(Image credit: Asus)

• Asus unveils NUC 16 Pro 0.7L mini PC built on Intel Panther Lake platform
• Core Ultra X9 388H delivers up to 180TOPS of platform AI compute
• Arc B390 iGPU impresses although Radeon 8060S remains faster for graphics

Asus has launched the NUC 16 Pro, setting its sights on the fastest mini PC category with Intel’s new Panther Lake platform. The system is built around the Core Ultra X9 388H, the same processor used in the GMKtec EVO-T2, which also debuted at CES 2026.

The Core Ultra X9 388H is produced on Intel’s 18A process and delivers up to 180TOPS of total AI compute. That figure combines CPU, GPU, and NPU performance, including Intel’s latest NPU 5, and puts the NUC 16 Pro well ahead of current Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mini PCs in raw AI throughput.

Graphics are handled by Intel’s Arc B390 iGPU, which features 12 Xe cores. In practice, this gives the NUC 16 Pro enough headroom for modern 1080p gaming without a discrete GPU, along with strong media and compute performance for creative workloads.

Arc B390 graphics

The Arc B390 is impressive for an integrated solution, although it isn’t expected to outperform AMD’s Radeon 8060S iGPU found in the Ryzen AI Max+ 395.

That still holds the edge in peak graphics performance, particularly in synthetic benchmarks and GPU heavy games.

Even so, the B390 raises the bar for integrated graphics in a mini PC. It allows the NUC 16 Pro to balance AI workloads, light gaming, and professional applications without stepping into the power and thermal demands of a discrete graphics card.

The NUC 16 Pro is squarely targeted at creators, developers, and enterprise users. The system supports up to 96GB of LPDDR5x memory running at up to 9600MT/s, alongside dual fan cooling designed to sustain performance under prolonged loads.

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Connectivity includes dual 2.5G Ethernet, WiFi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0. Built in firmware TPM 2.0 support adds hardware level security for managed environments.

The compact 5x4 NUC chassis uses a tool less internal design and supports dual M.2 storage across PCIe Gen5 and Gen4.

Additional I/O, including RS-232 and PCIe x1, opens the door to POS, IoT, and industrial use cases.

While the Arc B390 won’t dethrone the Radeon 8060S as the fastest iGPU, the combination of strong graphics, edge focused features, and 180TOPS of AI compute certainly makes the NUC 16 Pro one of the most capable mini PCs we’ve seen announced so far.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year’s CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI. You can also ask us a question about the show in our CES 2026 live Q&A and we’ll do our best to answer it.

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Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.

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