Asus crammed an RTX 5080 into a 3-litre box. It costs $4,400 and the performance gain is 2.3%.

"Asus has launched the 2026 ROG NUC 16 in China, pairing Intel's Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU inside a 3-litre chassis that weighs 3.12 kilograms. The black version starts at CNY 29,999 (approximately $4,400). A Moonlight White edition costs CNY 31,999 (approximately $4,700). Global pricing has not been confirmed, but a US launch near $4,000 is expected, likely after a wider reveal at Computex in June."

"The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus brings 24 cores (8 Performance, 16 Efficient) with 40MB of L2 cache. The RTX 5080 laptop GPU, based on Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, supports DLSS 4.5 with Multi Frame Generation and delivers up to 1,334 AI TOPS across CPU, GPU, and NPU workloads. The system supports up to 128GB of DDR5-6400 memory via two CSODIMM slots, and storage comes via one M.2 PCIe 5.0 and two PCIe 4.0 slots, supporting up to 9TB total capacity."

"Connectivity is comprehensive: Thunderbolt 4, two HDMI 2.1 ports, two DisplayPort 2.1 ports, four USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, Wi-Fi 7 with Bluetooth 5.4, and 2.5GbE LAN. Paired with the newly announced ROG Xreal R1 AR gaming glasses, the NUC 16 could serve as the core of a portable high-refresh-rate gaming setup that fits in a backpack, though the combined cost of both devices would exceed $5,200."

"Cooling has been upgraded with a three-fan system and dual vapour chamber, providing 12% more thermal coverage than the previous generation. Asus claims the system runs below 38 dBA at full load, which is notably quiet for the power it draws through a 380W external brick. The chassis measures 282.4 x 189.5 x 56.5mm, smaller than a PlayStation 5, and features a toolless design for memory and storage up"

ROG NUC 16 launched in China with Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU inside a 3-litre chassis weighing 3.12 kilograms. The black model starts at CNY 29,999 (about $4,400), while a Moonlight White edition costs CNY 31,999 (about $4,700). The processor includes 24 cores with 40MB of L2 cache. The RTX 5080 supports DLSS 4.5 with Multi Frame Generation and provides up to 1,334 AI TOPS across CPU, GPU, and NPU workloads. The system supports up to 128GB DDR5-6400 via two CSODIMM slots and offers up to 9TB storage using one M.2 PCIe 5.0 and two PCIe 4.0 slots. Connectivity includes Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and 2.5GbE LAN. Cooling uses a three-fan system with dual vapour chambers, with Asus claiming under 38 dBA at full load.

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