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If you regularly read our content, you’ve likely already heard of the ASUS NUC line of mini PCs. This series of compact computers was originally an exclusive Intel product, but its production has since fully shifted to ASUS. We’ve previously reviewed the gaming-oriented ASUS ROG NUC 970 and the high-performance office-focused ASUS NUC 14 Pro on our website. Today, I want to tell you about the ASUS NUC 14 Essential – a slightly simplified and more affordable version of the Pro model, which entered the market in the first quarter of this year. How does it differ from the Pro version? How much does it cost? What configurations are available, and what can it do? You’ll find all the answers in today’s review.
Models, differences and specifications
To start with, it’s worth noting that the ASUS NUC 14 Essential is currently available in two versions: the NUC14MNB in a Board format and the NUC14MNK-B in a Kit format. The first model comes as a bare motherboard, while the second is housed in a ready-to-use plastic enclosure. The configuration of both versions is essentially the same, with the only differences being the form factor and the inclusion of a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module in the Kit version. For this review, I received the fully assembled Kit, so that’s the model we’ll be focusing on for testing and evaluation. If you’re interested in the specifications, comparisons, and detailed configuration of the Board version, you can find all of that on the official ASUS website.
Now, a few words about how the NUC 14 Essential differs from the NUC 14 Pro. It’s fairly straightforward. As the name suggests, the Pro version features more powerful hardware – especially when it comes to the processors it can be equipped with. The Pro model also supports more RAM and at higher frequencies. And the key difference, of course, is the price. The NUC 14 Essential is the more affordable option, which I mentioned at the beginning of this review. You can find the full specifications and available configurations of the NUC 14 Pro on the official ASUS website. For reference, we also have a detailed review and test of the NUC14RVH model from that lineup on our site.
Below are the technical specifications of the NUC 14 Essential to give you a clearer understanding of the device – specifically, the RNUC14MNK2500002 model, which I received for review.
- Model: RNUC14MNK2500002
- Processor: Intel Processor N250 (Twin Lake; 4 cores; 4 threads; maximum clock speed 3.8 GHz; level 3 cache 6 MB; 10 nm process; TDP 6 W; integrated Intel Graphics)
- Graphics: integrated Intel Graphics video core
- RAM support: 1×DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM, maximum capacity 16 GB
- Storage support: 1×M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x 4.0 SSD (128GB – 2TB capacity) or 1×M.2 2242 SATA SSD (128GB – 2TB capacity)
- Audio: Realtek ALC3251
- Wireless technologies: Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+); Bluetooth 5.3
- LAN: Realtek Ethernet Controller RTL8125BG-CG
- Front panel interfaces: 1×USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, 2×USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, 1×3.5 mm Headset Jack, on/off button
- Rear panel interfaces: 1×USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (DisplayPort 1.4), 2×USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1×USB 2.0 Type-A, 1×HDMI 2.1 (TMDS), 1×DisplayPort 1.4, 1×RJ45 LAN 2.5G, 1×DC-in
- Power supply: external (19 V, 3.42 A, 65 W)
- Supported operating systems: Windows 11, RedHat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- Proprietary application: MyASUS
- Security: Kensington lock
- Dimensions: 135×115×36 mm
- Weight: 470 g
- Package contents: ASUS NUC14MNK-B mini-PC, 65W power supply, VESA adapter bracket, VESA mounting screws set, warranty documentation, user manual
Positioning and price
In terms of positioning, the ASUS NUC 14 Essential can be described as an entry-level portable mini PC. Its performance is more than sufficient for basic office tasks, and the device is relatively affordable. As of the time of writing, the price of the specific model we’re reviewing is \$311 / €275. It’s worth noting right away that this price does not include storage or RAM, as the device does not come with them pre-installed. I’ll cover which models and capacities are supported as we go through the review.
Package contents
The NUC 14 Essential comes in a relatively small cardboard box. The only notable detail on the packaging is a sticker indicating the exact model of the device.
We unpack the contents and see what is included in the package, in addition to the PC itself:
- power supply
- VESA adapter bracket
- a set of screws for VESA mounting
- warranty documentation
- user manual
The power supply has a capacity of 65W. The cable length is more than sufficient. Using the included VESA mount adapter, the device can be mounted on a wall, bracket, or behind a monitor. All necessary screws are included in the package.
Let me remind you once again that the PC does not come with storage or RAM preinstalled. For testing purposes, I was provided with a Kingston Fury SO-DIMM DDR5-4800 Impact Black memory module with a capacity of 16 GB, as well as a 500 GB Kingston NV3 M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD from the same manufacturer.
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Design, layout of ports and connectors
The design of the ASUS NUC 14 Essential can be described as classic for its series. All system components are “packed” into a compact plastic case measuring 135×115×36 mm, with a total weight of 470 g.
There is a full set of ports and connectors and even more. On the front panel are located:
- on/off button
- 1×USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
- 2×USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
- 1×3.5 mm audio input
There’s nothing on the left side of the PC. On the right side, you’ll find a Kensington lock slot.
The rear panel contains, so to speak, all the main connectors for connection:
- 1×USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (DisplayPort 1.4)
- 2×USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1×USB 2.0 Type-A
- 1×HDMI 2.1 (TMDS)
- 1×DisplayPort 1.4
- 1×RJ45 LAN 2,5G
- 1×DC-in
With three video output ports available, the ASUS NUC 14 Essential can simultaneously connect to up to three monitors with 4K resolution.
The ventilation openings for expelling hot air are located at the back and on the bottom of the device. Despite its compact size, the internal cooling system is well-designed and, as I’ll mention ahead of time, does a pretty good job of keeping temperatures in check.
We’ll talk more about the cooling system later. But for now, let’s get the PC ready for setup and testing.
Preparing the ASUS NUC 14 Essential for operation
Since the NUC 14 Essential comes without storage and RAM, they need to be installed before the device can be fully used. This is very easy to do: unscrew the 4 screws on the bottom of the case, remove the cover, and install the missing components.
When removing the bottom cover, you can immediately notice a metal heatsink and thermal pads on it, which make direct contact with the storage drive, helping to dissipate heat from it.
Next comes the standard operating system installation, in my case, it will be Windows 11 Pro. Although the device’s specifications also mention support for Linux with Ubuntu.
The installation of Windows on the ASUS NUC 14 Essential goes as usual. However, I did encounter an issue with drivers. Here’s the situation: I was installing Windows on the PC without connecting it to the internet via cable. During the installation, I needed to install network drivers, which Windows 11 did not automatically detect. I had to go to the ASUS website and download the required drivers so that the system could initialize the network and continue the OS installation. I’m mentioning this so that if you’re also installing the OS on the device (without connecting to the network), I recommend placing a driver pack from the official website on your installation flash drive. In addition to the network drivers, it will install all the other necessary ones during the process, which is quite convenient.
By the way, to boot from the installation flash drive, you don’t need to change anything in the BIOS settings. Just insert the Windows flash drive, and the installation process will start automatically. However, I did take a look into the BIOS and checked the available settings. Let me go ahead and show you those.
Read also: ASUS Power Sync: Optimizing the Workspace with ASUS NUC Mini-PCs
BIOS
To access the BIOS of the ASUS NUC 14 Essential during startup or reboot, you need to press the F2 key. Once you’re in the BIOS, you’ll find that the settings are pretty standard and basic: system overview, component-specific details, power and performance management settings, fan control, security, and boot configuration. Essentially, everything available is shown in the photo below.
I’d like to draw special attention to the Power Mode settings. By default, this is set to Balanced mode. Using this setting, you can slightly increase the system’s performance by switching to Max Performance mode.
However, I left everything as is and conducted further performance tests in the balanced mode. I think most users of the ASUS NUC 14 Essential will likely use the device with stock settings. To jump ahead, I’ll say that the performance of the PC in this mode is more than sufficient for most work tasks. By the way, the difference between the modes isn’t very significant if you believe the synthetic benchmarks. However, the thermal load on the system will increase. But if you ever find that the PC’s performance isn’t enough for you, now you know where you can slightly boost it.
Components and performance
In this section, we will go through the device’s components in detail and run the standard set of benchmark tests. But first, I think it’s worth clarifying which devices I used to test this PC with:
- monitor – Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC32G75TQSIXCI) 32″, 2560×1440, 240 Hz
- mouse – Logitech PRO 2 LIGHTSPEED (RF 2.4 GHz, 1000 Hz)
- mouse pad with wireless charging – Logitech G Powerplay 2
- keyboard – ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile (RF 2.4 GHz, 1000 Hz)
- RAM – KINGSTON FURY DDR5-4800 Impact Black 32 GB
- storage – KINGSTON NV3 M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 4.0 500 GB
- removable storage – Seagate 2SWAP3 500 GB
I will also attach a screenshot from HWiNFO64, where you can see all the main components of the system.
Processor
The ASUS NUC 14 Essential mini-PCs are equipped with Intel N97 (TDP 12W), N250 (TDP 6W), N150 (TDP 6W), and Core 3 N355 (TDP 15W) processors. The processor model depends on the specific device variant. For example, the model I received for review, the RNUC14MNK2500002, is based on the Intel N250 processor.
This is a new mobile processor from the Twin Lake family, released this year. The processor has 4 cores, capable of handling data across 4 threads. The maximum clock speed is 3.8 GHz. The third-level cache is 6 MB. It is built using a 10nm process. The TDP is 6W. It also features integrated Intel Graphics.
The Intel N250 can be described as an entry-level budget processor, primarily designed for office systems. Therefore, one should not expect high performance from it. However, it is more than sufficient for typical office tasks and light media entertainment. Below, I will include a series of screenshots from the tests that will fully support my statement.
Cinebench R15, R20, R23, R24
Performance Test CPU Mark
Blender CPU Benchmark
Geekbench 6
V-Ray CPU Benchmark
CPU Profile 3DMark
AIDA64 Extreme
Graphics
The ASUS NUC 14 Essential is equipped with the Intel UHD Graphics integrated into the CPU. By the way, the latest version of GPU-Z can’t properly detect this GPU, unlike HWiNFO64. Therefore, I will include a screenshot from HWiNFO64 below.
The graphics chip, to be honest, is weak and not suitable for tasks that require a high-performance graphics card, especially gaming. However, for basic work and video playback, the integrated iGPU is more than enough. On the plus side, the refresh rate isn’t limited to 60 Hz. For example, I connected a 2K Samsung Odyssey G7 monitor via HDMI, and it worked perfectly at a 120 Hz refresh rate. Ideally, if I had connected the monitor via DisplayPort, I could have set an even higher refresh rate.
3DMark
Performance Test 2D / 3D
Geekbench 6 GPU Benchmark
V-Ray GPU Benchmark
RAM
As I’ve mentioned several times before, the PC comes without RAM, so you’ll need to purchase it separately. According to the device specifications, it supports DDR5 memory with a maximum capacity of 16 GB and a maximum frequency of 4800 MHz. For testing, I was provided with Kingston Fury DDR5-4800 Impact Black memory with a capacity of 16 GB (exact model KF548S38IB-16), with working timings of 38-38-38-69 CR2.
Below I share the results of tests of this memory in conjunction with ASUS NUC 14 Essential in AIDA64 Extreme: read, write, copy, latency.
Storage
The storage, like the RAM, needs to be purchased separately. The device supports M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 and M.2 2242 SATA SSDs, with capacities ranging from 128 GB to 2 TB. For testing purposes, I was provided with a 500 GB Kingston NV3 M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD. Below, I’ve included the benchmark results for this drive in the ASUS NUC 14 Essential.
Tests of overall performance of ASUS NUC 14 Essential
To wrap up, here are a few more overall performance test results, where all components are tested together. For assessing general performance, I used the following benchmarks: AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark, PCMark 10 (Express / Extended), CrossMark, and Performance Test.
My opinion and feelings about productivity
As you can see from the benchmarks and tests, the ASUS NUC 14 Essential, specifically the RNUC14MNK2500002 model, doesn’t deliver impressive numbers. However, after using the device for a period of time, I can confidently say that its performance level is more than enough for office tasks. Working with databases, documents, web browsing, and communication is all handled well. Simple tasks in photo and less demanding video editors are also possible. In all the tasks mentioned, the PC maintains a comfortable level of performance: there are no slowdowns, stutters, or freezes. The system’s response time is certainly not as fast as those found in mid-range or high-end processors, but overall, working with the ASUS NUC 14 Essential based on the Intel N250 is a comfortable experience.
When it comes to entertainment, there are no major issues either. For instance, the PC handles YouTube videos in 4K\@60FPS with ease, and you can still work comfortably in parallel. However, when it comes to gaming, things are more challenging. Demanding modern titles, and even some older ones, are definitely beyond what this system can handle. That said, older games or less resource-intensive indie projects should run without any problems. Additionally, emulators for certain retro consoles should work fine on this PC. Of course, it’s clear that this device isn’t primarily designed for gaming – though there are exceptions, such as the ASUS ROG NUC 970.
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Cooling system and noise level
The ASUS NUC 14 Essential is equipped with a dedicated cooler for system cooling. When you remove the bottom cover, it’s not immediately visible as it’s located under the board. However, if you listen carefully, you can hear it working. The ventilation openings are also strategically placed. To cool the storage, the bottom cover features two thermal pads that direct heat away and dissipate it through a metal insert/radiator. I’ve already shown this radiator in the earlier photos.
The BIOS also features a separate tab with fan settings. Here, you can choose from predefined modes: Quiet, Standard, or Performance, or set up your own custom profile. You can also adjust the fan modes through the proprietary MyASUS app, which I will demonstrate in more detail later in the review.
I used the PC with the fan set to the standard mode (Standard), and I can confirm that this is sufficient for proper system cooling. In idle, the maximum processor temperature did not exceed 78°C, with average temperatures ranging between 50-58°C. Under light load (10 tabs in Google Chrome and streaming YouTube video in 4K\@60FPS), the processor temperatures averaged between 70-88°C, with a peak of 98°C. Under full system load (stress test in AIDA64 Extreme), the processor reached 105°C. However, after throttling, its average temperatures dropped back to around 80°C.
Overall, the cooling system does its job effectively, even in the standard balanced mode. The fan is barely audible, and you can only hear it if the room is completely silent. As for the PC’s case temperature, it hardly heats up. You can barely feel any warmth when touching it. So, what conclusion can be drawn from this? The ASUS NUC 14 Essential is quiet and relatively cool for its form factor.
Network, wireless technologies, audio
For wireless networking, the ASUS NUC 14 Essential features the Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+). Wired network connectivity is provided by the Realtek Ethernet Controller RTL8125BG-CG with a standard RJ45 LAN port (2.5G). Bluetooth 5.3 is available for connecting wireless devices to the PC. The audio is handled by the Realtek ALC3251 chip.
I encountered no issues with any of the aforementioned components during the entire testing period. The PC quickly detects Wi-Fi networks and connects to them just as swiftly. The connection remains stable, and the speeds are typical for my provider and equipment. By the way, here are a few results from SpeedTest, using the HUAWEI WiFi BE3 router. The distance between the router and the PC was approximately 10 meters, with the devices located through a wall in two different rooms.
There were no issues with connecting or working with Bluetooth devices either. The sound output through wired speakers/headphones is perfectly normal and satisfactory.
Read also:
- ASUS TUF Gaming VG259Q3A Gaming Monitor Review
- ASUS ROG Azoth Extreme Wireless Gaming Keyboard Review
MyASUS proprietary application
As with all ASUS products, the NUC 14 Essential comes with a proprietary application – MyASUS. In this app, you can monitor system status, adjust fan profiles, run system diagnostics, and check for updates. It also provides company news, tips, recommendations, and a direct link to technical support.
In addition, the NUC 14 Essential is compatible with ASUS Control Center – software designed for efficient centralized management of computer infrastructure based on enterprise and commercial products. However, this is more relevant for system administrators, so we won’t dive into it in detail today.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the ASUS NUC 14 Essential is a solid offering. The device provides comfortable performance for work-related tasks while offering an ultra-compact form factor that can be useful in specific environments and scenarios. These include corporate offices, educational institutions, retail stores, kiosks, various automation systems, and more. These are the primary intended uses, according to information on the official ASUS website. It’s worth noting that the price of the device is relatively affordable. Additionally, this mini-PC could be a good choice for home use and in certain scenarios, it may even replace a laptop or a full desktop system.
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My doubt regard the temperature of cpu. Over 50° in idle. More than 80 – 90°C in load… is it a valid machine to use as home server for example with Debian, docker and a lot of container like homeassistant plex ecc? It must be power on 24h… now I have a n95 (mini pc ace magic) and temperatures are much more lower like 35°C in idle and 60 in load
Nunca había tenido un mini pc. Me molan los basados en AMD, pero antes de dar ese salto, decidí probar el más barato que pillase y probarlo unos meses. 185€ con un N97 (por pocos euros más tenía el N100, pero vi que el n97 era más potente y el N100 más eficiente en consumo….pero por Dios, si son 8w….)
Tiene 512 ssd, 16 gigas de RAM, sin ventilador y es muy pequeño. Windows 11. Conecto 3 monitores…Va todo super fluido. En reproducción 4K, a veces hace cosas raras, pero no siempre. Por 185€…no se puede pedir más.
Me molaría comprarme un Asus, o un NUC, pero tio, qué precios…
En cuanto salgan los nuevos AMD Zen 6, ni me lo pienso.