STG’s Darren Price takes a look at the Intel NUC 13 Extreme, formerly codenamed Raptor Canyon, a mini-PC chassis, PSU, and motherboard with an unlocked 13th Gen Intel Core processor.

The Intel NUC 13 Extreme, formerly codenamed Raptor Canyon, arrived in a sizable pelican case, not what I was expecting at all. Indeed, the actual device was surprisingly big and weighty.

When I think of a NUC, I think of a little box, about the same size as two Blu-ray cases, tucked away around the back of a monitor. But gone are the days of compact PCs being just a cheap way of kitting out an office with PCs.

It would seem today’s high-performance NUCs have a form factor about the same size as a 1990s desktop PC. The big difference is that unlike beige vintage Hewlett Packard 486 desktop PCs, which were virtually empty when opened up, the stylish-looking NUC 13 Extreme is packed to the gills with high-end components, heatsinks, and fans.

If PCs were game consoles, they would look like the Intel NUC 13 Extreme does inside. Half of the case is taken up by the standard-sized PCIe GPU with the other half being a great big heatsink and several fans. Wedged behind all this is a dinky motherboard with a couple of sticks of ram poking out. There’s also an SSD packed in there, somewhere.

It’s like a laptop that you can pull to bits (and customise).

The device comes with detailed instructions showing you how to disassemble the modular design. This allows users to easily insert their choice of memory, GPU, and M.2 SSDs into the NUC. The retail units require the end user to supply DDR5 SODIMM memory(up to 64GB), NVMe M.2 storage, an operating system, and a PCIe graphics card.

Rather than some staid office machine, the supplied Intel NUC 13 Extreme review sample was a powerhouse of a gaming rig. Tightly packed inside was an Intel Core i9-13900K mounted on an Intel motherboard paired with an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti, 32GB of DDR5 SODIMM memory, and a 930GB NVMe SSD for storage.

The Intel NUC 13 Extreme has three CPU options. There’s the 13th generation Intel Core i9, as supplied, or the Core i7 and Core i6 versions.

The Intel motherboard has three M.2 slots, one 80mm PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe slot, and two 42mm/80mm PCIe x4 Gen4 NVMe or SATA3 SSD slots. The device is RAID-0 and RAID-1 capable.

The GPU is served by a PCIe x16 Gen5 slot with PCIe 5.0. The NUC has three 6+2-pin PCIe power connectors and supports up to 450W, 313 mm length, triple-slot graphics cards. The NUC’s small form factor will limit the choice when it comes to selecting a graphics card.

The NUC’s connectivity options are without compromise.

The front panel has a USB Type-C socket and two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A sockets, as well as an audio jack. The rear IO panel has six USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A sockets and a further two Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 Type-C ports. The rear panel also has two Ethernet sockets, an HDMI socket for the CPU’s onboard GPU, and two connectors for the Wi-Fi antenna. Line-in, line-out, and mic-in jacks can also be found on the back of the NUC.

Benchmarking this machine was a bit of an unnecessary formality, as it’s about the same specification as my gaming PC. The difference is that my PC is encapsulated in a massive tower and the Intel NUC 13 Extreme is about a quarter of the size and half the weight.

To test the machine’s capabilities, I used UL’s PCMark and 3D Mark as well as BAPCo’s Crossmark, Unigine’s Superposition Benchmark, and Cinebench R23. These benchmark tests give a good indication of a PC’s capabilities across productivity, gaming, and 3D rendering applications.

The PC Mark 10 score of 9440 makes it a very good machine across the board for productivity and creative applications. The high digital content creation score of 16384 made it perfect for video and photo editing. The PC Mark scores were further validated by the Crossmark results which again gave the PC top marks for productivity, creativity, and responsiveness.

These results do partially reflect the performance of the user-specified RAM, GPU, and storage, as opposed to the included components at retail. The results do, however, illustrate what can be achieved with the right components in such a compact chassis.

The Cinebench results highlighted the impressive performance that the included Intel Core i9-13900K provides for the NUC. It has superb multi-core 3D rendering capabilities with impressive single-core results.

The impressive Superposition and 3D Mark tests are more to do with the supplied RTX 3080 Ti’s performance than the device at retail. But, again, the results serve to show what an optimally configured Intel NUC 13 Extreme can achieve.

The 3D Mark Time Spy Extreme score of 9949 placed the NUC in the top 84% of all results. Even with the gruelling 3D Mark Port Royal test the device’s 12911 placed it in the top 75%.

Testing the machine with the recently released PC version of The Last of Us Part I yielded some impressive results.

This is a game that is bringing a lot of players’ high-end PCs to their knees. The Intel NUC 13 Extreme armed with its RTX 3080 Ti GPU managed a reasonable 80 frames per second running in 4K with a few tweaks to the settings, but no major degradation of the image quality. Even more impressive was that, unlike my tower gaming rig, which sounds like it is about to take off when running the game, the NUC was virtually silent.

As supplied, the NUC held its own against my similarly configured tower PC. It was also a lot quieter and a lot smaller.

At around AUD$2,000, the Intel NUC 13 Extreme isn’t cheap.

Saying that, the equivalent micro-ATX components will likely cost not far off the same amount, but probably not with the same build quality or quiet operation. You’ll also likely not get the same easy-to-install modular design.

Intel NUC 13 Extreme is a beefy, but compact, barebones mini-PC.

It’s an uncompromising design for those wanting to save on space. The NUC offers users the opportunity to customise the machine for their needs and budget, from a reasonable gaming rig to an absolute powerhouse.

The post Intel NUC 13 Extreme Barebones Mini-PC Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Intel’s NUC is a small and compact powerhouse designed for PC gamers to get a near Rig performance with a minimal desktop footprint.

They are small but super mighty.

Now Intel have unleashed the Beast.

Larger than the traditional NUC this RGB LED emblazoned in an extended black and stealthy looking casing packed with superior gaming grunt that would make even the biggest Rig cower in fear.

The Intel Beast Canyon NUC has more ports at its back than you’ll ever likely need.

A generous six USB 3.0 ports (also two at the front), two USB-C, two HDMI, a single ethernet port and three display ports.

Powering the Beast on for the first time when I received it was an eye candy treat. The NUC Skull logo centred with underside LED lighting – all customizable of course.

The goodness inside also didn’t disappoint.

32GBs of DDR4 RAM coupled with an array of Intel’s i7 11th gen processors crunching the data at 3.20GHz (not overclocked).

A Samsung 1TB SSD is your singular storage. Given that it is solely designed for gaming I actually expected to see at least an other additional SSD in there to really max your games storage.

Still the SSD that came preinstalled was top class.

Built by Playtech who also added included an NVIDIA GeForce 3070Ti dual port graphics card that has GDDR6X memory.

The NUC’s are a kitset PC, pretty much like any PC. Having one of these does not limit you to what is installed hardware wise. You can add and swap out bits, but just be mindful of any warranties if you’re going to do it yourself.

Needless to say the Intel Beast Canyon NUC was able to play anything. Call of Duty Vanguard, Forza Horizon 5, VR streaming and a current fav of mine Tiny Tina’s Wonderland were flawless.

Nothing needed to be dulled down playing at full 60fps – even Sony’s port to PC of God of War ran super smooth (this is usually a resource gobbler).

If you’re also in to content creation, on the more professional and heavier side the Beast is going to render your 4-8K videos and 3D models in no time.

Small and mighty the Intel Beast Canyon NUC is its namesake – a Beast.

A powerful gaming PC that’s not going to dominate your desk while you dominate the battlefield.

The post Intel Beast Canyon NUC Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Intel has just announced the Intel NUC 12 Extreme (code-named ‘Dragon Canyon’), and the Intel NUC 12 Extreme Compute Element (code-name Eden Bay), a highly modular desktop PC kit engineered to provide phenomenal performance for high-end gaming and content creation tasks.

With the latest 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processors, capacity for full-size 12-inch discrete graphics cards, and a full range of I/O ports including Thunderbolt 4, the Intel NUC 12 Extreme delivers massive performance and features that enthusiast gamers and professional creators need in a compact and modular form factor.

“The Intel NUC 12 Extreme brings Intel’s new performance hybrid architecture and a socketed motherboard to the NUC line for the first time. For those who want a powerful system with a small footprint and more versatility than ever before, the Intel NUC 12 Extreme Kit is an outstanding option.”

The most powerful Intel NUC yet encompasses new features, like performance hybrid architecture and access to faster PCIe interfaces, accelerating load times, all in a footprint that can fit on any desk.

Built with flexibility in mind, the modular Intel NUC 12 Extreme Compute Element provides enthusiast gamers and creators the ability to create their own small form-factor designs, giving users the option to be creative and configure the system footprint to their liking.

The NUC 12 Extreme offers breakthrough speeds with up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, featuring eight Performance-cores (P-cores) and eight Efficient-cores (E-cores), 24 threads and up to 5.1 GHz turbo boost max frequency.

Additional features include:

• Intel UHD Graphics 770 (32EU)
• Support for up to 64 GB dual-channel DDR4-3200 MHz SODIMMs
• Support for PCIe Gen5 x16 graphics cards
• Backwards compatible with PCIe Gen4 and Gen3 devices
• Support for up to three PCIe Gen4 M.2 SSDs
• Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211, a 10Gbps Ethernet port standard; and additional 2.5Gbps Ethernet port on Intel Corei9 processor SKUs

The Intel NUC 12 Extreme will be available starting in the second quarter of 2022.

The post Intel NUC 12 Extreme Brings Performance Hybrid Architecture to NUC appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Work or home desk getting a bit cluttered?

Have a towering PC case dominating your work or play area?

We have all had or have this issue as computer desks become a dumping ground for bits and pieces all vying for space within the area you need to weild a mouse around.

Intel have been producing the small form factor PC’s for a few years, called NUCS.

Over the time they have become smaller and smaller, to the likes of powerful gaming PCs that you can literally fit in to an over the shoulder bag – and now for the modern home or home office, there is the mini-PC NUC 8i5INH.

Just a smidgen larger than a cup coaster the NUC 8i5INH is a super work horse with minimal footprint.

The NUC 8i5INH built and designed by Intel has an internal i5 Processor running at 1.60 and 1.80 GHz respectively, 8GB RAM for that semi super-human multitasking and an onboard 256GB SSD storage.

There’s enough juice internally to handle almost anything you decide to run on it – including some light Steam games (yes I couldn’t help myself and had to try it).

The NUC 8i5INH can also run Adobe Suite of applications, Photoshop CC, InDesign CC and more – but it did struggle with Premier and video editing.

This said Sony Vegas (another video editing application) ran wondrously.

There’s enough external ports to add additional storage (external hard drives / USB sticks) with two USB 3.0 sockets, one HDMI, one USB-C and the usual suspects of headphone / mic (3.5mm) and SD Card. Similar to current Windows Laptops.

Bluetooth and WiFi are also builtin, of course.

The NUC 8i5INH is a super home PC. Mighty but midget on size and doesn’t seem to break a sweat when the going gets tough. An ideal PC for the medium user level as a home based station, or a TV connected box for light gaming, streaming and computing on a big screen. Alternatively to this model and proving how robust these yeeny PCs are, there is also a gaming version of this model which comes with a AMD Radeon GC (Graphics Card) with an additional 2GB dedicated (on card).

The NUC 8i5INH proves that it is not the size that counts – it’s all about what it can do.

The post Intel NUC 8i5INH Desktop Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

When you need a killer gaming PC but don’t have desk space – Intel have got your sorted with their NUC’s.

The most recent release, Hades Canyon is such a small form factor that you hardly know it’s there.

Small but oh so vey mighty.

The black box of goodness with a light up skull emblem is about the size of a travel wallet and as slim as it can be given the amount of ports it has.

Featuring dual ethernet for uncompromised LAN and eSports gaming, two USB-C ports, dual HDMI’s, one SSD-USB type port and a whopping five USB 3.0’s which in total is probably more than you’ll ever need, proving that the Intel Hades Canyon NUC is future proofed.

Internally for the one that we had there’s a 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM and x64 BIT i7-8809G Processors clocking in at 3.10GHZ (that’s without overclocking folks).

But the NUC insides don’t stop the turbo factor there. Intel also managed to cram in a Radeon RX Vega GC (Graphics Card) conjointly with the onboard Intel HD 630. All of this tech speak means you’re set for some serious gaming time.

But not just gaming though. The Hades Canyon unit that STG was sent by Intel to try out also performed effortlessly with video and graphic production, making it the one stop mini-center of production and fun times.

The Hades Canyon NUC retains it light-weight and small size by keeping the power supply separate to the unit. The NUCs power supply is a slim power brick. Depending on what you’re putting your NUC through will depend on how much this heats up though.

While the NUC unit does have internal fans to keep everything cool in its snug arrangement, the power supply does not.

I played a couple of hours of Forza Horizon 4 and my favourite ‘testing’ game Gears of War 4, with nothing dumbed down.

The power supply get hot on Forza but only luke ‘normal’ warm on GoW4.

If you invest in one of these bad boys – this is something to be mindful of. If you have a penchant for endless hours of high resolution graphically and processor demanding gameplay on PC make sure that your external power supply is placed somewhere where it can breathe. Placing on carpet would not be ideal.

Nonetheless – I expected the power supply to warm up, they generally do on PC’s internally. So, it’s not a major providing you place everything responsibly.

The Intel Hades Canyon NUC is not a one fits all. Intel know this and supply tools to open up the box so that you can upgrade / swap out components including RAM and SSD.

I’ve always been impressed with the NUC’s. Not due to their prowess in gaming and production, as some are under spec’d if you buy a complete kit (you can also get a bare bones NUC to kit out yourself), but it is the intricate architecture and the small footprint on one’s desk, for what is essentially, if you kit it out to the max, an equivalent to a full sized gaming RIG – without the bulkiness.

Intel NUC’s in general can start at a few hundred dollars, usually for the bare bones ones, and depending on what you place in to it, will ramp up the price tag. NUC’s are designed and tailored to your budget and needs, literally.

Ideal for streamers, LAN goers or those that like to be a darkened room battling away on their MOBA or FPS of choice.

Embrace the skull, go deep within Hades Canyon and take on the big boys and girls in this slim, small form factor, highly portable , esports and VR ready powerhouse.

The post Intel Hades Canyon NUC Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Today, Intel introduces new NUC kits and NUC mini PCs to the Intel NUC family featuring 8th Gen Intel  Core processors, providing greater choice for a wide range of mainstream computing needs.

The new Intel NUCs bring desktop performance in a compact form factor for enthusiasts of all levels to use anywhere.

The new Intel NUC kits (NUC8i7BEH, NUC8i5BEH, NUC8i5BEK, NUC8i3BEH, NUC8i3BEK, formerly code-named Bean Canyon) are based on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 processors (formerly code-named Coffee Lake-U) featuring Intel Iris graphics with eDRAM that can power home theater systems, drive content creator boxes and serve as a personal voice assistant. The new Intel NUC kits allow integrators and DIYers to customize with their choice of storage, memory and operating system. With this flexibility, the Intel NUC kits offer a range of price/performance options to meet most mainstream users’ needs in an ultra-small form factor.

The new Intel NUC kits (NUC8i7BEH, NUC8i5BEH, NUC8i5BEK, NUC8i3BEH, NUC8i3BEK, formerly code-named Bean Canyon) allow integrators and DIYers to customize with their choice of storage, memory and operating system. With this flexibility, the Intel NUC kits offer a range of price/performance options to meet most mainstream users’ needs in an ultra-small form factor. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Designed with the right balance of performance and affordability, the new Intel NUC mini PCs (NUC8i3CYSM, NUC8i3CYSN, formerly code-named Crimson Canyon) are an affordable mainstream gaming option for playing some of today’s most popular games at 1080p, including “League of Legends”, “TF2″ and “CS:GO”. These NUCs are powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8121U processors (formerly code-named Cannon Lake) and are the first mainstream NUCs to feature discrete graphics. These NUCs come fully configured with 1TB of storage, either 8GB or 4GB of memory, and Windows 10 Home and include Intel’s Wireless-AC 9560 CNVi 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth 5 solution, two HDMI 2.0a outputs, and four USB 3.0 ports – all in a form factor that fits in the palm of your hand and can easily be hidden behind a monitor or mounted under a desk to save space.

The new Intel NUC kits (NUC8i7BEH, NUC8i5BEH, NUC8i5BEK, NUC8i3BEH, NUC8i3BEK, formerly code-named Bean Canyon) allow integrators and DIYers to customize with their choice of storage, memory and operating system. With this flexibility, the Intel NUC kits offer a range of price/performance options to meet most mainstream users’ needs in an ultra-small form factor. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Intel NUCs are mini PCs that offer high-performance capabilities in a space-saving design and are perfectly suited for home theater, home office, entry-level gaming or as a replacement for desktops when space is a concern. These new NUCs offer a number of new options that will fit a wide range of computing needs.

The new Intel NUC kits and Intel NUC mini PCs will be available worldwide through Intel distributors and through online retailers beginning in September 2018.

The post Intel Introduces New NUC Kits appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Azulle, the leading brand for mini PCs, has created a new line of mini PCs which is unlike anything they have designed before.

Built as a barebones system, the all-new Inspire Barebone Mini PC offers optimal customization – allowing users to add their own desired operating system, RAM, as well as expand storage space.  Azulle has additionally partnered with Simply NUC, a solution provider of Intel-based devices, to put forward a solutions program for the Inspire, for consumers that want to enjoy the perks of a adding their own components, but without having to do so manually themselves.

The Inspire is small in size, and yet a big powerhouse with impressive set capabilities. But, what is even more impactful than the compact vessel size and set specifications – is the personalized potential it holds for each user.

Azulle offers the Inspire PC with four variant processors: Quad-Core Intel Apollo Lake J4205, Dual-Core Intel Kaby Lake i3-7100U, Dual-Core Intel Kaby Lake i5-7200U and Dual-Core Intel Kaby Lake i7-7500U.

Each quality processor option offers the performance and dependability customers need to fulfill their every task. Whether competing in the latest games, rendering graphics in real-time for 3D printing, previewing edits of life-like high-impact CGI movies, or managing business tasks on big-data sets, the compact Inspire provides one-of-a-kind performance as is it is able to smoothly run applications such as downloadable game files, Adobe, Quickbooks, Peachtree, AutoCAD, and more.

The Inspire offers the Internet connectivity options of dual-band Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Additionally, the barebones system is designed with Bluetooth 4.0, allowing users to pair with favorite computer accessories and compatible devices for a wireless setup. The fanless barebone system is wired network and wired accessory friendly as well, as it has three 3.0 ports and a Type-C port which can be taken advantage of. The Inspire is equipped with an HD Graphics 620, allowing for 4K graphics streaming at 60 frames per second. Enjoy a clear display of movies, videos, 2D and 3D graphics designs, as well as DirectX 12 gaming.

The Inspire Mini PC Barebone System is ideal for creative individuals who require high-velocity processing rates for applications without the limitations set by pre-built mini PC models.

The post Build to Create, Create to Inspire appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Imagine having the power to PC game on the highest settings, render graphics and video in real time and super quick, whilst retaining both deskspace and floor space.

Imagine no longer as the rise of Intel’s NUC’s march in to the high end computing market.

Intel previously provided us here at STG with one of their mid range small form factor PC’s (read the REVIEW HERE), which was slanted more for the moderate user and TV connectability.

Having received another device, the NUC 6i7KYK1 (aka Skull Canyon) recently for a short time, we placed this high end model through its paces for gaming, personal computing and commercial use.

Firstly, this NUC has the sixth Gen Iris i7 Quads to process through whatever you throw at it at 2.6 to 3.5 GHz Turbo’d and comes with 16GB RAM. The RAM can be upgraded to a max of 32GB.

This alone was impressive enough given the size of these PCs.

Graphics being FHD via the HDMI port, are 4K capable and is processed by the on board Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 chip. This said – this model allows you to connect any high performance external Graphics Card to boost up that rendering. Sadly, we had to return the unit before the external Graphics Card that we ordered in from NVIDIA (GeForce GTX 1080) arrived, so cannot say for sure how this performs with the addition in this review.

Nonetheless, it does have the provision to add, either via the NUC’s onboard Thunderbolt port or USB 3.0 (if you have a GPU Dock).

For available ports, and this is where the design comes in to play too, both sides of the device have been utilised to spread out and maximise the available external connectivity options.

One side features the USB 3.0 sockets (this is the front of the device) and the rear comprises of Thunderbolt 3 (giving data transfer at up to 40 Gbps) or USB 3.1 (data transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps) via USB Type C connector. The mentioned HDMI aswell as Mini Display port, ethernet and two more USB 3.0… well actually one of them is a USB 3.1. There is even an SD slot.

The audio jack is 3.5mm but will at best produce high fidelity 7.1 where it can.

Internal storage is minimal though at 300GB for the device that we reviewed – but plug in an external SSD or of course external USB HDD and you’re set. Infact you are likely to need an external as high end PC games can be up to 80GBs.

The Skull Canyon (NUC 6i7KYK1) is also a quiet beast. Whether rendering out video with Adobe Premier or gaming with Black Ops III without toning down the in-game settings, it appeared to remain cool and calm. We infact hardly ever heard the internal fans.

Intel’s series of NUCs are sold as kits and what this means is that they are yours to upgrade, replace parts (where you can), install differing OS’ (all NUCs are also optimized for Linux), so very much like the traditional Desktop PC or Gaming RIG.

We couldn’t fault the performance of the 6i7KYK1 in anyway, it purred along extremely well. Being that it has such a small footprint, measuring just 211 mm x 116 mm x 28 mm you’ll forget it’s even there. Totally plug and play, take the NUC with you to a mates place for some LAN time or to eSports events.

An excellent replacement for that behemoth RIG that towers on top of your desk or removes footspace under it, the NUC 6i7KYK1 / Skull Canyon is a tiny beast or epic computing performance.

The post Intel NUC 6i7KYK1 Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Thanks to computers becoming more powerful, components becoming smaller, and cooling becoming more efficient we are seeing smaller, more powerful mini-PCs across the market. Some, such as the Intel Compute Stick, are perfect little machines made to run super low software and can hang out the back of a TV. Others, such as the Intel NUC, can replace an entire desktop tower in a smaller sleeker box, and it does a surprisingly good job.

The NUC, or Next Unit of Computing is a mini PC that gives you the option to suit. Out of the tiny, tidy box it comes with a motherboard and processor. This does mean that you will need to buy a couple of extras such as RAM, though some stockists include it, and a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD). The advantage this offers is depending on how you want to use the NUC, you don’t have to pay for a drive too big or pay for a small drive that you will replace anyway.

Installing a HDD or SSD may seem daunting to the less tech savvy among us, but fortunately Intel has thought ahead and made it super easy. Removing the base plate of the NUC, an obvious tray appears on the plate. Sliding in the HDD then connecting the SATA cable is only a couple of easy steps, and Intel has even included a guide which is super easy to follow.

The advantage here is you can tailor to its needs. If you are going to be storing a lot of content that will be used often, stick a beefy SSD in there. If you want a cost-effective PC for your child to do homework and browse the net, you can stick a more cost-effective HDD in there. That freedom is useful so you don’t have to browse multiple devices looking for the one that has the best, or cheapest storage. The versatility is what makes the NUC stand out as a useful tool in a PC buyers arsenal. It can be used for home purposes as listed above, or a corporate environment as it easily packs enough punch for day to day functions, and doesn’t take up premium desk space.

That’s the other element of the NUC that truly shines, its form factor. The NUC’s design is awesome, coming in at the surface area being smaller than a CD case, and less thick than a smart phone leaned against it. Or for the more detail oriented, 115mm x 111mm x 51.6mm. This means it will fit into most desk environments, especially when compared to a fully-fledged desktop PC. In the package, it comes with a mounting plate so you can attach it to a wall or the back of a monitor, if your desk space is especially at a premium. With a very tidy and simple design, with a quiet fan you would hardly know there was a full PC back there, or the little box on your TV stand was an entire PC.

The drawbacks of the beast are what isn’t included in the box. As previously mentioned you will need to get your RAM and Disk Drives, but not any old ones. The RAM needs to be SODIMM (laptop memory) and if using a HDD then it will need to be 2.5” (laptop HDD). These aren’t especially hard to find, or overly expensive, but it is notable for someone buying the box hoping the parts in their draw may work.

The other thing to note is the lack of OS, which would be expected on a device without storage. Windows can be expensive so it is worth factoring that in to the price, or you can throw in a free OS such as Ubuntu, which is a breed of Linux, and be good to go, so again flexibility is key here.

It’s safe to say the NUC has impressed me. Its versatility along with its form factor are especially impressive, though there are drawbacks for people who don’t want the faff of installing memory, storage, and an OS. It is the perfect PC to use to replace most functions, unless you need a substantial amount of processing power and storage.

The post Intel NUC Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.