ASRock Industrial NUC Ultra 100 Meteor Lake-H motherboards feature Core Ultra 5 125H and Core Ultra 7 155H processors

ASRock Industrial has just announced two NUC Ultra 100 motherboards powered by Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake-H processors namely the Core Ultra 5 125H and Ultra 7 155H with up to 16 cores and 22 threads, and integrating Intel ARC Graphics and the new Intel NPU AI engine.

As the name implies, the NUC Ultra 100 Motherboard Series are designed in NUC form factor, support up to 96GB dual-channel DDR5-5600 MHz memory, three storage interface, up to four 4K displays, and offer two 2.5GbE networking ports, one USB4/Thunderbolt, and four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. ASRock Industrial says those features make the motherboards suitable for smart retail, kiosks, digital signage, smart cities, embedded industries, Edge AIoT applications, etc…

NUC Ultra 100 motherboards specifications:

• Meteor Lake-H SoC (one or the other)
  • Intel Core Ultra 7 T4 155H 16-core (6P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 1.4 / 4.8 GHz with 24MB cache, Intel 8Xe LPG graphics @ 2.25 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; TDP: 28W
  • Intel Core Ultra 5 T3 125H 14-core (4P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 1.2 / 4.9 GHz with 18MB cache, Intel 7Xe LPG graphics @ 2.2 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; TDP: 28W
• System Memory – Up to 96GB (2x 48GB) dual-channel DDR5 5600 MHz via 2x 262-pin SO-DIMM sockets
• Storage
  • M.2 (Key M, 2242) socket with PCIe Gen4 x4 for SSD
  • M.2 (KEY M, 2242/2280) socket with PCIe Gen4 x4 for SSD
  • 1x SATA 3.0 (6.0 Gb/s) port
  • 256 Mbit SPI flash for AMI BIOS
• Video Output
  • 2x HDMI 2.0b up to 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
  • DisplayPort 2.1/ 1.4a, DP++ up to 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz via 2x USB-C ports
  • Up to four independent 4K displays
• Audio
  • Realtek ALC256, High Definition Audio codec
  • 3.5mm headphone & microphone jack
• Networking
  • 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 jacks
    • LAN1: Intel I226LM with 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps
    • LAN2: Intel I226V with 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps
  • Optional WiFi and Bluetooth via CNVi module (see Expansion section)
• USB
  • 3x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port
  • 1x USB4/Thunderbolt 4 port (5V/3A, supports DP 2.1 display output)
  • 1x USB3.2 Gen2 x2 Type-C port (5V/3A, supports DP1.4a display output)
  • Internal 2mm pitch header with 2x USB 2.0 interfaces
• Serial – 1x COM header (RS-232/RS-422/RS-485)
•  Expansion
  • 1x M.2 (Key E, 2230) socket with PCIe x1, USB 2.0 and CNVi for Wireless
  • 1x M.2 (Key M, 2242) socket with PCIe Gen4 x4 typically used for SSD
  • 1x M.2 (KEY M, 2242/2280) socket with PCIe Gen4 x4 typically used for SSD
• Security – TPM support with Intel PTT (Platform Trust Technology)
• Misc – Watchdog Timer
• Power Supply – 12V to 24V via DC jack; AT/ATX supported (AT: Directly PWR on as power input ready; ATX: Press button to PWR on after power input ready)
• Dimensions – 10.4 x 10.2 x 3.8cm (NUC form factor)
• Temperature Range
  • Operating: -20ºC ~ 70ºC
  • Storage: -40°C ~ 85°C
• Humidity – 5% ~ 90%

There’s no mention of operating system support, but the company’s NUC Ultra 100 BOX/ NUCS Ultra 100 BOX Series based on the NUC Ultra 100 motherboards support Windows 10/11, and I don’t see why Linux would not be supported in due time.

Performance-wise there’s a 10% to 23% CPU performance improvement (Cinebench R23 multi-core) over previous generation Raptor Lake NUCs based on Intel Core i5-1340P and Core i7-1360P processors. But as noted in our article about ADLINK cExpress-MTL COM Express Type 6 Compact Meteor Lake module, the main advantage is the much faster internal GPU yielding 76% to 115% improvement in the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark. The new Intel AI Boost NPU will also enable new applications in “AI PC” and deliver 20 times the performance per watt.

ASRock did not provide availability and pricing for the NUC Ultra 100 Meteor Lake-H motherboards and related NUC BOX series. More details may be found on the product pages for the motherboards and mini PCs with the latter including the NUC BOX-155H and NUC BOX-125H models. There are also NUCS BOX-155H and NUCS BOX-125H with a different motherboard equipped with a single 2.5GbE port, no SATA port, and fewer USB ports.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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