The problem it faces is that it’s competing with systems that use either more recent Ryzen designs or the latest Intel 13th gen processors that use DDR5 memory. The DRR4 RAM in this design comes in copious amounts, but the bandwidth on offer is the Achilles heel of this platform, as it reduces the performance of the integrated Radeon RX Vega GPU.

The external layout of this machine is best described as idiosyncratic since it’s the first NUC we’ve seen with no ports at all on the front, no power button and only an activity LED. The AS 6 is a different beast compared to the AS 5. This NUC system might look identical from the outside, but the Zen 3+ processor and DDR5 in this system can deliver a dramatically improved performance. However, the biggest problems occur when the system POSTs too fast for you to hit a key and then Windows or Linux tries to boot and fails. I've had this problem when I had a missing or corrupted bootloader, I got the Windows splash screen and then a blue screen of death. But the processing power and cores are only part of the story here, as the N100 only has 9 PCIe lanes to spread between all its I/O and storage.Laptops serve as a great all-in-one solution with everything you need to work and play. Accessories like keyboards and a dual monitor set-up are optional. They also come with a range of tech specs, with options for everyday computing tasks right up to high-powered gaming laptops. Combining better bandwidth with DRR5 memory, a more power-efficient processor, a superior GPU and a PCIe 4.0 infrastructure, the AS 6 has almost everything going for it. If it has weaknesses, these include a noisy cooling system, all-plastic construction and the same Asus-designed interior layout where the motherboard is in two parts connected by a flexible ribbon cable. Intel 12th generation mobile chips were generally well received when they appeared, mostly because of how abysmal some of its 11th and 10th generation CPUs were.

GMKtec has a reputation for making good quality small systems that won’t break the bank, and the NucBox M2 is a prime example of precisely that. The AMD Ryzen 7000 series processor in this tiny computer has eight cores and can process sixteen threads, making it one of the most powerful small system platforms. Combined with 32GB of DDR5-4800, a Gen 4 NVMe drive and a chipset that includes Thunderbolt, a 2.5GbE LAN port and Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX2111, expect a very positive user experience.What could have been better was the USB ports that are all blue in colour, though one is a USB 2.0, and both USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports are on the front and both Type-A ports. That the only USB-C port is Gen 1 was a definite oversight. With the new Intel N95, the NiPoGi GK3 Plus N95 offers an efficient SoC with good performance for everyday use.