REAL Gaming Power! ASUS ROG NUC 970 Mini PC Review

In this video we check out the ASUS ROG NUC 970 mini PC. This one features Intel's Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and an Nvidia RTX 3070 Laptop GPU. This in-depth review looks at various performance metrics and shows gaming results for many games and emulators at 1080P, 1440P and 4K resolutions. The ASUS ROG NUC 970 continues the NUC Enthusiast line.
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00:00 - NUC Is Back
00:51 - Specs & Features
04:22 - Opening It Up
06:06 - Benchmarks
08:00 - Games & Emulators
11:56 - Video Editing
12:12 - BIOS, Power, Temps & Noise
13:58 - Conclusion

[@user-pq4fr7xt6w]

Great review! I'll wait for it to go on sale. hanks Rob

[@Rin_Rin_V4X]

Had a interest in this when it was announced, by the time it actually released I built my first PC. Feel like I made the better choice.

[@godnyx117]

Thanks for your work. That specific mini is as indifferent as it gets for me!

[@kenmeadows444]

My 11 gen enthusiast is still going strong and still getting support and updates from Intel. I am in no rush to upgrade.

[@farishanafiah8461]

Same for me. Also, I have 32GB RAM in my NUC 11 Enthusiasts, so I definitely have no problem delaying the upgrade.

[@antiimperialista5764]

Nah bro, after the Asus warranty fiasco this is a hard pass for me. Also, I bought a NUC from them (10th gen) they haven't updated the drivers in 2 years given that Intel has released several improvements to Wifi cards and iGPU. Terrible support by them DO NOT recommend.

[@geraldh.8047]

So who is better?

[@EffectualPoet]

​@@geraldh.8047No one else sells NUC, so don't buy a NUC.

[@Robtech]

Try the Intel Driver & Support Assistant for any updates to your drivers. www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

[@antiimperialista5764]

@@Robtech I did, for that iGPU it causes issues like freezes or memory leak. That's why I'm still on the old driver and the reason for my comment. My 8th Gen Intel NUC still works flawlessly with Intel Driver Support & Assistant.

[@antiimperialista5764]

​@@geraldh.8047 Intel But Beelink has given me great support

[@machsaga5141]

Upvoted and subbed JUST BECAUSE of the Quake 3 t-shrit!!! id Software / John Carmack FTW!!!

[@fFrage01]

This the best mini PC I've ever seen wow

[@J0ermungand]

Hm, I don't know what they're doing with that. I feel I got a better system in a full laptop with an RTX 4070 and a Ryzen 7945HS, that's way cheaper than this. Also having a thermal throttling CPU for this huge "mini" is weirding me out. Like I might expect it in a compact laptop form factor, but in this form factor? Nice shirt btw, do you still play? 😊

[@lubossoltes321]

Not for the price. This thing is far too expensive. An aoostar gem12 + an occulink eGPU will do the same for much less money ...

[@Jantcha]

True. Also you can upgrade your combo over time unlike this one.

[@CallMeCJorDandy]

This should be the CPU case size in the year 2024 and above ❤

[@TrusteftTech]

Not too impressed with the actual performance. I like the idea, I do not like the price. Or the CPU temps. Thank you for the video. Also, did you try CP2077 by any chance?

[@radeksparowski7174]

another nic and at least a dp capable type c if not another usb4 or tb4 would be nice, hope amd will countwrattack soon and have high hopes for arm based devices too, a passive nuc with a 120 watt power limit with similar or better performance is in sight for less dinari

[@fFrage01]

Full benchmark next video of this sir this is great mini PC

[@farishanafiah8461]

I definitely don't mind the price as it's not much different than any DIY desktop PC with similar configuration and I can always bring the NUC anywhere, which is always a big bonus when travelling outstation with my UPERFECT X Pro lapdock. But would I replace my current NUC 11 Enthusiasts right now? Probably not. Maybe in one or two years time I think about replacing it.

[@TheCeleryGod]

I want to like this, but it's difficult. It doesn't dethrone the NUC 11 Enthusiast for sure. It's mildly interesting, but the only advantage is that it's slightly more compact for those that want a smaller footprint and a pre-built. A Velka 3 with HDPlex PSU is similar in size and I can use off the shelf components for much cheaper.

[@thomasskytte4855]

Thanks for yet an excellent video. I wonder how the Asus Rog will performe in hardware encoding AV1 4k compared to a similar PC without dedicated graphics fx Asus Mini PC NUC 14 PRO 9? The Intel Core Ultra CPU actually comes with a build in AV1 hardware encoder using a lot of new technoligies. Is it possible to test this out?

[@Robtech]

Next review is ASUS NUC 14 Pro+ (Core Ultra 9 185H)

[@davidleith325]

can you take of the bottom to clean the blowers cause on Hades canyon its a full strip down, many thanks in advance.

[@yonson_racing]

Cheers! I has that shirt!

[@sengwang2426]

Just came out here in Thailand, it's 48,000 baht here for the ultra 9 and 4070. Not bad but you can buy here the G22CH with a i7-14700k with a 4070 GPU with a AIO 240 with 32GB DDR 5 4800 for 52,000 baht. So the nuc is not worth it when compared unless it was like 35,000 baht.

[@heart4Pahoa]

I do like the NUCs, but a Lenovo P3 Ultra is about half the price for similar size and will hold an LP 4060 with future CPU and probable GPU upgrade options.

[@brads2041]

I just spit my dinner when the price came up. Yikes

[@Shiam-hr1zr]

Thanks ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@dave_r]

I had been expecting more from this, given the price. The graphics seemed underwhelming, and my understanding is that the laptop graphics chips from nVidia use model numbers on laptops that correspond to the next lower desktop card, so that this 4070 performs as a 4060 desktop does (putting form factor and cooling aside). But while interesting, and I'm glad Rob reviewed it, I wonder how it's going to sell: Unless you have to have this form factor, I think a mini-ITX could be built for the money that would perform much better, even in a smaller case. My impression is that when ASUS does things like this, they seem to expect a premium because it's an ASUS and not "some Chinese brand with no/crappy tech support", though that seems a bit ironic right about now...

[@Pilaspilas911]

For the price point, it's cheaper to just use a regular gaming laptop for the same or better specs.

[@indemonic]

Indeed.

[@farishanafiah8461]

Gaming laptop tend to have worse cooling than desktop, including SFF. Also, gaming laptops are heavy to carry around.

[@indemonic]

@@farishanafiah8461 bro, this NUC has 1) a laptop processor (185H), 2) a laptop GPU, 3) a laptop RAM (SODIMM) and 4) it weights 2,6 kg (the same than a gaming laptop without including a display). The ONLY pro could be the cooling system, but for the same price you can find a laptop with almost the same specs or even better building a desktop with way better specs.

[@SuperStareGry]

I really like this thing, but the price is just insane. Rtx 3070 for 2200k is just out of the question! I dont see this to live too long as rtx 5000 is around the courner and they offer only rtx3000 series. No enthusiast will buy this because of the above.

[@robertfranz2178]

he suck , is a 4070 not a 3070

[@jadhal6649]

It has laptop motherboard ( cpu GPU ) Without screen and keyboard Remaining same . Same power supply. Called mini pc

[@yissnakklives8866]

Yeah, for that price, nawp...can get an egpu rack with an rtx4080 and a minisforum 780xtx for less than half the price

[@SRMB1]

Say what now?

[@TrusteftTech]

No you can't.

[@TheGrizz485]

This is a scam at $2200. The "4070" here is much slower than my 6700xt and typical 4060TI cards. $1000 is the maximum this box is worth and even then its not good value.

[@ShellymanStudios]

And the build is plastic too. $2,200 + tax is definitely a scam.

[@frankwong9486]

And virtually no warranty 😂?

[@ashneel]

It'll be much less off msrp i guess

[@51ckl3y3]

what would you recomend for obs and older retro games and modern fps games trying to break away from console with smaller pc build

[@ryanwishart5452]

Good question! Maybe a actual laptop if u dont mind gaming laptops, with a better gpu 4070ti which you can search around and find for cheaper than 2200 or 2300usd. Ive seen alienware selling laptops with 4080s with an HX cpu and 4080's for a little more than this stupid nuc. This is a laptop literally but without the benefits of a what a laptop brings to the table which is mobility and flexibility. I was hoping this would be interesting at the least, but clearly, a dressed up turd. It looks kool and is a cool concept, but i dont think they attempted any real innovated ideas.

[@Jantcha]

IMHO this NUC seems to kinda suck... It's lost that magic that NUCs used to have. Now it's just another half-assed mini PC, a dime a dozen. It doesn't really do anything better than the rest yet it's way more expensive. Also I'm deeply disappointed in the size. 2.5 l + ~0.5 l from the power brick. So about 3 liters in all. At that volume you might as well just go with a custom build. Sure, those add 0.3 - 1.0 l (depending how much of a DIY person you are) more volume to the PC, but you can also replace every part of the PC as time goes on. Oh and the PSU is integrated in (I personally hate power bricks LOL). Also all of this is going to set you back way less than that ROG NUC would. And lastly... You don't have to use any ASUS parts in your build 👌😉A big plus considering the recent controversies.

[@goldenretrogames]

I'm really disappointed to see the minimal performance difference between this NUC and the Minisforum NUCXi7 (at 7:08 & 7:15 in the video). I was hoping for a much larger uplift from the faster processor and GPU. I'm hoping there's a BIOS or driver issue that's holding back performance, but I'm definitely not making the purchase if these are the numbers we should expect.

[@avidwriter2882]

Honestly for that price, why bother getting a mini? I know space is sometimes an issues for come on, that price is crazy.

[@alexfleener]

Expensive, where’s the NUC14 extreme?

[@Robtech]

"Asus confirms the end of the NUC Extreme lineup" www.tomshardware.com/desktops/mini-pcs/asus-confirms-the-end-of-the-nuc-extreme-lineup-nuc-13-extreme-is-the-last-of-its-kind

[@robertspotterson5361]

I get that people don't like the price, but that's the premium for the small form factor. I'll definitely be upgrading my phantom canyon to something like this if Asus keeps it up. But I am curious Rob. I'm waiting for something I can game with on an ultrawide monitor and do some AI stuff so I'm looking for at least 12GB of vram. Do you think this is a pipe dream?

[@Robtech]

Yeah, that's Nvidia's fault. They've been offering the lowest Vram configs they can get away with and I don't see an update coming till the 5000 series. Might be worth looking at NUC 12 Enthusiast which was bad at launch but should have improved a lot and with a much more attractive price. It comes with a 16GB ARC A770M.

[@robertspotterson5361]

@@Robtech That's a great suggestion, thank you! I'll be looking Into that 👀

[@HelgeV.]

Sff means u Install Desktop compoments in a small Form Factor. Here they use Laptop compoments this means this product dont count as sff... And Laptops are less pricey with Same Specs...

[@coldsun1187]

I'm sorry, but the idea that because this is small its this expensive is just exactly what they are hoping we all believe. This isn't much different than a laptop without a screen and some better cooling. It certainly cost a fraction of the retail price to produce. As long as they think consumers are this stupid, they won't sell these things.

[@user-vk7jg5yr3v]

Why didnt you show the temps when CPU utilize more than 20%? At all your game tests the CPU utilization was nearly 20% and the temps of CPU was nearly 80 celcius. Anything wrong when CPU utilization is higher? Too noisy, too hot?

[@Robtech]

CPU temp under 100% load is 103c as shown in the max temperature graph

[@user-vk7jg5yr3v]

@@Robtech Thanks for reply. Very informative for me

[@brianhansen6481]

Cost/performance ratio seems a bit poor with this one. I am running a nuc11 enthusiast. Does the job. but as your tests pointed out, the CPU is a big drawback. Seeing 8gb ram on this state of the art mini PC with a dedicated gfx does disappoint me. I wouldn't want to pour money into this when you can use all that money to build yourself a mini atx pc with a lot better specs.

[@pedgarage]

Hard Pass 👎🏻 You can build a Mini Itx Pc with a 4060 low profile that is slightly larger, and probabily the same footprint on the desk given the stand, but with much better perfomance since it will use desktop class hardware. + The possibility to Repar it and Upgrade it in the future. Max price should be 1.200$, no more.

[@gemsandlasers269]

Yeah but the reason people like me buy these NUCs is because they are so small. A mini ITX is simply too big. Although to be honest, this new NUC is also too big (compared to my NUC 11).

[@farishanafiah8461]

​@@gemsandlasers269Even though it's bigger than NUC 11 Enthusiasts, it's still smaller than any DIY home desktop.

[@MorganEdgy]

wow... After all the minis you have reviewed this is the most The performance is overwhelming The price and cooling are underwhelming So overall this NUC is just... Whelming.

[@LOVER_LINK]

ill wait for the inevitable price drop lmao

[@jaroslavmikulovsky2483]

mobile grafik????

[@billykotsos4642]

Nah bruh i pay 1k max for this but the GPU needs to have at least 16gb of RAM

[@brigandian]

With this price tag? Nah, I'd rather build my own itx for half the price with better performance.

[@TesGon]

For this price it's a scam. They getting 150% profit out of these sales for sure.

[@yajson]

That's super expensive!

[@SLOPPY1001]

For over £2000 I'm surprised it can't handle AAA games at 4k

[@andreasnilsson1797]

its fun becouse all these mini pc are stripped old pc from china that cut out to makes those mini pc so for the price they make like a huge profits and ASUS just sponsor it

[@MDunaev]

Thanks for video, mate! But this piece is too expansive.

[@SRMB1]

Damn 16gb vram would have made it more of an option. Too expensive for 8gb. What a miss

[@farishanafiah8461]

I believe Nvidia don't make a 16GB vRAM for any of their Laptop GPUs.

[@SRMB1]

@@farishanafiah8461 if that's true that's just more money grabbing from them. Such a shame. Paying 2k for 8gb vram is such a bad decision.

[@farishanafiah8461]

@@SRMB1 I just rechecked the GeForce 40 series. Only the 4090 Laptop has 16GB vRAM.

[@SRMB1]

@@farishanafiah8461 Nvidia is crazy. They playing some apple games. Seems they running out of headroom for performance and keeping 16gb for the next gen laptop. This little gaming nuc would be a great media center/server/gaming device combo. But won't pay that much when all the games will need more ram soon to get good frames.

[@ShellymanStudios]

It's a decent PC. With that price tag, you can definitely find something else that is better value.

[@ThiagoSilva-xe3cq]

9:14

[@elbow005]

2000$ to play 4K games @25 fps. Asus needs to upgrade their brains before anything else. they're getting nastier by the day!

[@diuran1919]

They are F...g insane with that F...g price. Wish nobody buy this overprice device with poor loud as hell cooling system. It's something not right. I have lenovo legion with intel 10 gen 6/12 core 64GB RAM nvidia 2060m and on full HD I have more fps in most game you are showing, that's weird but maybe shitty bios and drivers.

[@nochildsupport4889]

I think amd processors would been better

[@tttomtxhc]

Creators need to boycott Asus reviews until they fix their business

[@GregMcCall]

ASUS has sent NUCs down hill and just ignores customers with senseless excuses. I recently got a PN53 NUC and it doesn’t operate headless which I needed as I use it at the base of a Telescope and I Remote Desktop to the machine to control when needed. ASUS even look like they removed some BIOS features to enable headless. On boot, it seems to check for a monitor and will not boot without a connected monitor. It also will not boot on restart without a monitor, even if I use a dummy monitor plug. Just stupid engineering decisions for a device like this. The Intel NUC that I upgraded from worked fine headless.

[@Robtech]

The ASUS PN line is their creation and been around for a while. But it's not a NUC and has no Intel design involvement. This mini and the ASUS NUC 14 Pro are Intel's final creations which ASUS took over.

[@blackbeanburger3357]

the price of that LOL.. looks cool but jesus that is a rip off

[@Jrfeimst2]

Overpriced Junk. Cool

[@Tkarma77]

For half that money no

[@steakbaguette]

first

[@coldsun1187]

Way overpriced. There is really no excuse. They would sell a lot more of these if they got real.

[@Onion_Knights]

intel...? uh, pass

[@LoneRiderz]

Asus? Nope.

[@stevenknight95]

Asus? no thanks, warranty scam, and expensive

[@nrimichael4046]

Real one

[@shadowbanned4606]

2200. Scam in plain sight.

[@Rayu25Demon]

intel and asus, just skip this device wont last a year.

[@kyfeam]

Asus is dead to me..

[@tendosingh5682]

ASUS = NO.

[@SLOPPY1001]

A gaming desktop that can't play AAA games, hmmm let me think 🤔

[@farishanafiah8461]

What are you on about? It has dedicated GPU card. I got the NUC 11 Enthusiast and have no problem playing any 2024 AAA games in FHD and QHD quality without much problem.

[@SLOPPY1001]

@@farishanafiah8461 It shows in the tests a few games struggled. I fancy one of these, are you saying they're ok for AAA games? Cheers