ASUS ROG NUC 16 adds Arrow Lake Refresh CPU, white model and horizontal performance mode

But how in the world did they come up with the price?

ASUS has launched the ROG NUC 16 in China. The new mini PC is available in black and white versions and keeps the 3-liter form factor used by the previous ROG NUC design.

The main hardware update is the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor . ASUS lists the system with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU . The product page does not show GPU variants yet (for some reason) but the promo video mentions 5080, 5070 Ti, 5070, and 5060 options, all with the same CPU. The official product page also lists support for up to 128GB of DDR5-6400 CSODIMM memory.

The China launch lists the black version at 29,999 RMB (~$4,420). The white version is priced at 30,499 RMB (~$4,490) and is available for pre-order. ASUS uses the names Obsidian Black and Moonlight White on the global ROG product page.

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Source: ASUS

ASUS has also changed the power and cooling setup. The ROG NUC 16 ships with a 380W power adapter on supported SKUs, which ASUS says offers 15% more wattage than the ROG NUC 2025 adapter. The system uses three fans, a vapor chamber with 72% thermal coverage and a dedicated SSD heatsink. ASUS claims noise stays below 38 dBA under sustained load.

Source: ASUS

The chassis supports both vertical and horizontal placement. A SUS says the built-in G-sensor detects the orientation and adjusts thermal settings when the system is placed horizontally. The I/O includes Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20, HDMI 2.1, 2.5GbE, USB 3.2 Gen2 and support for up to five 4K displays.

ASUS presents the system as smaller yet more powerful than PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The problem is that these devices are not comparable on price. ASUS does not appear to address the price segment it is comparing against. Even after recent PS5 price increases, the PlayStation 5 Pro is still roughly four times cheaper than the new ROG NUC.

Source: ASUS

Comparison to 2025 model

This is a follow-up to the ROG NUC 2025, which paired the Core Ultra 9 275HX with up to an RTX 5080 Laptop GPU. We previously covered that model’s China launch at 24,399 to 24,999 RMB, and later reported its US price increase to $3,199. The ROG NUC 16 keeps the RTX 5080 Laptop GPU ceiling but moves to the newer Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus platform.

ASUS has not issued a global press release for this ROG NUC 2026 model so far, and the current launch appears limited to China. Based on the local pricing, a US release would likely land close to $4,000, depending on taxes and regional adjustments.

That would be a sharp increase for what appears to be a limited hardware refresh. The new model keeps the RTX 5080 Laptop GPU and mainly moves from Core Ultra 9 275HX to Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, alongside cooling and power delivery changes. At this price level, ASUS is pushing the ROG NUC far beyond console pricing and into high-end gaming desktop territory.

Source: ASUS

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