Asus pulls plug on much-loved gaming PC lineup

Asus has formally known as time on the Intel NUC Excessive vary of mini desktop gaming PCs. After rescuing the Intel NUC division from being fully scrapped and even revealing brand-new tiny gaming PCs at CES 2024, Asus has confirmed the bigger, extra user-upgradeable NUC Excessive machines aren’t any extra.

The Intel NUC saga dates again to 6 months in the past when Intel introduced it was closing the NUC division that well being with growing a variety of mini PCs for the whole lot from fundamental PCs for retail and signage to mini gaming PCs such because the Intel NUC Excessive. Nevertheless, Asus swooped in and rescued the brand mere days later. That culminated in Asus even asserting the Asus ROG NUC at CES, which is principally a laptop-class gaming system in a desktop PC the scale of a big hardback e book.

The most recent growth within the story, although, is that the larger-format Intel NUC Excessive units – which used a mixed CPU, motherboard, reminiscence, and cooling module collectively known as the NUC Factor – will now not be developed.

In some ways, the information isn’t a terrific shock as these techniques have been all the time expensive and, crucially for lovers, had extreme limitations on their upgradability. All of the whereas, they weren’t that small, with them rivaling significantly compact mini-ITX techniques and the likes of the Shuttle XPC mini PCs (themselves a mini PC lineup that has largely stopped gaming PC growth) and Asus’ personal ROG Strix gaming PCs, with a complete quantity of round 7.5 liters. The Asus ROG NUC, as compared, is much more restricted in how it may be upgraded and can also be fairly costly, nevertheless it’s a lot smaller at simply 2.5 liters in quantity.

The affirmation comes by way of long-time tech blogger, Fudzilla, who reached out to Asus for phrase on the NUC Excessive units. As a substitute, Asus is encouraging consumers to look as an alternative in the direction of its ROG Strix G16 desktop, which can also be round 7.5 liters in quantity. Presently obtainable variations of those techniques embody thirteenth gen Intel CPUs with as much as RTX 4070 GPUs.

Had been you ever tempted by an Intel NUC PC, or did you ever purchase one? Tell us your ideas on the PCGamesN Facebook and X pages. In the meantime, head on over to our greatest gaming PC information for our newest suggestions for the very best gaming desktops.