ASUS has introduced its first Mini PCs based on Intel's Panther Lake & AMD Ryzen AI 400 CPUs, the NUC 16 Pro & ExpertCenter PN55.
ASUS Rolls Out Brand New Mini PCs Featuring Intel Panther Lake & AMD Ryzen AI 400 CPUs
With the launch of Intel's Panther Lake and AMD Ryzen AI 400 CPUs, we can expect to see numerous mini PC platforms. ASUS is one of the first to offer Mini PCs based on these two new CPU additions, so let's look at them in detail.
ASUS NUC 16 Pro (2026)
The ASUS NUC 16 Pro is based on Intel's Panther Lake CPUs, up to the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H. This chip packs 16 cores, up to 5.1 GHz clocks, 18 MB of cache, 50 TOPS NPU, and an Arc B390 iGPU with 12 Xe3 cores. The system also features embedded LPDDR5x memory, offering 20% higher performance & 50% lower power consumption with a maximum speed of 9600 MT/s. Storage includes Dual Gen4 SSD ports. The entire system is rated at up to 180 TOPS, offering loads of AI prowess for such a small form factor.
ASUS's NUC 16 Pro is assembled in a 0.7L chassis and integrates a dual-fan cooling system along with a tool-less upgrade design.
The whole unit measures 144x117x42mm and features lots of IO capabilities such as dual USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen2x2 port, dual USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C ports, two 2.5 GbE LAN ports, two HDMI 2.1 (or 2x DP) ports, and dual Thunderbolt 4 ports. The system also comes with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 support.
ASUS ExpertCenter PN55
In addition to the Panther Lake offering, ASUS is also launching its ExpertCenter PN55 Mini PC, which adopts the AMD Ryzen AI 400 lineup, up to the flagship Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, with 12 Zen 5 cores, a 55 TOPS NPU, and up to Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 RDNA 3.5 cores. The system packs up to 96 GB DDR5 5600 MT/s memory.
IO on the Mini PC includes a Fingerprint Reader, Audio Jack, Dedicated Copilot key, Power Button, dual USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and a single USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port on the front. The back features two DP1.4 ports, a single HDMI 2.1 port, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port, a USB4 Type-C port, a DC-in connector, and dual 2.5GbE LAN ports. The system features the latest Wi-Fi 7 capabilities with BT 5.40 support.
ASUS V700 & V500 Desktop Lineup
Since we are on the topic of PCs, ASUS is also offering new compact desktops under its V700 and V500 families.
The V700 features up to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 CPU, 50 TOPS of AI performance, up to 64 GB of DDR5-5600 memory, up to 2 TB of HDD + 1 TB of SSD storage, and even comes with discrete graphics support up to the NVIDIA RTX 5060. The system uses a motherboard with 100% solid capacitors, an 80 Plus Platinum-rated power delivery, and enterprise-grade manufacturing tests.
The ASUS V500 series will mostly be refreshed on existing lineups such as Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh & AMD's Hawk Point. The V500 system will support up to Core i7 CPUs with 64 GB of DDR5-5600 memory, two TB of HDD + two TB of SSD storage, up to NVIDIA's RTX 4060 GPUs, and features a 90mm cooling fan with 3 x 6mm + 1 x 8mm heatpipes, for a combined 3402cm2 of heat dissipation area.
Both systems are leveraging mobile chips, so these are essentially MoDT (Mobile on Desktop) designs. The chassis itself features copper heatpipe cooling and a large fan on the exhaust to vent hot air out. The systems will be available in Dark Wood (V700) and Grey Weave (V500) themes.
ASUS TUF Gaming TM500 Gaming Desktop
ASUS won't stop at just standard productivity or office-oriented Desktop PCs. They are also offering the latest TUF Gaming TM500 Desktop, which features up to the AMD Ryzen 7 260 CPU with 8 "Zen 4" cores, up to 5.1 GHz clocks, up to 64 GB DDR5-5600 memory support, 1 TB of SSD storage, plus additional storage in the form of a second M.2 slot and HDDs.
The system also supports discrete graphics up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (16 GB), while the PSU is a 330W design that can be upgraded up to a 660W 80+ Platinum-rated design. The cooling solution provides up to 45W TDP cooling through an advanced heatpipe solution and a single-fan, so you can expect the system to run really quietly.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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