ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ Silver 2025

At 0.59kg, this is one of the most powerful mini PCs we've seen for productivity, thanks to a 16-core chip that sits in the top third of our CPU leaderboard. Just be ready to supply your own RAM and SSD, and don't even think about gaming on it since it scores an abysmal 11/100 in our GPU benchmarks. For AI workloads and professional multitasking, it's a stellar, pocket-sized workhorse with best-in-class connectivity.

The Core Ultra 7 255H is the star of the show here, netting a CPU score in the 69th percentile. In plain English, that's strong performance that'll chew through everyday multitasking and most professional apps without breaking a sweat. The integrated Arc graphics are solid for a mini PC, sitting right in the middle of the pack at the 56th percentile. Just don't confuse it with a gaming rig; our database pegs its gaming capability at a dismal 11 out of 100. For AI workloads, code compilation, or driving a few high-res displays, though, this thing is more than ready. Owners seem to agree, frequently praising the "excellent performance" and noting that the thermal design keeps things from melting down even under load.

Compared to the Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10, this ASUS is in a different universe, the Legion is a full-sized gaming beast where the NUC is all about efficiency and size. The Apple Mac Studio M4 Max is a closer conceptual rival as a compact workstation, and it will absolutely smoke the NUC in GPU tasks, but you'll pay a hefty premium for that privilege. If you're considering the HP OMEN GT16-0364 or MSI Aegis Z2, you're clearly after gaming performance, and this NUC is the wrong tool for that job. It simply outclasses those towers in physical size and efficiency, but falls flat on its face the moment you launch a game.

Since this is a barebone kit, the value equation is all your own. You're paying for the core system, CPU, and motherboard, then adding your own RAM and SSD. With that in mind, the price spread we're seeing is absurdly wide, from $690 all the way up to a nonsensical $167,289. Your real cost to get it running will probably fall on the lower end of that range, plus a couple hundred bucks for a good PCIe 5.0 SSD and some DDR5. For a compact workstation with this level of CPU and connectivity, that's a pretty sweet deal if you have spare components or don't mind a little DIY.

The ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ is a tiny powerhouse that punches well above its weight class. We're talking about a 0.59kg box with a 16-core Core Ultra 7 255H that lands in the top third of our CPU benchmarks, making it a seriously capable little machine for productivity and AI workloads. Thunderbolt 4, dual HDMI 2.1, and Wi-Fi 7 give it the connectivity chops of a much bulkier desktop. But this is a barebone kit, so don't forget you'll need to bring your own DDR5 RAM and NVMe SSD to the party, and the kit's storage ranking is basically rock bottom until you slap a drive in it.

If you plan to play any games more demanding than Solitaire, walk away. With a gaming score of 11/100, the integrated Arc graphics are built for media encoding and display output, not rendering frames. Gamers will be infinitely better served by a tower like the HP OMEN or MSI Aegis in this price bracket. You should also skip this if you need a turnkey system with storage and an OS pre-installed, since this barebone kit requires you to purchase, install, and configure those separately.

The ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ nails what it sets out to do. It's a compact, powerful, and remarkably well-connected mini PC for productivity and AI tinkering. The Intel Core Ultra 7 255H delivers genuine horsepower, and the thermal solution keeps it running smoothly. The flimsy VESA mount and the fact that it's not even a consideration for light gaming are the main thorns in its side, but if you know exactly what you're getting into, a killer little DIY workstation, this is a fantastic foundation.