ASUS launches the ROG NUC 16 Phantom Blade Zero Edition with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and an RTX 5080 for more than 4,200 euros in exchange

ASUS has presented the ROG NUC 16 Phantom Blade Zero Editiona special edition of their gaming minipc based on the RPG title Phantom Blade Zero. Internally, it maintains the same hardware as the original ROG NUC 16 launched last June, but with an exterior redesign.

The chassis maintains dimensions of 282.5 x 189.5 x 56.5mm and a weight of 3.2 kg, but replaces the standard finish with a black and red decoration with engravings of swords and a semi-transparent panel with the silhouette of the game’s protagonist.

It comes with a removable stand to place it vertically or horizontally that includes an integrated sensor to detect the orientation of the minipc. On the back there is a thumbscrew to open the lid without tools and access the memory and storage slots for future updates.

The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor is combined with a laptop RTX 5080 and 300W of TGP.

Inside we find high-end laptop components, starting with the processor Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus 24 cores, capable of reaching up to 5.5 GHz.

For the graphic part we have two options, either one NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12GB or one GeForce RTX 5080 with 16 GB GDDR7 memory. In total, the system handles a combined TGP of up to 300W and is powered by an external 380W adapter which gives some headroom.

To cool both the CPU and GPU, it has a unified vapor chamber that covers both chips. This system uses three fans: two for the main heatsink and a third dedicated to cooling the RAM memory modules and SSDs.

The computer has two DDR-5600 SO-DIMM memory slots and also SO-DIMM DDR5-6400 with up to 128 GB of RAM. For storage it has an M.2 2280 slot PCIe 5.0 x4 and another PCIe 4.0 x4coming with a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD preinstalled.

In terms of connectivity, it integrates Wi-Fi 7 (Intel Killer BE1750x) with Bluetooth 5.4 and a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port. On the front it has two USB 3.1 (3.2 Gen 2) type A ports, one USB 3.1 (3.2 Gen 2) type C ports and a 3.5 mm audio jack. Behind we have a Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort 2.1, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 type A, two HDMI 2.1 FRL outputs and two DisplayPort 2.1.

A price that starts from 3,278 euros at direct exchange.

At the moment, this ROG NUC 16 Phantom Blade Zero Edition has been put on sale in China with very high prices for a minipc with laptop hardware: the variant with the RTX 5070 It costs 24,499 yuan, which is equivalent to about 3,278 euros to direct change, while the model with the RTX 5080 rises to 31,499 yuan, about 4,215 euros to change.

If it finally arrives in Spain, where ASUS has already published the product sheet on its official website, the corresponding taxes and changes will have to be added, so it will possibly be more expensive.

Technical characteristics of the ASUS ROG NUC 16 x Phantom Blade Zero (RNUC16JNK9X28AA6)

• Processor and chipset

  • Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (cTDP 45-160 W)
  • Chipset: Intel HM870

• dedicated graphics card

  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU
  • Video memory: 16 GB GDDR7

• RAM memory

  • Included capacity: 32 GB (2 x 16 GB DDR5-6400 SO-DIMM)
  • Maximum supported capacity:

    • Up to 64GB (2 x DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM)
    • Up to 64 GB (2 x DDR5-6400 CSO-DIMM)

• Storage

  • Drive included: 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 4.0
  • Supported expansion slots:

    • 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (supports 1TB to 2TB NVMe SSD)
    • 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5x4 (supports 1TB to 2TB NVMe SSD)

• Network connectivity

  • Wired network: 2.5G Ethernet Realtek RTL8125D (1 x RJ-45)
  • Wireless Connectivity:

    • Wi-Fi 7 Intel Killer BE1750x (Gig+)
    • Bluetooth 5.4

• Ports and interfaces

  • Front panel (side):

    • USB ports:

      • 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
      • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C

    • Audio: 1 x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack

  • Back panel:

    • USB and Thunderbolt ports:

      • 1 x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C (with DisplayPort 2.1 support)
      • 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A

    • Video outputs:

      • 2 x HDMI 2.1 FRL
      • 2 x DisplayPort 2.1

    • Network: 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port (2.5G)
    • Food and safety:

      • 1 x DC power input (ASUS rectangular connector)
      • 1 x Kensington lock slot

• Integrated audio

  • Audio codec: ALC3342-CG

• Feeding

  • Power adapter: 380W (20V DC, 19A)

• Dimensions and weight

  • Dimensions (W x D x H): 282.5 x 189.5 x 56.5 mm
  • Weight: 3.2kg

• Operating system