why. On this mode, the chip boosts as much as 37W and remains there for some time till sooner or later losing right down to 34W as soon as PL2 expires. On this mode, the temperatures height at about 82°C, which is not a lot for the reason that fan is so much quieter and rarely audible now and then. You do not lose a lot efficiency on this mode; simplest about 3% within the prolonged Blender render check, which makes this the mode you will have to be the use of always.

The Whisper mode is correct to its title and is rarely audible, even beneath load. Right here, the chip settles right down to about 23W as soon as PL2 expires, this means that you lose about 17% efficiency in prolonged multi-core utilization however remains to be wonderful for on a regular basis use.

In comparison to the Mac mini, the NUC 14 Professional AI is undoubtedly louder and extra audible. Alternatively, it does strike a greater steadiness between noise and temperature when making an allowance for the 100­°C temperatures the M4 robotically hits within the Mac mini.

Conclusion

The Asus NUC 14 Professional AI is a compact, well-designed little PC with just right connectivity choices that runs cool and quiet. The efficiency is fairly good enough for on a regular basis house and workplace duties, and you’ll be able to even get some just right gaming efficiency out of it.

Sadly, the device is concentrated extra at trade and commercial customers and thus comes with an inflated price ticket that’s not even remotely justified. In markets like India, the place our unit was once sourced from, the NUC 14 Professional AI prices more or less the similar because the M4 Professional Mac whilst being slower than the bottom M4 Mac mini. And you do not even get an SSD.

So whilst it was once amusing to check this device, except Asus comes up with a smart pricing for it at some point, it isn’t value making an allowance for for the typical house consumer.