ASUS ROG G700 and NUC 16 win Tech & Learning awards
The awards recognize ASUS systems tied to collegiate esports programs and AI-ready classroom computing at ISTELive 2026.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
ASUS picked up two Tech & Learning Best of Show awards at ISTELive 2026, giving the company recognition in both higher education and secondary education hardware. The awards spotlight products aimed at two fast-growing school technology needs: esports labs and AI-capable classroom workstations.
The ASUS ROG G700 was named a winner in the Higher Education category, while the ASUS NUC 16 won in the Secondary Education category. The Best of Show program is run by Future and presented by Tech & Learning, with products scored by judges and editors on criteria including innovation, features, reliability and performance.
Tech & Learning’s awards editorial team said the nominated products offered a view of new technology being shown at the event and highlighted companies working in education technology. The recognition places ASUS in the mix of vendors competing for school and campus spending as institutions refresh labs, esports spaces and creative computing rooms.
ROG desktop tied to collegiate esports
The ROG G700 is a full-tower gaming desktop from ASUS Republic of Gamers. It is built with ROG and ASUS components and is validated in-house for performance and reliability, according to the company.
The system can be configured with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. It uses a 58-liter chassis and a 1000W power supply for its top-end configurations.
For campus IT teams, ASUS is pitching the machine around serviceability as much as performance. The desktop uses standard-sized parts and a tool-less chassis, with a quad-fan airflow system, optional 240mm all-in-one liquid cooling and dust filters intended to support repeated use in labs and tournament settings.
ASUS said the G700 was used during the 2025-26 academic year in one of ROG’s largest collegiate esports deployments. The company served as official PC provider to NACE, PlayVS and NECC, groups it described as covering more than 4,000 athletes and 150-plus institutions, 900-plus campuses, and 500-plus colleges and universities, respectively.
Shawn Chang, general manager of the System Business Group at ASUS North America, linked the award to that esports deployment, saying the G700 had been used for tournament play throughout the season. He also described esports as a route for students to develop teamwork, communication and strategic thinking while connecting to STEM, game design and content creation.
NUC 16 targets AI and creative work in schools
The ASUS NUC 16 Pro is a compact classroom PC built around Intel Core Ultra 3 processors and Intel Arc B390 graphics. ASUS said the system delivers up to 180 TOPS of AI performance in a small form factor that can mount behind a monitor.
That positioning reflects a broader shift in school computing, where districts and campuses are asking classroom machines to support AI tools, media production and technical coursework. ASUS points to software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender and AutoCAD as examples of the creative and computational workloads the NUC 16 Pro is designed to handle.
The device also includes features aimed at IT management. ASUS said its tool-less design is meant to reduce maintenance time, while ASUS Control Center allows centralized remote management from one dashboard for access and troubleshooting.
Reliability is another part of the pitch for the ASUS education computing products. The NUC 16 Pro is MIL-STD-810H certified for temperature, vibration and shock testing, and it uses a dual-fan thermal design for sustained workloads, with a three-year warranty and 24/7 support included.