ASUS NUC RNUC13ANKH70000UI 2023, Core i7-13620H, 64GB, Schwarz

The ASUS NUC 13 Pro Slim packs a 10-core i7 and a massive 64GB of DDR4 into a 0.51kg box with Thunderbolt 4 and dual HDMI 2.1. It's a productivity beast for home offices and homelabs, but the integrated Iris Xe graphics mean gaming is basically off the table. At $594 as a barebone kit, you'll need to add storage and an OS, but the value is strong for the right buyer. Skip it if you want to play games or need a turnkey system.

The i7-13620H is a 10-core part with a 2.4GHz base clock, and in our database it lands right around the middle of the pack for CPUs in this category. That's not a knock. For a mini PC, having a 13th Gen mobile i7 means you're getting real multi-core muscle without the thermal drama of a desktop chip crammed into a tiny chassis. The 64GB of DDR4 is the real standout here, sitting in the 93rd percentile for RAM. That's top-tier territory, and it means memory is never going to be your bottleneck. If you're running containers, virtual machines, or memory-hungry productivity apps, this thing will chew through them.

The integrated Iris Xe graphics are, well, integrated graphics. They land at the 48th percentile, which is about average for this class of machine. You'll get smooth desktop performance, hardware-accelerated video decode, and maybe some light photo editing. But the gaming score of 13.5 out of 100 should tell you everything you need to know. This is not a machine for frame rates. It's a machine for spreadsheets, code, and maybe some 4K video playback on one of those HDMI 2.1 ports. The storage situation is the real weak spot. With a 2nd percentile ranking, you're starting from zero, literally. The barebone kit ships without an SSD, so you'll need to add your own M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 drive. That's not a dealbreaker for a barebone, but it does mean the out-of-box experience is more "project" than "plug and play."

Stacked against the competition, the NUC 13 Pro Slim occupies a specific niche. The Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS and iBUYPOWER Slate SWI7N56T01 are gaming-focused machines with discrete GPUs, so they'll absolutely destroy the NUC in any graphics workload. But they're also bigger, louder, and draw more power. If you want to game, those are your machines. The NUC is not in that conversation.

The HP OmniDesk M03-0064 and Dell Tower Plus EBT2250 are more traditional desktop towers. They'll give you easier upgrades and likely better reliability scores, but they eat up desk space and don't have the same port density per square inch. The Apple iMac M4 is the wildcard. It's a completely different ecosystem with a gorgeous display built in, and Apple silicon is genuinely impressive for efficiency. But you're locked into macOS, and the price of entry is higher. The NUC wins on flexibility and raw RAM capacity, while the iMac wins on polish and out-of-box experience. Different tools for different people.

Pricing on this one is a bit of a moving target. The US listing we track shows $594, while the Canadian listing sits at CAD 833. Those are different currencies and not directly comparable, but the US price is genuinely compelling for what you're getting. A 10-core i7 with 64GB of RAM and Thunderbolt 4 for under $600 is a strong deal, even before you factor in the tiny footprint.

But remember, this is a barebone kit. You'll need to add an NVMe drive, and you'll need an OS. A decent 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD will run you another $60 to $100 depending on sales, and a Windows 11 license is another chunk if you go that route. Linux users get a free pass here. Even with those add-ons, you're looking at a compact workstation that undercuts most prebuilt mini PCs with similar specs. The value proposition holds up, as long as you're comfortable doing a little assembly.

The ASUS NUC 13 Pro Slim is one of those machines that makes you do a double take when you see the spec sheet. A 13th Gen Core i7, 64GB of DDR4, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, and dual HDMI 2.1 ports, all in a box that weighs barely more than a hardcover book. This is a barebone kit, so you'll need to bring your own storage and OS, but the bones here are genuinely interesting for anyone who wants serious compute in a tiny footprint.

Who's this for? Mostly people running home offices, compact workstations, or homelab setups where space is at a premium. The "best for" scores tell the story: compact use cases score 60.2 out of 100, home office lands at 54.9, and total sits at 55.8. It's a productivity machine first, not a gaming rig. The gaming score of 13.5 is basically a polite way of saying don't even think about it.

What makes this interesting is the combination of that 10-core i7-13620H and the sheer amount of RAM headroom. Two SO-DIMM slots running at 3200 MHz means you can stuff this thing with enough memory to run a pile of VMs or keep a hundred browser tabs alive without breaking a sweat. And the port selection is genuinely thoughtful for a box this small. It's not flashy, but it's the kind of machine that quietly does its job on the back of a monitor and never complains.

If you're looking for a gaming machine, walk away. The Iris Xe graphics are a hard no for modern titles, and the 13.5 gaming score is one of the lowest we've seen in this category. You'd be far better served by something like the Lenovo Legion or iBUYPOWER Slate, both of which bring discrete GPUs to the table. The trade-off is size and power draw, but if frame rates matter, that's the price of entry.

Also skip this if you want a turnkey system. No storage, no OS, and a reliability score in the 37th percentile means you're signing up for a project. If you'd rather just plug something in and go, the Apple iMac M4 or a prebuilt HP OmniDesk will get you there with less fuss. The NUC is for tinkerers and homelab folks who enjoy the setup process, not people who want a box that just works out of the gate.

For home office and compact workstation use, the NUC 13 Pro Slim is a genuinely smart buy. The 64GB of RAM is the headline feature, and it's backed by a capable 10-core CPU and connectivity that puts many full-size desktops to shame. If your day involves spreadsheets, code, video calls, and a dozen browser tabs, this machine will handle it all while hiding behind your monitor. The VESA mount is a nice touch that more mini PCs should copy.

For anyone who wants to game, edit video seriously, or run GPU-accelerated workloads, look elsewhere. The Iris Xe graphics are a hard ceiling, and no amount of RAM will fix that. The reliability score also gives us pause. At the 37th percentile, it's below average for this category, so keep your expectations realistic. But if you need a compact, memory-rich workhorse and you're comfortable adding your own storage and OS, this is one of the better barebone deals we've seen.