ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ Pike Silver 2025

The ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ is a tiny powerhouse with a 16-core Core Ultra 9 and best-in-class RAM capacity. It's fantastic for AI labs and dev work, but gaming performance is a rough 15.8 out of 100. Worth buying if you need compact x86 power and don't mind sourcing your own RAM, storage, and OS.

The Core Ultra 9 285H is a strong performer, landing in the 75th percentile for CPU across all desktops. That's well above average, especially for a box this small. With 96GB of DDR5 and dual M.2 slots (one PCIe 5.0, one PCIe 4.0), this thing chews through AI workloads, code compilation, and heavy multitasking without breaking a sweat. The integrated Arc 140T with 16GB of VRAM is a solid middle-of-the-pack GPU for non-gaming tasks, but don't expect to play anything demanding. Owners consistently praise the thermal management, though a few mention the fan gets audible under sustained load.

Against the Apple Mac mini M4 Pro, the NUC 15 Pro+ offers more RAM flexibility and x86 compatibility, but Apple's silicon crushes it in GPU performance and power efficiency. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10 and HP OMEN GT16-0364 are full-size desktops that absolutely demolish this thing in gaming, but they're also huge and power-hungry. The Dell Tower Plus EBT2250 sits in a similar productivity space but with a traditional tower footprint. If you need a tiny x86 box for work, the NUC wins. If you want to game or edit video, look at the Mac mini or a proper tower.

Pricing is all over the place depending on where you shop. In the US, you'll see USD 800 to USD 983 across three listings, and Best Buy tends to have the lowest everyday price. Canadian buyers face a CAD 317 spread from CAD 1,150 to CAD 1,467. Remember, this is a barebone kit, so factor in the cost of RAM, an SSD, and a Windows license. For a compact AI lab or dev box, the value is solid if you can snag it near the low end of that range. At the high end, you're paying a premium for the form factor.

The ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ is a tiny box with serious muscle. Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H packs 16 cores into a chassis that weighs less than a bag of coffee beans, and our database puts its RAM capacity in the 99th percentile. That's the absolute best right now for a mini PC.

But this is a barebone kit, so you'll need to bring your own RAM, storage, and OS. The 512GB SSD listed here is just a starting point, and the integrated Arc 140T graphics are fine for productivity but won't win any gaming awards. Our gaming score for this thing is a rough 15.8 out of 100.

Skip this if you want to play games, period. The integrated graphics are a weak spot, and you'll be disappointed. Also skip it if you want a plug-and-play experience, since you'll need to source RAM, storage, and an OS separately. And if you're sensitive to fan noise, the reports of audible fans under load might bug you. For those buyers, a Mac mini M4 Pro or a compact prebuilt with discrete graphics makes more sense.

This is a niche product for a specific buyer. If you're building a compact AI lab, a home server, or a dev workstation where desk space matters and you don't need discrete graphics, the NUC 15 Pro+ is a compelling option. The CPU performance and RAM ceiling are genuinely impressive for the size. But if you want to play games, edit 4K video with GPU acceleration, or just want something that works out of the box, this isn't your machine.