Intel kick-started a form-factor revolution within the early 2010s with the introduction of the ultra-compact NUCs. The techniques have been meant to be a substitute for the tower desktops utilized in many functions the place the dimensions, form, and the system capabilities have been principally unwarranted. The success of the NUCs enabled Intel to start out reimagining the construct of techniques utilized in a wider vary of settings.
More lately, the introduction of the Skull Canyon NUC in 2016 was Intel’s first effort to make a gaming-focused SFF PC. And desktop-focused Compute Elements (basically, a motherboard in a PCIe card form-factor) launched in early 2020 meant that full-blown gaming desktops may credibly come below the NUC banner. Also final 12 months, the Ghost Canyon NUC9 – the primary NUC Extreme – made a splash available in the market with assist for a user-replaceable discrete GPU. Ghost Canyon was extraordinarily spectacular, however the restrictions on the dGPU dimension and high-end pricing have been dampeners.
Thankfully, the introduction of Tiger Lake has enabled Intel to make a number of updates in its Compute Element lineup. Incorporating some tweaks and adjustments realized from their Ghost Canyon expertise, Intel has now put ahead its flagship NUC for 2021: Beast Canyon. With a desktop-class CPU and talent to accommodate most discrete GPUs available in the market, the Beast Canyon NUC guarantees so much. Does it handle to exorcise the ghosts of its predecessor? Our evaluation under supplies some solutions.
Introduction and Product Impressions
Intel’s lineup of gaming-focused NUCs began with the Performance sequence (Skull Canyon NUC6i7KYK and Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK), earlier than shifting up the ladder to the Extreme sequence (Ghost Canyon NUC9i9QNX). The Beast Canyon, introduced on the 2021 Computex, is taking up the flagship mantle this 12 months. The vital updates over the Ghost Canyon NUC embody:
- Support for 65W desktop-class CPUs within the Compute Element (in comparison with the 45W cell workstation-focused CPU within the Ghost Canyon’s Compute Elements)
- Increased chassis dimensions to accommodate bigger discrete GPUs
- 10nm Tiger Lake CPU with new micro-architectural enhancements for efficiency and power-efficiency
- Support for a richer set of I/Os (together with PCIe Gen 4)
Intel provided us with an engineering pattern of the high-end SKU within the Beast Canyon line – the NUC11BTMi9 sporting the NUC11 Extreme Compute Element (NUC11DBBi9). This Compute Element is housed in a 357mm x 189mm x 120mm chassis. Traditionally, NUCs have been related to the ultra-compact form-factor (100mm x 100mm in a 0.63L or 0.42L chassis). The introduction of the Skull Canyon and subsequent Hades Canyon NUCs created yet one more class of 0.7L to 1.2L NUCs, and final 12 months’s Ghost Canyon took it as much as roughly 5L. The must accommodate the cooling answer of a extra highly effective Compute Element, together with the flexibility to just accept giant dGPUs contribute to the 8L quantity of the Beast Canyon NUC chassis. This continues to be throughout the realm of SFF PCs – an grownup can nonetheless single-handedly carry the unit round. Other vital SFF features such because the in-built PSU are carried over from the Ghost Canyon NUC.
Intel’s NUC lineup has historically included board and equipment variants, permitting its companions to supply worth additions (resembling a passive chassis or extra I/O ports in the long run system). Kits (apart from those that include a pre-installed OS) require the end-user so as to add storage, DRAM, and set up an OS to finish the system. Intel plans to promote two sorts of the Beast Canyon NUC – the NUC11BTMi9 and the NUC11BTMi7. These two NUCs are kits primarily based on the Driver Bay line of Compute Elements. OEMs and end-users can construct their very own NUC11 system primarily based on the next parts:
- Compute Element (NUC11DBBi9 or…
