With hopes of chipping away at the low end Windows PC market, Google enlisted ASUS' help in putting together a small form factor desktop machine running Chrome OS. The result is the ASUS Chromebox, a NUC-like machine running Google's browser based OS. The specs of the ASUS Chromebox are respectable compared to Intel's line of Haswell NUCs.

You get your choice of one of three CPUs, all based on Intel's Haswell architecture. There's the Celeron 2955U, Core i3-4010U or the Core i7-4600U. All three options carry the same 15W TDP rating, and the system is apparently fanless (at least the Celeron and Core i3 versions are, waiting for confirmation on the i7). ASUS only plans to offer the Celeron and Core i3 versions in North America. 4K video out is supported on the Core models. Given how well Chrome OS can run on a pair of ARM Cortex A15 cores, I fully expect a 15W Haswell based system to be a great performer.

ASUS Chromebox ASUS Chromebox Intel Haswell NUC OS Preloaded Google Chrome OS None CPU Intel Celeron 2955U (2C/2T 1.4GHz 2MB L3)

Intel Core i3-4010U (2C/4T 1.7GHz 3MB L3)

Intel Core i7-4600U (2C/4T 2.1/3.3GHz 4MB L3) Intel Core i3-4010U (2C/4T 1.7GHz 3MB L3)

Intel Core i5-4250U (2C/4T 1.3/2.6GHz 3MB L3) GPU Celeron: Intel HD (200/1000MHz)

Core i3: Intel HD 4400 (200/1000MHz)

Core i7: Intel HD 4400 (200/1100MHz) Core i3: Intel HD 4400 (200/1000MHz)

Core i5: Intel HD 5000 (200/1000MHz) Memory 2GB/4GB configs, 2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM Slots 2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM Slots Storage 16GB M.2 SSD + 100GB Google Drive for 2 years 1 x mini PCIe (full length) LAN 10/100/1000 Ethernet 10/100/1000 Ethernet Wireless dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n, BT 4.0 1 x mini PCIe (half length) External I/O SD card reader

4 x USB 3.0

1 x HDMI

1 x DisplayPort

1 x Audio Jack (mic-in/speaker out) 4 x USB 3.0

1 x mini HDMI

1 x mini DisplayPort

1 x Audio Jack (mic-in/speaker out) Power Supply 65W 65W Dimensions 4.88" x 4.88" x 1.65" 4.59" x 4.41" x 1.36" Starting Price $179 $285

ASUS' Chromebox comes with a 16GB M.2 SSD, and dual-band 802.11n wireless all for a price starting at $179. Google will throw in 100GB of space on Google Drive for 2 years to make up for the limited internal storage.

The box itself is a little bigger than Intel's Haswell NUC, but we're still talking about an extremely small form factor computer. ASUS will ship all units with a VESA mount as well. You can expect availability sometime in March.