Asus has been making mini PCs with Intel and AMD processors for years, so while the company may have taken over the NUC brand from Intel, Asus is also continuing to launch new mini PCs with AMD processors.

Case in point? While CES 2025 is the coming out party for the new Intel-powered Asus NUC 15 Pro and ROG NUC (2025), Asus is also introducing a new Asus ExpertCenter PN54 is compact desktop computer powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 “Kracken Point” processor featuring 8 Zen 5 CPU cores and 8 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores.

The little computer looks a lot like the latest NUC models, but there are a few key differences. For one thing, since this is an AMD-powered device, it lacks Thunderbolt ports (but has plenty of USB ports, including a 40 Gbps USB4 port as well as several 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports). Another difference is more of a positive though: the Asus ExpertCenter PN54 has two 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, while most NUC-branded mini PCs have just a single Ethernet port.

Other features include two SODIMM slots with support for up to a total of 96GB of DDR5-5600 memory, two M.2 2280 slots for PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 storage, and support for WiFi 7.

Like some recent Asus NUC systems, the ExpertCenter PN54 has a fingerprint reader on top of the case, a power button on the front right, and a Windows Copilot key on the top right. There’s also a built-in microphone and speaker, allowing you to use the computer as a sort of smart speaker and/or audio conferencing system.

During a briefing ahead of CES, I asked an Asus representative about that Copilot button, mic and speaker. Asus acknowledges that it’s unclear how much demand there is for a mic and speaker, but the cost of adding those features was fairly low, so the company decided to try them out and see if and how customers use them. Since the company already makes laptop with small mics and speakers, it was easy to source components for the mini PC.

As for the Copilot key, I’m skeptical that it’ll get pressed very often – especially since some users may want to put a mini PC behind a display or under a desk where the buttons aren’t easy to access. But Asus says a large percentage of mini PC users do actually position their computers so that the front panel is accessible.

And while it’s possible many people won’t use those features at all, that’s generally true of a lot of things that PC makers cram into their products these days. For example, Thunderbolt ports might be a selling point for laptop, desktop, and mini PC products, but Asus says only a small fraction of people actually use them any differently than a slower and/or non-certified USB4 port.

Speaking of USB4 ports, the Asus ExpertCenter PN54 has a DC power jack, but it also supports USB-PD, meaning you can power the computer with a USB-C power adapter that delivers at least 100 watts, allowing you to connect the computer to a power source, monitor, or hub with a single cable.

The Ryzen AI 7 350 processor itself can run at three different power levels: whisper (less than 30 watts), standard (40 watts), or unlocked (54 watts), but the reason you’ll want a 100W or higher power supply is to ensure that all the ports and other features will work properly.