13 Aug
Blog

Intel NUC 11 Extreme Review: A True Mini Gaming PC

Intel NUC 11 Extreme on a table.

Intel Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme in the test: A real mini gaming PC

RRP $ 1,180.00

"The NUC 11 Extreme is too expensive, but that still doesn't hold it back."

advantages

  • Keep calm

  • Solid processor performance

  • Full-size graphics card support

  • Excellent connectivity

disadvantage

  • Too expensive

  • Larger than previous NUCs

On my desk, where my gaming PC used to live, is an empty space that is now occupied by Intel's NUC 11 Extreme, also known as Beast Canyon. It's a barebones kit with welcome tradeoffs that balances desktop-like performance with a form factor smaller than a current game console.

It's too expensive, awkward compared to a full-size device, and a little too weak compared to a desktop chip. But I can't stop using the NUC 11 Extreme. It is an intelligently designed PC that only makes concessions when needed and exists in its own category.

That doesn't mean Beast Canyon is for everyone. It caters to a very specific market – those with an affinity for crafting who don't mind paying for interesting designs. That said, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty (and you have a spare graphics card) the NUC 11 Extreme is excellent.

design

The side of an Intel NUC 11 Extreme.

In 2012, Intel presented the concept of NUC or Next Unit of Computing for the first time. a graphics card). The heart of the PC is the compute element, which you can unplug like a graphics card.

The new NUC 11 Extreme is a tiny PC, but not as small as previous versions. The 8 liter chassis is 14.1 inches long, 7.1 inches high and 4.7 inches wide. The NUC 9 Extreme is larger at 8.5 inches, but much shorter and a little less wide. It also doesn't support full size graphics cards like Beast Canyon.

That is the compromise with Beast Canyon. It's larger than previous NUCs and other mini-PCs, but it supports a full-length graphics card. You can't have and eat your cake, and I'm pleased with the compromises Intel has made. As I will learn in the next few sections, the NUC 11 Extreme still beats its weight class despite its slightly larger size.

This becomes clear when you compare it to other small form factor options. The Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P is one of the smaller Mini-ITX cases that supports a full-size GPU and is still 10 liters larger than the NUC 11 Extreme. There are smaller NUC cases like the Razer Tomahawk, but this device has an older computing element and is more expensive than the NUC 11 Extreme.

The star of the show is a massive RGB skull on the front of the NUC 11 that connects to ambient RGB strips that illuminate the bottom of the case. Fortunately, you can tweak the LEDs and turn them off if you want. With the included NUC Software Studio you can control the skull and the front, right and left LEDs independently of each other.

Skull on the Intel NUC 11 Extreme.

It's a decent suite that lets you set a solid color or set standard RGB modes like strobe or breathing. You can also use the NUC Software Studio to monitor system temperature and usage, change your fan curve, and switch between processor performance modes.

While the NUC Software Studio offers a decent list of options, it's a little flawed. The software is easy to bounce around, but it would constantly get stuck for a second or two after I changed a setting. It's not a deal breaker, but the NUC Software Studio doesn't feel good.

For my tests, I stayed in balanced fan mode to see the curve Intel intended. There are a trio of 92mm fans under the top to keep everything cool, and they never got loud enough to bother me while testing (even on a Cinebench R23 loop). They make noise, but the NUC 11 Extreme is remarkably quiet given its size. The NUC 11 Extreme was silent when answering emails or hanging out online.

Connectivity

Intel could have reduced the number of ports on the NUC 11 Extreme, but didn't. As with many aspects of the kit, you give up surprisingly little when compared to a full-sized desktop. You are spoiled for port options with the NUC 11 Extreme, and in some ways it goes beyond some full-size PCs.

Front connectors on Intel NUC 11 Extreme.

On the front you have quick access to two USB 3.1 ports, a headphone / microphone combo jack and an SDXC card slot. This turned out to be sufficient in my tests, although I missed a USB-C port on the front. I often use an external Samsung T5 SSD to swap games between PCs and it would have been nice to just toss it in front of the case.

Instead, I had to plug it in at the back, but that wasn't a problem. Even in this small size, Intel manages to accommodate six USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, 2.5G Ethernet and two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back of the case. The motherboard also has an HDMI 2.0b output in case you want to use the integrated graphics.

Of course, HDMI out isn't all you have access to when you plug in a graphics card. It's only there to provide the built-in graphics option. So when you add a graphics card, you also have access to the ports it has. In the case of the RTX 3060 in my test device, this included a single HDMI and three DisplayPort outputs.

Back ports on Intel NUC 11 Extreme.

Compared to the NUC 9 Extreme, this device adds two more USB ports on the back and upgrades the Thunderbolt ports from Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 4. Even if you run out of ports – which is unlikely given the eight USB ports surrounding the case – you can always throw a Thunderbolt dock into the equation to further expand your connectivity.

For wireless connectivity, the NUC 11 Extreme contains Intel's AX201 chip, which offers dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.

Internals

Intel offers the NUC in two configurations: either with a Core i7-11700B or a Core i9-11900KB. As with all NUCs, you will need to bring your own graphics card, SSD, RAM, and operating system. Everything else you need is already in the compute element or in the housing. This includes a 650W 80+ Gold power supply and an Intel AX201 chip.

Central processor Intel Core i9-11900KB or Intel Core i7-11700B
GPU Support for full-size dual-slot GPU or Intel UHD 750
Storage Up to 64 GB dual-channel SO-DIMM DDR4
storage Up to two PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs, up to two PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSDs
Power supply 650W 80+ gold
USB ports Up to 12, including eight
Thunderbolt ports Two Thunderbolt 4
Networking 2.5G Ethernet, dual band WiFi 6
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.2
Ports Headphone / microphone connection, SDXC reader, HDMI 2.0b

My test device was equipped with the Core i9-11900KB computing element, a souped-up laptop chip that is part of the 10 nm Tiger Lake family. In short, it should not be confused with the desktop Core i9-11900K, which is built by Intel using the 14 nm process and requires more than twice the performance.

The Core i9-11900KB is a 65W chip, but it is still equipped with eight cores and 16 threads and can accelerate up to 4.9 GHz based on Intel specifications. My chip never reached this speed during the test, but it got close at just over 4.8 GHz. The slightly cheaper Core i7-11700B still comes with eight cores and 16 threads, but with a slightly lower clock rate.

Both chips come with integrated graphics, but I was disappointed to find that they use Intel UHD graphics, not Iris Xe like many Tiger Lake mobile chips. As I'll get into in a moment, if you're going to get any decent gaming performance out of Beast Canyon, you need a discrete GPU.

Otherwise, the NUC 11 Extreme supports whatever you can get it to do. This includes up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 laptop memory (SO-DIMM), a dual-slot graphics card and up to four M.2 SSDs, one of which you have to install in the computing element.

Opening everything is a breeze. There's some nice attention to detail here from Intel, including the tiny captive screws on the backplate, a handy door to unlock the compute element, and an SSD slot on the bottom so you can quickly upgrade your storage.

Intel NUC 11 Extreme with no GPU installed.

Once you've removed the side panels, the NUC 11 Extreme opens and offers unprecedented access in this small form. The top cover with three fans can be folded up so that you have all parts of the case free. And there's not much going on inside.

Most of the PC is in the compute element, so you have a small specially designed motherboard, power supply, compute element, and GPU if you have one installed. The NUC 11 Extreme has exactly what it needs, reducing the fat that often comes with small builds.

It's not without its problems, however. The latch for the PCIe slot of the graphics card can hardly be reached when the card is installed. I had to slide the back end of a screwdriver between the GPU and the computing element to open it, and you need to remove the GPU before you can get to the computing element.

Support for full-size graphics cards should also be marked with a large asterisk. It's true that you can plug a full-length dual-slot GPU into the NUC 11 Extreme, but that's about it. That doesn't take into account the additional modular power cables that have to share the space with the rear end of the GPU.

The NUC 11 Extreme has exactly what it needs, reducing the fat that often comes with small builds.

However, dual slot is the limit. If your cooler protrudes even slightly beyond the dual-slot mark, it will not fit into the NUC 11 Extreme. Nvidia Founder's Edition cards could also be a problem. The RTX 3080, for example, has a fan on both sides. In this case, a fan would sit directly on the back of the power supply unit.

Overall, though, this is the most enjoyable small form factor experience I've ever had. I have a few minor issues with the graphics card slot and the extra cables, but these are easy to miss with Intel's clear focus on the building experience. The NUC 11 Extreme is still an argument for barebones, small PCs.

The most disappointing part of the NUC 11 Extreme is that you can't buy it all. Adding RAM, SSD, and Windows is easy, but Beast Canyon really shines with an installed GPU. And adding the price of an expensive graphics card to the NUC 11 Extreme's already high price tag is a tough sell.

But the premium makes sense. Something like the NUC 11 Extreme cannot be built with off-the-shelf parts. However, if you're willing to shop around and have a mini-ITX graphics card, there are options like the Velka 3 that are actually smaller than the NUC 11 Extreme.

Processor power

To get back to the raw power of Beast Canyon, it's more powerful than I expected. The Core i9-11900KB isn't quite on par with a full desktop piece, but it doesn't have to be in such a small package. There's a little compromise, but it's much smaller than it should be given the size of Beast Canyon.

I started testing with PCMark 10, which gives a good overview of performance on a long list of tasks. The NUC 11 Extreme achieved an overall score of 7,520, which is just below the MSI Aegis RS 10 – a mid-tower desktop with a full-size Core i9-10900K. He also beat the flagship Tiger Lake in the HP Elite Dragonfly Max with almost 3,000 more points.

Computing element in Intel NUC 11 Extreme.

PCMark 10 is also demanding. The processor reached a maximum temperature of 93 degrees Celsius during the benchmark, but never clocked down. Even when it was struck, my i9-11900KB continued to climb slightly above 4.8 GHz.

Next up was Cinebench R23, which pushes processors to their limits by forcing them to render a complex 3D image. Here the Core i9-11900KB achieved a single-core score of 1,636 and a multi-core score of 11,424. The multi-core score is in the upper range, but a desktop Core i9-10900K can still beat it by around 30%. Every other Tiger Lake chip doesn't even come close, however.

The Core i9-11900KB even beats the desktop Core i9-10900K by around 23% in the single-core test. While Cinebench performed strongly, it did reveal some weaknesses in Intel's design. According to HWiNFO64, the Core i9-11900KB reached its maximum operating temperature of 100 degrees Celsius before it clocked down to 3.4 GHz. Even with a solid cooling solution, the NUC 11 Extreme is prone to throttling when it's pushed to the limit.

GeekBench 5 is nowhere near as demanding and the NUC 11 Extreme has once again proven its strengths. Similar to PCMark 10, the Core i9-11900KB beats the desktop Core i9-10900K in the single-core test and just under second place in the multi-core test. It also shot way ahead of the NUC 9 Extreme, beating the older device by about 23%.

It's a competent counterpoint to a desktop chip and outperforms all of the other Tiger Lake offerings available.

Handbrake told a similar story. The NUC 11 Extreme reduced our coding time of the Elysium trailer by 13 seconds compared to the NUC 9 Extreme. However, Handbrake showed that the Core i9-11900KB is still essentially a mobile part. Compared to the desktop Core i9-10900K, the chip was a full 30 seconds slower.

Finally, I reached out to PugetBench for Premiere Pro to see how the NUC 11 Extreme would handle video editing. This type of machine seems perfect for the job and my results confirm it. Overall, it scores above a desktop Core i9-10900K, which is configured with an RTX 3060 and 32 GB of RAM. However, this is mainly due to the smooth playback performance, as the NUC 11 Extreme lagged behind the desktop in terms of export and GPU values.

With the NUC 11 Extreme you don't get the full performance of a desktop chip, but with less than half the wattage, that shouldn't come as a surprise. It's a competent counterpoint to a desktop chip and outperforms all of the other Tiger Lake offerings available. Heat was an issue in Cinebench, but this benchmark is a bit of a stress test. There should be no throttling for most tasks.

Gaming performance

I only did a few gaming tests with the NUC 11 Extreme as it doesn't actually come with a graphics card. Your performance will depend on what you put into it. Nevertheless, I wanted to get an overview of how the RTX 3060 would behave in my test device compared to one in a full desktop. And good for Intel, there is practically no difference.

The NUC 11 Extreme averaged exactly the same frame rate in Fortnite at 1080p Epic settings as a desktop configured with a Core i9-10900K and RTX 3060. Up to 1440p, only three frames separated the NUC 11 Extreme from the desktop, with the NUC averaging 83 fps (frames per second) and the desktop averaging 86 fps.

Intel NUC 11 has opened.

That was also the case in Civilization VI, where the NUC averaged 141 fps at 1080p Ultra and the desktop 143 fps. At 1440p with the same settings, the two machines were within a frame of each other. The NUC 11 Extreme's side panel gives the GPU a lot of headroom, and based on my limited testing, cards should work about as well as they would in a desktop.

When you order a NUC, you won't get this performance without adding a graphics card. The UHD graphics in the Core i9-11900KB are pitifully slow for games. They are available, but a bit not an option. In fact, I couldn't complete my 1440p tests because the built-in graphics just wouldn't hold up.

3DMark Time Spy showed how big the difference is. With the RTX 3060 installed, the NUC 11 Extreme achieved a total of 8,953 points. Without a GPU, the device only scored 828 points, less than a tenth of what the RTX 3060 could achieve. Even in Fortnite, I couldn't go over the 1080p High settings as the integrated GPU only averaged 15 fps.

Civilization VI was slightly better at 1080p with medium settings, but even then the UHD graphics only averaged 23 fps. The built-in graphics are not suitable for gaming unless you are ready to shut down to 720p and run on low settings, and even then, some games may have problems.

You should clearly add a GPU to the NUC 11 Extreme. The built-in graphics aren't very good, but the good news is that between a full-sized desktop and the NUC 11, you're practically not giving up when it comes to GPU performance. The design of the chassis allows a lot of air inside, so most cards should hold up.

Our opinion

The NUC 11 Extreme is excellent – as long as you can handle its high price. The kit starts at $ 1,150 for the i7-11700B, and that doesn't include an operating system, RAM, an SSD, or, more critically, a graphics card. Add those in and you're looking at a machine that easily costs over $ 2,000 without a high-end GPU.

It's way too expensive, but that's the point. You already know if the NUC 11 Extreme is right for you. It is not a machine trying to get a certain price or offer a certain value. Instead, it offers an excellent, small form factor design, a unique way to design a computer, and performance that even full-size desktops are a race for their money.

If you've looked at the NUC jealously, it will meet your expectations – provided you have a graphics card to plug in.

Are there alternatives?

There are other mini PCs out there, but nothing compares to the NUC 11 Extreme. Unless you're looking for a boutique case and configuring your own rig, there is no other machine that packs as much power as the NUC 11 Extreme in this small case. Most Mini-ITX cases are not only larger, but also more difficult to use.

That said, you can save some money by building your own machine if you're okay with a slightly larger case or if you can settle for a mini-ITX GPU.

How long it will take?

The whole point of a NUC is that you can upgrade it with a new computing element over time. Assuming Intel continues to ship them, you can use the NUC 11 Extreme until the power supply fails.

Should you buy it?

Yes, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into. The NUC 11 Extreme is not just a mini PC. So, if you're looking for something to set up and forget, a machine like the M1 Mac Mini is probably better.

Editor's recommendations



15 Apr
Blog

Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit Ghost Canyon Review: All Potential

Intel Ghost Canyon

Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit "Ghost Canyon" test: all possibilities

"Intel's NUC 9 Extreme Kit is a unique vision of computing, but far from perfect."

  • Extremely small

  • Modular structure with upgrade potential

  • Excellent connectivity, including Thunderbolt 3

  • Upgrades are more difficult than expected

  • Loud fan

I built a plywood computer case earlier this year. With a height of 9 inches and a depth of 5.5 inches, it is an extremely small system. I spent a good thirty hours researching, designing, and optimizing the case that now houses my main desktop PC. It was an enjoyable and rewarding project.

But I could have just waited for the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit.

The NUC 9 Extreme kit I received for review had an Intel Core i9-9980HK processor, 16 GB RAM, an Nvidia RTX 2070 graphics card from Asus and two solid-state hard drives: One Kingston 2 TB Drive paired with a 380 GB Intel Optane ride. Note that the NUC 9 Extreme Kit usually does not contain any memory, memory or a graphics card.

With these components, it is way ahead of my personal desktop with a Ryzen 5 3500 processor and the GTX 1650 Super from Nvidia. However, the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit ($ 1,700) is slightly smaller. It is a few tenths of an inch less deep and tall and almost two inches narrower.

No system I've reviewed offers more performance per square inch. The latest NUC is a fascinating, unique and ultimately faulty experiment in compact gaming PCs.

Design and ports

Oddly enough, the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit basically looks like a NUC. I find it strange because I expected a more drastic redesign given the performance gap. Nevertheless, it has the same square, round appearance as previous NUC devices.

NUC fans might be surprised by its mass, which is many times higher than that of any previous device in the NUC range. However, most people will think the system is tiny. Its volume is approximately 5 liters. In comparison, the XPS Special Edition desktop from Dell – our top desktop for most people – takes up almost 25 liters of space.

Intel Ghost CanyonIntel NUC 9 Extreme Kit (left) and home-made plywood desktop (right) Matthew Smith / Digital Trends

That's a big difference. Though larger than in the past, the NUC 9 is small enough to be stowed almost anywhere you want. Place it on your desktop, on a shelf, or even in a closet (if you can guarantee adequate airflow). It is important that it remains small enough to be easily used as a home theater PC.

The NUC 9 has an industrial appearance that does not communicate its unique approach. Apart from the skull logo that is used on other game-oriented NUC devices, there is nothing in this PC to indicate performance. Personally, I don't mind. I will do the job every day of the week.

The excellent selection of ports speaks for the dual approach of the NUC 9.

And it works. At the front, the NUC 9 offers two USB-A 3.1 connections, a combined headphone / microphone connection and an SDXC card reader. On the back you will find four more USB-A 3.1 ports, two Gigabit LAN ports, DisplayPort, HDMI 2.0 and DVI. There are also two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a rare thing that is still unusual on PC desktops.

It is an excellent selection of ports that speak for the dual purpose of the NUC 9. It can hold a graphics card for games, but can also serve as a small workstation for a videographer, photographer, streamer, or other creator. The wired connectivity is rounded off by the support of Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.

Internals and upgrades

The NUC 9 Extreme Kit would be fascinating if it were “just” a powerful, pint-sized PC, but there's more to it than that. It contains the Intel Compute Element, which is a working PC that is pressed onto a PCI Express card that is smaller than most graphics cards. The compute element houses the processor, memory and hard drive – although the NUC 9 Extreme Kit is only supplied with the processor. You must purchase the storage and hard drive separately.

Intel's focus for the compute element is on upgradeability and customization. In theory, this step offers NUC 9 owners an excellent upgrade path. The processor, RAM, hard drive, graphics card and power supply can be replaced.

I could even say it's better than a regular desktop because you don't have to worry about replacing the motherboard. By exchanging the computing element, you can also update your port selection, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

That is the pitch. Does it work in practice?

Intel Ghost CanyonWorking with these connections is cumbersome Matthew Smith / Digital Trends

I was disappointed to find that the modular structure of the NUC 9 was difficult. Opening the case is easy enough. Simply remove two screws and slide the top back. However, the adapted compute element is decorated with numerous connections at unfavorable angles. These must be carefully removed.

In my experience, gamers who want to upgrade a rig are afraid because they don't want to break an expensive PC. The NUC 9 does not solve this problem.

Intel Ghost CanyonComputing element (closed) Matthew Smith / Digital Trends

As soon as the connections are removed and one last screw is loosened, the Compute Element slides freely like any other PCI Express card. The element is a plastic cover on a circuit board that contains the processor, memory (in the form of two SODIMMs) and solid-state memory.

The processor cannot be removed while memory and memory can be replaced. It is a mobile chip that, like other NUC devices, is permanently connected. That is why the compute element is important. You cannot replace the processor without them. This means that at least a processor upgrade is possible.

Intel Ghost CanyonCalculate item (open) Matthew Smith / Digital Trends

What computer elements will be available and how much will they cost? Intel's roadmap is not precise. However, the company has promised that future Compute Elements will be backward compatible. Intel plans new Compute Element models for 2021 and 2022. Partner companies will also sell standalone Compute Element upgrades.

Personally, I tend to believe Intel's plan. The company has supported the NUC line for years, even though it only makes up part of its overall business.

I expect processor options to be limited compared to a standard desktop, but it might make sense to swap flexibility for simplicity and size. The subtle differences between processors are not relevant to most people, including most enthusiasts. If Intel (or partners) can simply offer a Core i5, i7 and i9 computing element for every future generation of mobile processors, I think that's appropriate. And I'm convinced that Intel will do it.

Processor power

As mentioned earlier, the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit I received had an Intel Core i9-9980HK processor, 16 GB of memory, and an Nusidia RTX 2070 graphics card built by Asus. The Core i9-9980HK is not the most modern processor since it was launched almost a year ago. Still, it's a top-notch option in the Intel range of mobile chips, which offers eight cores, 16 threads, and a maximum turbo boost frequency of 5 GHz.

The i9-9980HK ran as expected. Geekbench 5 achieved a single-core score of 1,232 and a multi-core score of 7,312. These numbers are in the baseball stadium of the Core i9-9980HK laptops we tested. The Apple MacBook Pro 16 was a little slower and the Acer ConceptD 9 a little faster. Remember that while the NUC 9 is a desktop, its processor is a mobile component.

While the i9-9980HK performs well in Geekbench 5, the latest AMD components express it. We recently tested the Asus Zephyrus G14 with AMD's new Ryzen 9 4900HS. It was competitive with the NUC 9 in the single core and won in the multi core. This is not good for the Intel i9-9980HK. The Asus Zephyrus G14 is a small gaming notebook. So you wouldn't expect the NUC 9 to beat it, but its victory is clear.

Other benchmarks tell a similar story. Our handbrake benchmark, which uses popular video encoding software to transcode a 4K movie trailer, was completed on the NUC 9 in 114 seconds. That is hardly in front of the Acer ConceptD 9, but behind the Asus Zephyrus G14. The Core i9-9980HK also falls behind the Intel Core i9-9900K, a processor for desktops.

I saw a Cinebench R20 of 3,348 from NUC 9. This is also slightly above most laptops with the same chip, but not at the top of the class.

I don't think this processor performance will lower it in 2020 – not at a retail price of $ 1,700.

It's worth noting that the Core i9-9980HK isn't a problem despite these mixed results. It easily defeats the currently available mobile processors of the Intel Core i7 H series. It also easily defeats previous NUC desktops. This is a fast processor capable of handling heavy workloads like 4K content creation or high resolution photo editing. It will shame the majority of laptops and keep up with some mid-tower desktops.

However, I don't think this processor performance will affect 2020 – not at a retail price of $ 1,700 excluding RAM, hard drive, and graphics card that aren't included in the kit.

Gaming performance

As already mentioned, the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit does not contain a graphics card. You have to get one yourself so that your mileage varies depending on the graphics card you bought. The NUC 9 can be used for dual-wide graphics cards with a length of up to 20 cm. My test device came with an Asus RTX 2070 that fits into the NUC 9, so I tried it out.

I started with 3DMark, where the NUC 9 had a fire strike score of 17,932 and a time spy score of 8,350. This is exactly what I would expect from an Nvidia RTX 2070 desktop packaging. The RTX 2070 Super is slightly faster and achieves 10,136 points in a testbed desktop packing Intel Core i9-9900K. The desktop class RTX 2070 of the NUC 9, however, easily defeats any laptop incarnation of the RTX 2070 we tested.

Fortnite was a breeze. An average of 141 frames per second with a resolution of 1080p and epic details as well as 90 frames per second with a resolution of 1440p and epic details were generated. These numbers are not surprising for a desktop that packs Nvidia's RTX 2070, but they easily outperform laptops with RTX 2070 hardware. The Razer Blade 15 with Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q only reaches 72 frames per second under the same conditions. The small size of the NUC 9 clearly doesn't hold it back.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey, our most demanding game benchmark, slowed down the NUC 9 – but only with a resolution of 1440p.

Civilization VI performed exceptionally well. It averaged 120 fps at 1080p and Ultra Detail with 2x MSAA turned on and still 100 fps at 1440p and the same settings. These numbers place a large gap between the NUC 9 and laptops with Nvidia RTX 2070 hardware.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey, our most demanding game benchmark, slowed down the NUC 9 – but only with a resolution of 1440p. The NUC 9 averaged a very respectable 57 fps at 1080p and ultra high details, but only reached 47 fps at 1440p and ultra high. While the NUC once again outperforms laptops with RTX 2070 hardware, it falls slightly behind our testbed desktop with an RTX 2060 Super, which averaged 51 fps at 1440p and ultra high.

Since the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit doesn't come with a GPU, the main question is: does the CPU hold the system in any way? I think the answer is definitely "no". The Core i9-9980HK is a powerful processor with a strong balance between single-core and multi-core performance. However, it is not the new sharpness and is currently surpassed by newer processors that have just been launched by Intel and AMD.

Heat and fan noise

The NUC 9 Extreme Kit has a lot to offer, but its performance is not without consequences. Packing a large amount of hardware in a small space can make cooling difficult, and the NUC 9 encounters this problem.

Intel Ghost CanyonMatthew Smith / Digital Trends

Fan noise is the real problem. The NUC 9 has several small fans, including those in the power supply and in the processor itself. These fans sometimes have to spin quickly, which inevitably makes a racket. Even worse, the mesh side panels of the NUC 9 do not isolate the sound.

This results in a loud little desktop. The fans of the NUC 9 often race in action and sound at maximum speed ready to drown out your robot vacuum. The fans are unpredictable and hard and bounce between high and low speed states.

Price and availability

The NUC 9 Extreme Kit is expected to retail for $ 1,700 when it arrives at Intel's channel partners next month. Intel also has retail Core i5 and i7 models for $ 1,050 and $ 1,250, respectively. These will arrive within three months.

Our opinion

The Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit is an experiment that is promising but not quite working. The compute element is a fascinating way to give a very small desktop upgradability. Unfortunately, it's not as intuitive as I hoped.

The NUC 9 Extreme Kit is also held up by its sky-high retail price of $ 1,700 – without memory, memory, or a graphics card, all of which must be purchased separately.

Is there a better alternative?

It depends on what you're looking for.

The unique modular design of the NUC 9 Extreme Kit leaves it out without direct competitors. However, you can also combine it with other small PCs such as the Apple Mac Mini or smaller incarnations of the Lenovo ThinkCentre and the HP Z Workstations. The Intel NUC 9 could be a compelling little workstation due to its excellent port selection and promises of future upgrades, although I'm not sure if its processor performance is competitively priced. It's a great mobile chip, but in some systems you can find standard desktop components at a comparable price.

The NUC 9 is simply too expensive as a gaming desktop. A system configured like the one I tested would set you back between $ 2,400 and $ 2,800, depending on the exact components you purchase and the sales you may be able to make. That is simply too much for the service offered. With an RTX 2070 Super, you can easily grab a desktop for that price, and it doesn't have to be much bigger. The Origin Chronos and Falcon Northwest Tiki are less well known alternatives.

How long it will take?

Like most high-performance desktops, the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit remains useful for many years. It will easily take a decade or more, although after a few years it will obviously fade compared to new hardware.

Intel grants a 3-year standard warranty on NUC hardware. That's unusual. Most competitors only give a 1 year warranty.

Should you buy one?

No. The Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit, as it exists today, works better as a thought experiment than an everyday desktop.

Editor's recommendations




21 Mar
Blog

Intel Frost Canyon NUC (NUC 10i7FNHAA) Review: Big Win

Intel Frost Canyon NUC

Intel Frost Canyon NUC (NUC 10i7FNHAA) review: Big win for developers

"Intel's Frost Canyon NUC is powerful, yet surprisingly easy to update."

  • Small form factor

  • Solid CPU performance

  • Easy to update RAM, hard drive

  • Energy efficient

  • Many ports (for its size)

  • Very poor game performance

  • CPU cannot be replaced

  • Loud

Small PCs are usually associated with compromises that are often lacking adjustments, future upgrades, power supply and port selection.

Then there is Intel NUC (short for Next Unit of Computing), which makes these functions his selling point. For this reason, this long line of miniature PCs, which is now seven years old, is unique.

The NUC I'm looking at today, officially called NUC10i7FNHAA, is one of the most powerful so far. It has a 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor with six cores, a 256 GB solid-state drive, a 1 TB SATA hard drive, 16 GB RAM and Windows 10 Home.

In contrast to some of the NUC systems I have tested, it is sold as a fully functional PC and not as a barebone. It contains everything you need at a price of $ 1,049. Is it the ultimate mini PC?

Design and ports

There is not much to say about the external devices of the Intel NUC10i7FNHAA. If you've ever seen a NUC, it looks similar. It offers the dark gunmetal exterior of other newer NUCs instead of the silver of previous models. It has a glossy black plastic lid.

The size of NUC has not changed significantly over the years. This model is 4.4 cm wide, 4.4 cm deep and two cm tall. It is not the thinnest NUC, but also not the thickest and many times smaller than a typical desktop PC.

Intel Frost Canyon NUCMatt Smith / Digital Trends

Nevertheless, it has many ports. The front offers a USB-A 3.1 port, a USB-C 3.1 port and a headphone jack.

On the back you will find a Thunderbolt 3 port, two additional USB-C 3.1 ports, Ethernet and HDMI output. Thunderbolt 3 is particularly nice to have. While it is common on laptops, it is still rare on PC desktops. This is a solid connectivity area that covers most options, though the lack of DisplayPort could bother some.

Internals and updateability

Due to its size, the tiny body of the Frost Canyon NUC can be expected to hide complex internals. That's not the case. Intel has been around for seven years, and it shows.

You open the NUC by unscrewing the four feet on the underside of the machine. After loosening (they cannot be completely removed, so you cannot lose them), the base plate loosens with a jerk.

Intel Frost Canyon NUCMatt Smith / Digital Trends

This provides access to the RAM-SO-DIMMS, the smaller sticks that you would normally find in a laptop instead of larger desktop DIMMS. You also have access to the M.2 drive and hard drive. This is all you can replace in the NUC10i7FNHAA since the CPU is soldered to the mainboard.

Upgrade options are limited. There is no free RAM slot, no free M.2, no free SATA. What is installed is all the desktop can handle.

However, these parts can be easily removed and replaced if necessary. The NUC10i7FNHAA supports up to 64 GB of RAM, far more than the 16 GB installed.

There are restrictions on what a NUC can handle due to its small size, but what is available is impressive.

You will find a few open headers in it, but most users won't care. This includes two empty USB 2.0 headers and a FRONT_PANEL header.

There are, of course, limitations to what a NUC can do due to its small size, but what is available is impressive. The components that you can update are easy to find and are immediately accessible after removing just a handful of screws. I would argue that the Frost Canyon NUC is easier to maintain than most desktops sold by major manufacturers.

CPU performance

The Frost Canyon NUC I tested, model number 10i7FNHAA, had an Intel Core i7-10710U processor. This is a 12-thread mobile processor with six cores and a base frequency of only 1.1 GHz, but a maximum turbo frequency of 4.7 GHz.

It is a powerful chip. Geekbench 5 delivered a single-core result of 1,099 and a multi-core result of 5,702. These numbers don't break records, but exceed most laptops and small desktops. The Dell XPS 13 7390, which we tested with the same processor, achieved a higher score of 1,250 in the single-core test, but stayed behind with a score of 5,491 in the multi-core test.

Intel Frost Canyon NUCMatt Smith / Digital Trends

For comparison: An HP Specter x360 13 with a Core i7-1056G7 achieved 1,164 points in the Geekbench 5 single-core test and 3,981 points in the multi-core test. The only mobile chips that can significantly outperform the Core i7-10710U are Core i9 silicon, like the Core i9-9880H in the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2. It achieved 5 single-core and multi-core in Geekbench Test 1,196 and 6,529 points. respectively.

The NUC 10i7FNHAA's performance is solid at $ 1,049. Desktops and all-in-one devices from major brands usually offer a Core i5 processor like the Core i5 9400 at this price. This processor is somewhat competitive with the Core i7-10710U, but will fall behind in most cases.

In addition to Geekbench, I started Cinebench R15. My Frost Canyon NUC scored 980 points there. This is less impressive, but still acceptable for the price. I noticed that the NUC had to accelerate during this test. The first test run achieved a higher result with 1,180 points, but successful test runs always achieved a value in the range of 900. The number of points I reported of 980 is the average of 5 test runs.

Our handbrake benchmark, which encodes a 420MB 4K video file from H.264 to H.265, took just over two and a half minutes. The Dell XPS 13 7390, which had the same Core i7-10710U processor, was three minutes slower. The NUC 10i7FNHAA even beats some laptops with Core i9 processors, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2.

This NUC can meet the needs of many photo and video editors, developers and engineers.

Intel introduces this Frost Canyon NUC, the 10i7FNHAA, as a small workstation that is suitable for many content creators. It works well enough for that as long as you don't work with cutting-edge content like 8K videos. There you need a more powerful computer.

However, this NUC can meet the needs of many photo and video editors, developers, engineers, etc. Call it appropriate. That may not sound like much praise, but given the price of $ 1,049 and the small footprint, it would be stupid to expect more. This is a powerful PC for its price.

Player, look somewhere else

What about games? It’s not great. The fast Core i7-10710U processor does not contain the latest graphics from Intel, but the older Intel UHD solution. It scored only 1,288 in 3D Mark Fire Strike and only 490 in Time Spy.

These values ​​are solid for Intel UHD. However, Intel's Iris Plus graphics are about twice as fast. And even a discrete entry-level graphics solution like the GTX 1650 Max-Q from Nvidia can score over 3,000 points in Time Spy. That's six times faster than Intel UHD.

In summary, you can not play most modern games.

In summary, you can not play most modern games. A title with relatively simple 3D graphics such as Fortnite or World of Warcraft may offer acceptable performance with a resolution below 1080p and low graphics settings. Everything else demands too much.

The Frost Canyon NUC has a Thunderbolt 3 port, through which an external graphics dock can be connected. However, given the price of an external graphics dock, it's not a great solution for games. You're better off with an entry-level gaming desktop.

power consumption

Size is not the only advantage of a desktop based on mobile hardware. The use of mobile hardware also significantly reduces power consumption. Intel's Frost Canyon NUC consumes power under a variety of workloads.

The system only consumes 9.8 watts when idle. This is equivalent to many 13-inch laptops and less than most 15-inch systems. Desktop consumption can be very high, but it rarely happens that a desktop consumes less than 20 watts when idle. Therefore, the power consumption of the NUC is excellent.

Intel Frost Canyon NUCMatt Smith / Digital Trends

In Cinebench, power consumption reached a maximum of 98 watts and then held at 57 watts after thermal throttling had limited the processor. This is again comparable to modern laptops. Mid-range desktops that I tested easily exceeded 100 watts in the benchmark.

Low electricity consumption means lower electricity costs and less impact on the environment. It can also mean less fan noise. Unfortunately, this is not the case here. The Frost Canyon NUC turned out to be an exuberant PC puck, the fan of which was audibly buzzing even when idling. It's good that the NUC is small, as you may need to place it out of earshot.

Our opinion

The Intel NUC 10i7FNHAA, like the NUC models before, is a unique interpretation of what a desktop should be. It is not for everyone, but it is absolutely fulfilling its mission. The NUC is simple, compact and energy-efficient. It accomplishes all three goals and is one of the best mini PCs I've tested.

Is there a better alternative?

It depends on what you want.

If you only want a desktop and are not interested in the size, there are numerous options available worldwide. Dell's XPS desktops are consistently among our best desktops and remain our first choice.

Apple's Mac Mini is the best known alternative. However, it is a bit bigger, almost 20 cm wide and deep. While you can buy a six-core Mac Core for $ 1,099, this model only has 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. A Mac Mini with similar RAM and memory will bring you back $ 1,500.

If you want a small desktop, especially one that runs Windows, the NUC 10i7FNHAA – and the NUC models in general – remain a good choice. The most common brands in the U.S., such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo, offer small PCs. However, they are mainly designed for the business-to-business market, which leads to a high price for many models.

How long it will take?

You can't replace the NUC 10i7FNHAA's processor, but the Core i7-10710U is fast enough to stay relevant for at least a few years. The RAM and the hard disk can also be replaced without any problems. I think you will benefit from it for at least five years.

Intel grants a standard 3 year warranty. This is unusually good in the PC area, where a 1-year warranty is standard.

Should you buy one?

Yes, if you want a powerful desktop PC that fits almost anywhere. The Frost Canyon NUC fits into a niche like previous models. But if this niche is perfect.

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