In the closing days of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we were able to look inside a compact Intel NUC computer on the hardware platform Ghost Canyon. The company launched the first Next Unit of Computing back in 2012, and has since been continuously expanding the system’s potential. The last iteration of the upgrade, when the Intel CPU and Vega graphics processor settled on the same substrate (just Vega, you won’t find the logo of its creators on the device’s case), turned the NUC into a good gaming machine for its size, but these models are still unable to install a full discrete video card – unlike many ultra-compact motherboards with an integrated processor and PCI Express x16 slot.
On the other hand, Intel once experimented with a Compute Card – a closed module that combines all the main components (CPU, RAM, ROM, wireless modem, etc.) in a case the size of a credit card. The idea was that the owner of the chassis (or rather, a docking station) for Compute Card can easily remove and replace the core system. But in the end, the Compute Card concept did not take off, and the standard NUCs remained at the level of performance that their factory equipment provides.
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As part of the Ghost Canyon platform, Intel took the upgrade capabilities more seriously. The new NUC 9 Extreme is a 5-liter chassis – barebone – with multiple I / O ports (USB, card reader) and a 500 W FlexATX power supply. For all other components in the chassis it has just four expansion slots. Half of them can be occupied by a discrete graphics card – moreover, powerful enough to fit the length of 8 inches – or connect any two single-slot devices with 16 and 4 PCI Express lanes.
And where is the CPU, memory modules, and drive? These parts Intel has collected in the so-called NUC Element – reminiscent of great graphics card cartridge edge connector PCI Express x16. The photo shows how the components of the NUC 9 Extreme look without a case (only the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti accelerator was clearly not chosen for the stand): in fact, NUC Element is the whole system that lacks a power supply for full functionality. Chassis plate with front connectors and passive riser, which is connected via PCI Express boards are free variables in this design. Oh, how does Intel love modular solutions, but it all started with Pentium II slot chips …
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Inside the NUC Element is the central processor of the Core i5, i7 or i9 series – an L-shaped radiator with an evaporation chamber and an 80 mm turbine will cope with any of Intel’s notebook CPUs in a 45 W thermal package up to the eight-core i9-9980HK. In an alternative version of the platform for commercial applications – NUC 9 Pro or Quartz Canyon – there are even Xeon options. The only pity is that the processor anyway wired and can not be replaced, but it is the only item of specifications, which will have to choose in advance. Up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory, two M.2 SSDs with NVMe support, and, of course, a Ghost Canyon user will buy and install a video card by himself. There is a board of suitable size, even on the basis GeForce RTX 2080, but how well such a powerful stuffing cooled in a confined space NUC – one more question. In particular, will the CPU overheat, because the funnel of its fan is blocked by the textolite of the video card.
If you do not take into account the discrete GPU exits and ports front case panel, NUC Element itself has a very respectable set of external interfaces. The Wi-Fi 6 module is wired directly to the circuit board, and the rear panel has four USB 3.1 Gen2 connectors, two Thunderbolt 3, two Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI-output integrated graphics and mini-jack for connecting the speaker system (stereo via copper wire or 7.1 on optics). In any case, while Intel will support the Ghost Canyon platform with CPU updates, the communication capabilities in it will also not stand still.
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The manufacturer has planned the next iterations of the NUC Element for two years ahead, and commercial deliveries of the system will begin in March 2020. The basic equipment of the NUC 9 Extreme with a central processor Core i5 will cost $ 1050, and varieties with Core i7 and Core i9 will cost $ 1250 and $ 1700 respectively. The older model is equipped with a durable carrying case – it remains only to integrate into the keyboard, and you get quite a powerful portable workstation. It is possible that one of Intel’s partners will do so: the chip maker has reserved the production of cartridges with a CPU and reference chassis, while third-party companies will arrange the production of their own cases. Among them are compact products without slots for video cards, and vice versa, large version with power PSU with no restrictions on size and power consumption of the discrete accelerator.
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