ASUS Mini PC NUC 15 Pro Tall Barebone Kit Review

The Asus NUC 15 Pro Tall Barebone Kit is a compact mini PC built for space-constrained productivity. Its Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU and Arc integrated graphics are fine for office work and light media tasks, but it's not a gaming machine. Note that it's a barebones kit requiring your own RAM and storage, and the 'Tall' name is misleading as it doesn't support 2.5-inch drives.

If you're hunting for a compact desktop that's more than just a basic office PC, the Asus NUC 15 Pro Tall Barebone Kit is an interesting option. It's a mini PC built around Intel's new Core Ultra 5 225H processor with integrated Arc graphics, and it starts at around $498 for the barebones kit. That means you supply your own RAM and storage, which is a common setup for this niche. People searching for 'compact desktop PC with Intel Arc' or 'Asus NUC 15 Pro review' are likely looking at this as a potential small-footprint workstation or media hub.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225H is a 14-core chip, and in our database, its CPU performance lands in the 58th percentile. That puts it squarely in the mid-range for productivity. It'll handle office tasks, web browsing, and light photo editing without breaking a sweat. The integrated Intel Arc 130T graphics, with 16GB of VRAM, is the real story here. It scores in the 45th percentile for GPU performance, which is decent for integrated graphics and means you can do some light video editing or even play older or less demanding games at 1080p on low settings. Just don't expect it to be a gaming rig—our data shows it's in the bottom 10% for that specific use case.

At $498, the Asus NUC 15 Pro Tall is priced competitively for a barebones mini PC with this modern chipset. The catch is you'll need to add at least $100-$150 for a decent 16GB DDR5 kit and a 1TB NVMe SSD. Once fully built, you're looking at a $650+ system. For that total cost, you're paying for the ultra-compact form factor and modern connectivity like Wi-Fi 7. If absolute size isn't your top priority, a traditional small-form-factor (SFF) desktop might offer more power for the same money.

This sits in a crowded field. Compared to something like an Intel NUC Kit with a similar CPU, the Asus offers a more accessible chassis and better I/O. The biggest competitors are actually small pre-builts. The Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny or HP ProDesk Mini often come with similar specs, sometimes include RAM and storage, and can be found on sale for a comparable all-in price. If you need more graphics power in a small box, you'd have to step up to a much more expensive mini PC with a discrete mobile GPU, like some of the higher-end Asus ROG NUC models. For pure gaming, even a budget tower like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i will run circles around this for a similar total cost.

Skip this if you're a gamer, a video editor working with 4K footage, or anyone who needs a lot of internal storage. The integrated graphics and mid-tier CPU won't keep up. Also, avoid it if you specifically wanted to install a 2.5-inch SATA SSD—that's a no-go here. For those users, a small-form-factor tower with a discrete graphics card or a mini PC that actually includes storage bays would be a better fit.

So, should you buy the Asus NUC 15 Pro Tall? It's a solid 'maybe' for a very specific user. If your top priorities are a tiny footprint, modern ports like Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 7, and you're comfortable building out a barebones system, this is a good foundation. The Intel Arc graphics give it a nice boost for light creative work over older mini PCs. But if you were hoping the 'Tall' version meant room for a 2.5-inch drive, you'll be disappointed—that's a real oversight. And if you need serious CPU power or any level of gaming performance, you should look elsewhere.