The NUC 14 Pro is the first of the NUCs released after Intel licensed that business to ASUS. The design still mirrors traditional Intel NUCs, and ASUS validates NUCs for Linux just as Intel did prior to the transition. Within Intel's naming scheme, the NUC 14 Pro is "Revel Canyon," and ASUS continues to offer units as complete mini PCs (with Windows, memory, and storage), or as barebones kits for users to add their own components.
The Linux validation and barebones availability are why NUCs are my go-to system for running Linux on the desktop, as they often just work, eliminating a need for manual configuration for graphics, sound, or networking on modern distributions. For day-to-day use, a full-size PC is a bit overkill, as I've got a NAS for bulk storage and an external DVD drive for the rare occasion that I need one. I use a standing desk, so a PC that fits below my monitor is more convenient than routing cables for a full-size tower on the floor.
The internals of the NUC 14 Pro.
I've taken a few more photos of the setup process, and they're in this Imgur album as r/Linux is set to allow only one photo per post.
Being upfront, ASUS sent the NUC 14 Pro for this review, and Patriot provided the RAM and SSD. Neither company read the review prior to posting. I'm striving to be objective, though as the lead moderator of r/IntelNUC, I'm clearly enthusiastic about NUCs and SFF PCs generally. From a personal perspective, I've used Linux for a decade—for half of that time, as my only OS, though I use Windows, Mac, and Linux about equally now—and I've been a NUC user since 2018.
Introduction
Fortunately, ASUS retained the design and strategy that made the NUCs useful: like previous NUCs, the the NUC 14 Pro is available in "slim" which support two M.2 SSDs, or "tall" units, which also support a 2.5" SATA HDD or SSD, up to 15mm tall, and NUCs are still primarily sold as barebones "kit" systems for the user to add their own memory and storage.
There's five options for processors: a Core Ultra 7 155H, Core Ultra 5 125H, or Core 3 100U, and the vPro-enabled Core Ultra 7 165H and Core Ultra 5 135H. Generally, vPro is only used by businesses for fleet management. These CPUs are nearly identical to the non-vPro versions, so there's no advantage for consumers to buy the comparatively expensive vPro versions.
While the NUC 14 Pro is the standard 4×4" square, there are other NUCs available. The NUC 14 Pro+ is slightly larger and adds a Core 9 185H option (but has no 2.5" drive bay), and the NUC 14 Pro AI uses Intel's Lunar Lake SoC, which uses on-package memory, so only the SSD can be replaced. The NUC 14 Performance includes an NVIDIA RTX 40 Series Laptop GPU, and is marketed for gamers as the ROG NUC.
Unboxing
I'm using the tall NUC 14 Pro with an Intel Core 7 Ultra 165H, which is a Meteor Lake-H processor with 6 performance cores with two threads per core, 8 efficiency cores, and 2 low-power efficiency cores, for a total of 16 cores and 22 threads. The maximum turbo clock speed is 5 GHz, and Intel's website provides full details; figures for the base and turbo speeds are as ungratifying to write as they are to read. On the NUC 14 Pro, ASUS configures the power (cTDP) at 40W. My unit is 117 × 112 × 54 mm and 600 g (4.6 × 4.4 × 2.1 in. and 21 oz., in freedom units), the slim version is 37 mm tall and 500 g (1.1 in. and 17.6 oz.), before adding memory and storage.
The front features one 20 Gbps USB Type C port and two 10 Gbps USB ports, and the power button. There's no ASUS logo on the barebones kit, and I'm reasonably certain that the HDMI logo is a sticker, but I haven't tried to remove it yet. ASUS removed the headset jack in the NUC 14 Pro (and Pro+), and this is the first mainline NUC to not have one. There's no integrated SD Card reader, but the last mainline NUC with one was the 10th generation (Frost Canyon) NUC from 2019.
The back has two Thunderbolt 4 / USB Type C ports (which support DisplayPort 1.4) and two HDMI 2.1 ports (which support TMDS), allowing up to four monitors to be connected. There is also one 10 Gbps USB port and one USB 2.0 port on the back, as well as an RJ-45 port for 2.5 Gb Ethernet (using Intel's I226-V/LM controller), and the barrel connector for power. The PSU included with my NUC 14 Pro is a FSP120-ABBU3, a 120W / 19V / 6.32A unit measuring 98 × 64.5 × 22.3 mm, which is quite compact. (For comparison, my 140W MacBook Pro charger is 96 × 75 × 29 mm.)
The spacer held in by two screws on the back can be used to add additional ports through an expansion kit from GoRite, for either one RS-232 port, two USB 2.0 ports, or two USB 2.0 ports and SMA RF (Wi-Fi) antennas. Similar to previous Intel NUCs, GoRite designs expansions that replace the top lid of the NUC to add items like an additional 2.5 GbE port or a full assembly for an LTE modem, which could be helpful if you’re using a NUC as an edge server.
Other than a Kensington security slot on the right side of the NUC—to protect against theft—the sides are reserved for ventilation, though the back of the NUC (above the I/O ports) has larger ventilation holes. There is a VESA bracket in the box for mounting the NUC to a monitor. On the back, there's a slotted hole for an optional security screw (included in the box) to secure the power cord from being unplugged accidentally.
Disassembly & Hardware
Disassembling the NUC 14 Pro is reasonably easy—the bottom cover locks in using a sliding mechanism on the right. (You can also lock the case with the captive screw near the slider.) Slide it upward, and gently remove the bottom cover. If you're using the tall version of the NUC 14 Pro, there is a ribbon cable that connects the SATA port on the bottom assembly to the mainboard—the cable is not too short as to be actively frustrating, but not too long as to get in the way when closing things back up. Open the plastic lock on the mainboard connector to release the cable—I used nylon tweezers to open it—and detach the ribbon cable from the mainboard, setting the bottom assembly aside.
On the mainboard, there are two SODIMM RAM slots and two SSD slots: one M.2 2280, and one M.2 2242. Both M.2 SSD slots are wired for PCIe 4.0 x4 signaling. This is an improvement over the NUC Pro 13, which only supported SATA on the M.2 2242 slot. The Wi-Fi module (Intel AX211 / Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3) is soldered to the mainboard, so it is not upgradable. The NUC 14 Pro supports up to 96 GB DDR5-5600 RAM, if you use two 48 GB modules. I'm using this for web browsing, code editing, and light gaming, so 32 GB (2 × 16 GB) is sufficient. I'm using Patriot Signature DDR5-5600 SODIMMs (PSD516G560081S) in the NUC 14 Pro.
Inserting the RAM is just like any other system: insert the module in the slot at a 45-degree angle and press down on the top edge until the latches on both sides click into place. If, for some reason, you've only got one RAM module, put it in the bottom slot. I strongly recommend using two RAM modules on the NUC, as using only one will significantly reduce application and graphics performance. (ASUS indicates that Intel's Arc GPU functionality requires two RAM modules, otherwise it's just "Intel Graphics". trademark quibbles aside, the implication is lower performance.)
The M.2 slots are tool-less, there is a little plastic plunger that holds the drive in place. Oddly, the NUC 14 Pro (and Pro+) is rather opinionated about what M.2 drives are used. ASUS posted an advisory indicating that using some M.2 drives will result in the system not powering on, and advising the use of SSDs on the qualified vendor list (QVL) which are tested for the system. I'm using a 2TB Patriot Viper VP4300 SSD—this works as expected, despite it not being on the QVL. Conversely, the VP4300 Lite did not work in the NUC 14 Pro, but worked in other computers. Patriot and ASUS are in communication to troubleshoot and resolve the issue.
The bottom cover (of the tall version) of the NUC 14 Pro integrates a mounting bracket for a 2.5" SATA drive, up to 15mm thick. This isn't new—the NUC 12 and 13 Pro also support 15mm SATA drives (or port expansion on the back panel), but other mini PCs typically do n...
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