The ASRock NUC BOX-1260P is a damn good mini-PC, in terms of performance. Its 4 P-core, 8 E-core design offers 12 CPU cores and, thanks to Hyper-Threading on the P-cores, 16 threads total to handle your number crunching needs. While it didn't always dominate the BOX-1165G7 that preceded it or the older 4X4-4800U, it managed to hold its own, and win quite a few benchmarks. In situations where you need powerful cores, the older 4X4-4800U holds the edge. But in situations where E-cores are allowed to come into play, the NUC BOX-1260P manages a healthy performance uplift compared to the BOX-1165G7.

Compared to the more entry-level mini-PCs, the ASRock offering tends to walk all over them. In 3DMark and the gaming tests, It becomes obvious that the 2666 MHz memory is the limiting factor, and the extra speed would inevitably improve performance, while it likely still wouldn't compete with the Vega IGP in the 4800U, it would reduce the gap at the very least. It is also likely that opting for 32 GB rather than 16 GB in dual-channel would further improve the 3DMark scores, but the Grand Theft Auto V and Fallout 4 results show this is a synthetic benchmark anomaly more than anything.

It was also apparent that while I could force the unit to thermal throttle in extreme situations, 99% of the time, I was actually TDP limited rather than thermally limited. The CPU at max turbo boost has a limit of 64-watts and hits frequencies of 4.7 GHz, but it won't stay there for long. It will quickly drop to a 28-watt TDP which causes temps to drop from the 100°C range (thermal throttled) down to 60 to 70°C, with the system power draw dropping from 85-watts to 39-watts under load. At idle, the system consumed 14-watts. Considering the thermal headroom, I had a little extra fun and used ThrottleStop to up the TDP limit. I was able to keep temperatures in check, going from 28-watts all the way up to 45-watts where I hit an average load temperature of 95°C. At the 45-watt TDP, the Intel i7-1260P was able to stretch its legs, delivering a 34% boost in performance in Cinebench R20, going from 3233 to 4338. Sadly this massive jump doesn't translate to all benchmarks. Running PCMark 10 I saw a 2% to 6% increase in performance. So is it entirely worth it? No, would I recommend it? No, but it is interesting all the same to see a mini-PC with that much-untapped potential.

In general, while performance is more than adequate for daily tasks, I think the biggest issue with the NUC BOX-1260P is cost. At nearly $800, the system is quite expensive for home media usage, web browsing, etc. Meaning it doesn't even come close to being a top-value offering. Sadly, a laptop with the same CPU / 16 GB memory and a 512 GB SSD can be had for the same price, but you get a fully usable system with everything needed, including the OS. This limits the system's overall appeal. While it does everything you could want it to do other than play AAA titles at high details, the price forces it to be a niche product. Thankfully compared to other mini-PCs, the ASRock NUC BOX-1260P, like its predecessors, remains easily upgradeable and serviceable, which compared to a laptop or even certain other mini-PCs is a huge plus, but it still not enough to tip the scale in its favor.

Using the NUC BOX-1260P for an emulation station is also likely a bit absurd, but just for completeness, I did run some old-school emulation tests, during which everything proceeded smoothly until I tested some PS2 titles. As has been the case in the past running Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater on Intel graphics has proven to be difficult. Performance during cutscenes was choppy, and that is putting it kindly, but it was mostly playable. However, holding a solid 60 FPS was out of reach. Meanwhile, Suikoden IV and Onimusha ran just fine. This means the majority of PS2 titles should be playable, but it can still be rather hit or miss.

Build quality was very good and is essentially the same as with other ASRock NUC BOX units. Therefore like its predecessors, accessing the internals was easy, and even a complete teardown for cleaning purposes was no problem. ASRock also made sure to provide some level of upgradeability, and while not on the same level as larger Mini-ITX systems or traditional desktops, it is still quite good. Users have two SO-DIMM slots with a maximum capacity of 64 GB, an M.2 slot for NVMe SSDs, and a single 2.5-inch bay for a SATA HDD or SSD. That alone allows for a good deal of customization, always a plus.

In terms of limitations, the BIOS is, as you may have guessed, heavily limited in feature set and options. You get a few options to control the fan along with how many cores, be it P-cores or E-cores, are active, and that is about it. At idle, the system stayed below 35 dBA and peaked at around 44 dBA under regular loads, be it regular tests or games. AIDA64 did result in a peak noise reaching of 52 dBA at 30 cm.

Furthermore, compared to a proper Mini-ITX desktop, the I/O is also limited. That said, ASRock counters that via flexibility of being much lower in volume and desk footprint. The USB 3.2 Type-C ports on the front can be used as DisplayPort 1.4 outputs, allowing users to connect up to four displays. The inclusion of dual 2.5 GbE LAN ports is also nice. Honestly, while this system is rather versatile and more than capable of filling multiple roles, it just doesn't have the appeal of a proper laptop or desktop, at least for most consumers. If ASRock fleshed out Thunderbolt support a bit more, I could see these units being a better value, especially for those wanting a power-dense system with the option of adding improved GPU performance when necessary. But support documentation on what does and does not work in regards to Thunderbolt is limited. Hopefully ASRock can improve in this regard going forward. Either way, it's a bit of a mixed bag, some good, some bad, all of which will depend on your individual requirements.

Overall, the ASRock NUC BOX-1260P is an excellent system that suffers from a hefty price tag, making it a hard sell compared to more affordable mini-PCs or the laptops consumers will generally gravitate towards. However, for other niche markets such as traditional office work, home office setups, digital signage, etc., the cost per unit is likely not an issue, which means the performance on offer should be a good fit in those situations. Therefore, if you need a system such as this, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, but for most consumers, a similarly specced laptop will likely be a better fit.