ASUS ROG NUC 16 Edition 20 Transparent Mini PC Packs An RTX 5090 Laptop GPU
As part of its celebration of 20 years of its Republic of Gamers (ROG) sub-brand, ASUS is offering up some special edition products, one of which is a retooled ROG NUC 16. The new ROG NUC 16 Edition 20 (what a mouthful, eh?) swaps out the chassis on the regular model for a transparent design and adds gold accents, but the changes are not just skin deep. Inside, the Edition 20 model packs NVIDIA's mobile GeForce RTX 5090 GPU.
We've only seen renders, but assuming they're at least mostly representative of the real-world aesthetic, the ROG NUC 16 Edition 20 is an attractive mini PC with the same aggressive demeanor as the regular model.
"Crafted primarily from aluminum, it delivers a refined, high-end look with exceptional structural integrity and optimized thermal performance, while its open-frame architecture enables unrestricted airflow and highly efficient heat dissipation," ASUS says.
It supports vertical, angled, and horizontal placement, depending on your preference. Like the top-kitted version of the regular model, it's powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX processor (Arrow Lake Refresh), with 8 cores performance cores clocked at 2.7GHz to 5.5GHz and 16 efficient cores running at 1.8GHz to 4.7GHz, along with 36MB of L2 cache and 40MB of L3 cache.
The highlight, though, is the laptop variant of the GeForce RTX 5090. That's a big upgrade over the base model's GeForce RTX 5060 mobile GPU, and more burly than the upgraded version's GeForce RTX 5080 mobile GPU.
That's not a bad CPU and GPU combo for a compact 3-liter chassis. It comes standard with 64GB (2x32GB) of DDR5-6400 memory and supports up to 128GB (2x64GB). For storage, it comes with a 2TB PCIe 5.0 solid state drive (SSD) in the M.2 2280 form factor.
Other features include Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 (BE1750x) and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity, a tool-less design (removing a thumbscrew offers easy access to the system's guts), and three cooling fans.
As for the back I/O ports, it comes with the following...
- 1 x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C w/ DisplayPortTM 2.1
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 2 x HDMI 2.1 FRL
- 2 x DP 2.1
- 1 x RJ45 LAN
- 1 x DC Input (ASUS rectangle jack)
- 1 x Kensington Lock
ASUS did not mention a release date or pricing for the ROG NUC 16 Edition 20 in its press release, but as a point of reference, the regular model with a GeForce RTX 5080 carries a $3,799 MSRP.
