Today, we are taking a look at the ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-255H. This is certainly best described as an update to the BOX-155H we reviewed about a year ago. Instead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, we get the Core Ultra 7 255H. That new processor does not mean the change is just a few extra MHz here and there. Instead, it is a monumental change.
ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-255H Mini PC Overview
As we have done for our STH Mini PC series, we have a video for this one:
We always suggest watching the video in its own browser, tab, or app for the best viewing experience. ASRock Industrial sent us this unit as a barebones so it was not a complete system. We wanted to thank the STH YouTube members for helping us get the memory and storage for the system. So between those, we have to say this is sponsored.
Taking a look at the headline change, here was the NUC BOX-155H topology from the Intel Meteor Lake generation Intel Core Ultra 7 155H:
This is the new Intel Arrow Lake generation Intel Core Ultra 7 255H:
What you will immediately notice is that we no longer have Hyper-Threading on the six P-cores. There are also some cache changes. One other big difference is the memory. For this system we had to get CSODIMMs, with that C standing for clock driver. Here you can see the Crucial CSODIMM installed that lets us maintain higher memory clock speeds.
Generally, these systems sell for around $669 as a barebone before any discounts. There is a lot that is similar between the two platforms, so we are going to try keeping this consistent to align with the previous review.
ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-255H External Hardware Overview
Looking at the front, we see fairly standard headset and power button features, but the big feature is really the USB setup that is similar to the previous generation. There is a single front USB Type-A port (USB 3.2 Gen2.) The next two ports are labeled USB/DP. One might think they are the same, but that would be incorrect.
The middle USB Type-C port is actually a Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 port that supports DisplayPort 2.1 output. The right USB port may be labeled the same, but it is only a USB 3 Gen 2×2 port with DisplayPort 1.4a. It feels like those are substantially different enough that they should be labeled differently. All ports should be clearly labeled and while “USB/DP” is technically correct, given that they are so different after a year of being deployed one would have to go back to the tech specs or a review like this to realize that there is Thunderbolt 4 lurking on one of them.
On each side we get vents.
The rear I/O is neat. There is a 19V DC power input and two USB Type-A ports. These USB ports are USB 3.2 Gen2 ports. There are also two HDMI 2.1 ports meaning that we get a total of four display outputs in this little system. Our DisplayPort option is either via a HDMI to DP cable at the rear or from the Type-C ports in the front.
The two network ports are 2.5GbE. One is an Intel i226-V port while the other is an Intel i226-LM. Since this platform supports vPro, the -LM version NIC is required to provide that management access.
On the bottom, we get metal contrasting with the top made of plastic. The system comes with a VESA mounting bracket (not shown) and also has a nice rubber feet and screw situation. We still prefer tool-less access to inside the system if possible.
Once we remove those long screws, we can get inside the chassis so we can do our internal overview.
