Intel’s Meteor Lake H-series processors promise modest gains in CPU performance over the previous-gen Raptor Lake chips, but big boosts in graphics performance. And while many of the first Meteor Lake PCs announced were laptops, they’re also starting to show up in compact desktop computers.
The new ASRock NUC Ultra 100 Box and NUCS Ultra 100 Box series mini PCs support up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 96GB of RAM, and video output to as many as four 4K displays.
Both lines of little computers are pretty similar to the 4×4 NUC form-factor, with bodies that measure 117.5 x 110mm (4.63″ x 4.33″). The key difference is the that NUC Ultra 100 BOX measures 49mm (1.93″) tall and has room for a 2.5 inch hard drive or SSD, while the NUCS Ultra 100 Box is a shorter system at 38mm (1.5″) and has no room for a hard drive. There are also some differences in the port selection.
ASRock offers models with a choice of 14-core, 18-thread Core 5 Ultra 125H or 16-core, 22-thread Core Ultra 7 155H chips. Both processors feature Intel Arc graphics for up to 2X the GPU performance you’d get from a previous-gen Raptor Lake-P chip, making these little computers viable systems for entry-level gaming, video editing, or other tasks… but if you want discrete-level graphics, you may want to leverage the single Thunderbolt 4 port to connect a graphics dock (or look to another computer entirely).
Intel’s Meteor Lake chips also feature a neural processing unit for hardware-accelerated AI tasks, enabling Windows Studio Effects for video calls, hardware-accelerated photo and video editing effects, and other edge AI applications.
ASRock hasn’t announced how much these systems will cost or when you’ll be able to buy them, but the company has released detailed specs for all models.
| NUCS BOX-155H | NUCS BOX-125H | NUC BOX-155H | NUC BOX-125H | |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/8 Xe cores |
Intel Core Ultra 5 125H 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/7 Xe cores |
Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/8 Xe cores |
Intel Core Ultra 5 125H 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores, 2 LP E-cores Intel Arc GPU w/7 Xe cores |
| RAM | Up to 96GB (48GB per DIMM) DDR5-5600 2 x SODIMM slots Dual Channel |
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| Storage | 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 1 x M.2 2242 PCIe Gen 4 x1 |
1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 1 x M.2 2242 PCIe Gen 4 x1 1 x 2.5″ SATA 3.0 HDD or SSD |
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| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (w/DisplayPort Alt Mode) 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2 x HDMI 2.1 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (Intel I226LM 1 x 3.5mm audio |
1 x Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (w/DisplayPort Alt Mode) 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2 x HDMI 2.1 2 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (1 x Intel I226LM + 1 x Intel I226V) 1 x 3.5mm audio |
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| Wireless | WiFi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 |
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| Power supply | 19V/120W | 19V/90W | 19V/120W | 19V/90W |
| Dimensions | 117.5 x 110 x 38mm 4.63″ x 4.33″ x 1.5″ |
117.5 x 110 x 49mm 4.63″ x 4.33″ x 1.93″ |
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| Weight | 1 kg 2.2 pounds |
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ASRock is one of the first companies to unveil Meteor Lake mini PCs, but we’ll likely see many others in the coming months. Chinese PC maker MECHREVO recently introduced the imini Pro Mac Mini lookalike with a Core Ultra 5 125H processor for the Chinese market.
press release via LinuxGizmos
