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Since taking over the NUC line of mini PCs from Intel in 2023, Asus has continued to offer small desktops with Intel and AMD processor options. But so far the company has only used the NUC brand for models with Intel processors, while marketing AMD-powered systems as ExpertCenter systems.
But it looks like that could soon change. As spotted by @Olrak29_, an entry on the website of an Indian regulatory certification agency suggests there may be an Asus NUC14LNS system on the way with an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Strix Halo processor on the way.
NUC stands for “Next Unit of Computing” and it was coined by Intel as a brand that showcased the company’s vision for next-gen computing platforms. For the most part that meant mini PCs, but there were also a few NUC-branded laptops as well as gaming PCs that were small by traditional desktop standards, but still not exactly “mini.”
In some ways, it makes sense to use the brand for a computer with an AMD Strix Halo processor – the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor is a beast, with 16 CPU cores and 32 threads based on AMD Zen 5 architecture, support for CPU frequencies up to 5.1 GHz, and 80MB of cache.
What really makes it stand out though is the integrated Radeon 8060S GPU which is said to offer discrete-level graphics performance thanks to 40 GPU compute units, support for frequencies up to 2.9 GHz, and the ability to leverage up to 96GB of LPDDR5x RAM for use as video memory (in a system with 128GB of unified memory).
But it would still be a little surprising to see AMD buck the naming conventions it’s stuck with up until now.
Keep in mind that Asus hasn’t officially confirmed plans to launch an NUC14LNS system yet, and it’s possible that a computer with this model number could still be sold under a different name if and when it launches. Or maybe the model number will change as well.
But in that case, it’s still interesting to note that Asus is working on a mini PC with a Strix Halo processor. So far we’ve seen several mini PCs with Strix Point chips, but the only other desktop with a Strix Halo chip that I’ve seen so far is the HP Z2 Mini G1a, which is being positioned as a compact workstation-class computer.
via TechPowerUp