Introduction

A big thank you to ASRock Industrial for supplying the review sample.

ASRock Industrial has solidified its position as a leading figure in the Mini-PC industry, providing systems renowned for their robust performance and reliability. Their product lineup spans Industrial and Embedded Motherboards, cutting-edge Edge AIoT Platforms, and IoT Controllers, catering not only to industrial clientele but also seamlessly integrating into both commercial and consumer markets. With an expanding customer base, a drive to constantly adapt and innovate gives the impression that ASRock Industrial will continue to develop top-tier designs for years to come.


Today, I will be reviewing the ASRock NUC BOX-155H barebones system, which comes with an MSRP of $699.99. The barebones nature of this system means that you will need to provide your own memory, storage, and operating system. To thoroughly test this unit, I equipped it with 32 GB of Kingston's Fury Impact 5600 MHz DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and a 1 TB Western Digital SN770 NVMe SSD. With these components in place, the NUC BOX-155H should be well enough equipped to deliver great performance during testing without adding excessive cost. The heart of the system is based around Intel's Meteor Lake family with the Ultra 7 155H being comprised of 6 performance cores, 8 efficient cores, and 2 low power island efficient cores give the processor a total of 16 cores and 22 threads. It also ditches the older Intel Iris graphics in favor of Intel's latest Arc graphics family with the unit having 8 Xe cores.

Packaging and Contents

The external packaging of the ASRock NUC BOX-155H Mini-PC uses the same design seen in previous system reviews. It features a lively color scheme, predominantly using blue and white. However, it lacks any specific information in regard to the system itself. There are no marketing claims or enticing features highlighted. On the top of the packaging, you'll notice the ASRock Industrial logo and a mention that this unit is part of their Mini-PC series, but there are no other details provided. On the left side there is a warning about the button cell battery. As for the bottom it just has the ASRock Industrial logo and their website listed.


As for the right side it's a plain blue panel with nothing to see, while the front and back follow the same theme with various industry logos and a QR code on the back with a barcode on the front, beyond that nothing of note to see here.


Internally the packaging is designed with the system placed in the center and wrapped in a very thin layer of foam that is sealed with tape. The cardboard tray offers protection from typical bumps, and all the accessories are placed in a separate compartment at the bottom.


Regarding the bundled components, you'll discover all the standard elements. Obviously this includes the NUC BOX-155H itself, accompanied by a power brick. Additionally, it includes a VESA mounting bracket complete with screws, as well as a set of small screws intended for securing your M.2 SSD. Since this is a barebones system, to fully equip the unit, you'll need to provide your own memory, M.2 SSD or 2.5-inch drive, and the operating system.

• ASRock NUC BOX-155H System
• Power brick and cord
• VESA mounting plate
• VESA screws
• M.2 Screws/spacers
• SATA power / data cable
• Manual

A Closer Look

Unlike the 4X4 BOX units like the BOX-7735U/D5 among others, the NUC BOX-155H has a different external design. The top is smooth black plastic with a matte finish while the bottom is a matte black metal plate which has the four screws and feet along with two mounting holes for the VESA mount. While the finish does attract fingerprints it is not nearly as noticeable as the glossy black units I reviewed previously.


The Front I/O consists of a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and 1x USB 3.2 Type-C port with support for DisplayPort 1.4a along with a USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 port that also supports DisplayPort 2.1. More importantly, the unit does offer eGPU support, which I can 100% confirm using my Akito Node Titan unit equipped with a pedestrian GeForce GTX 1650. This opens up the system to many new usage scenarios and even as a full-on gaming PC. Beyond the two USB4 ports, ASRock has opted to include a 3.5 mm microphone / headphone combo jack on the front as well. The power button is located on the front right. Meanwhile, the right side has a vented opening for cooling, although it is somewhat restricted, which may come into play later on.


Examining the back I/O, you'll discover a set of 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, 2x HDMI 2.1 TMDS ports, and 2x 2.5 GbE LAN ports, The power plug is also located here on the back along with a Kensington lock. While the system has a decent I/O array with excellent functionality, it does come with some limitations, as additional USB ports would require the use of a Type-C to Type-A hub or adapter. This means it falls short when compared to a full-fledged desktop, yet proves well-equipped when considering its compact size or in comparison to most slim and lightweight laptops. Like most of ASRock's Mini-PCs, this unit can handle up to four displays simultaneously and is equipped with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, thanks to the installed Intel AX211NGW module. Overall it is well-balanced for a Small Form Factor (SFF) system or Mini-PC.


To power the system, ASRock opted for an AcBel 120-watt power brick.

A look Inside

The system itself is well-built and easy to work on making the initial setup or future upgrades quite easy to do. To start you need to unscrew the four screws on the bottom that also act as feet for the system. Once removed the bottom plate pops off giving you access to the system's interior. To improve performance the unit has built in thermal pads that transfer heat from the M.2 SSD(s) and system memory, which is a nice touch. ASRock utilized the 2.5-inch drive bay assembly to function as a makeshift heatsink, a novel approach that while not fancy certainly shows they are taking into account all the various small details.


With the system open you will find the Intel AX211NGW Wi-Fi module pre-installed and ready to go, you will need to remove it if you plan to do a complete disassembly. All that needs to be done is to remove the tape on the antenna wires and remove the screw holding the module in place. At this point you can just lift it up and move it to the side.


Next remove the screws holding the mainboard to the chassis at which point it will lift out easily enough. With the system completely taken apart you can see the Core Ultra 7 155H is cooled by a rather hefty copper heatsink which is fitted with two heat pipes and actively cooled with a BSC0805HA-00 fan, which is made by Delta Electronics. A plug in CMOS battery is also located slightly under the heatsink fan should you ever need to replace it.


To get the system operational I opted to use a Western Digital SN770 1 TB NVMe SSD and a 32 GB kit of Kingston Fury Impact DDR5 5600 MHz SODIMM memory.