CHH ID: Yuyuko
Everyone is familiar with Swiss Army knives. Whether it’s opening a can, popping a beer, peeling a fruit, or tightening a screw, it excels in being small yet versatile. After getting my hands on the NUC12, I feel it can play a similar role on the desktop. Whether for graphic editing, video editing, stock trading, or light entertainment, it can handle it all with ease. This compact and high-performance machine offers a lot of possibilities. Here, I am using the NUC to build a core desktop workstation for a digital illustration and video creator. Yes, it’s for my wife, not for myself, hmm. Combined with a monitor stand, and the recently unboxed K100Air and ROG Strix Wireless, I can free up most of the desktop space for manual work or hand-drawing whenever needed.
1. UnboxingThis time, I got the 12th generation NUC system, code-named Wall Street Canyon, model NUC12WSHi7. It features an i7-1260P, with 4 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores, totaling 12C16T. Its performance is remarkable. The hard drive and memory need to be provided separately.
There’s not much to say about the unboxing since the NUC’s design is quite simple. Just lift the box lid to see the main unit.
The classic small cube. The dimensions of the 12th generation NUC are 117mm × 112mm × 54mm, with a total volume of about 0.71 liters.
It also has strong expandability. It comes with dual Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, three Type-A (one of which is 3.2), dual HDMI (very crucial for me), and a 2.5G wired network interface. I have also expanded it with an official expansion card that adds two USB Type-A ports and one network interface. Since my wife’s machine usually uses an external hard drive as a storage disk, connecting the mouse and keyboard without a hub leaves no extra USB ports. The dual network ports and all-weather operating capability make the NUC very suitable for use as a soft router, although its performance and price may be a bit excessive for that purpose.
Comparison with a bottle of soda.
The large cutouts on the sides assist with heat dissipation. One of the main selling points of the NUC is its ability to run 24/7 without interruption. Good heat dissipation is a prerequisite for achieving that.
The other side also has large cutouts.
The bottom has an additional anti-theft lock hole. This is necessary for companies choosing the NUC as an office computer, otherwise, with its size, it could easily be pocketed.
Unscrewing the screws on the four rubber feet at the bottom allows you to open the bottom panel.
A ribbon cable connects to the 2.5-inch hard drive socket located on the bottom panel, allowing for easy installation of a 2.5-inch hard drive to expand storage space if needed.
I have installed thermal pads for the expansion card and M.2 hard drive slots. Once installed and screws tightened, they will be in contact with the bottom panel’s heat sink.
It provides two LP-DDR4 slots, supporting 3200 frequency.
The M.2 expansion card connects to the rear ports via a ribbon cable.
The wireless card is the Intel AX211, which supports Wi-Fi 6E. Two cables extend to the antenna located in the casing to ensure signal strength.
The memory used is Kingston Fury 3200 8G×2. It’s sufficient.
Installation posed no difficulty. Anyone with a basic understanding of hardware can easily manage it.
The main hard drive used is the Inland P5Plus.
Putting the bottom panel back and tightening the screws completes the setup. A powerful tool for work and entertainment that fits in the palm of your hand.
The power adapter, manufactured by Delta, has a maximum output of 120W. This is more than enough for the Wall Street Canyon.
Comparing its size to a Nestle coffee gives you an idea of how mini it is.
Two boxes of Faber-Castell 120 colored pencils aren’t much cheaper than this NUC. Comparing them, the NUC seems like a great value.
Its size is similar to a third of a Falcon cooler.
The additional HDMI port is crucial for illustrators. It can be used to connect a drawing tablet. For office work, stock trading, or CAD drawing, it can also support dual screens.
All desktop devices are here. I used to think ITX cases were small enough, but compared to the NUC, they seem huge. By the way, that feather is from my parrot.
While the NUC is primarily application-focused, I had low expectations for its performance. However, I was slightly surprised by the performance of the 1260P.
CPU-Z scores: single-core 672, multi-core 5583, which is comparable to mainstream desktop 8-core performance.What surprised me even more was the integrated graphics performance. The FS score is 5142. Previously, I thought the 5600G’s integrated graphics were sufficient, but its FS score was only 4291. The 1260P leads by 19.8%.Overall, the CPU performance of the 1260P slightly lags behind the desktop 5600G, but the integrated graphics are significantly ahead. Achieving this level of performance in such a small size and power consumption leaves nothing to critique.NR score is 19780.
The 3DMARK CPU Profile scores are as follows.
Currently, mainstream video editing software such as CapCut supports AV1 encoding. Intel’s 12th generation CPUs fully support AV1 hardware decoding, making the NUC fully capable of serving as a lightweight video editing tool.
Compared to H264’s 95M, AV1 encoding only requires 70M, significantly reducing file size, making it more suitable for online sharing.
The output video playback information is as follows, easily hardware-decoded.
Conclusion:For someone who has tried various ITX cases and returned firmly to ATX, the performance of the NUC is generally not enough for me, but I feel that this shouldn’t be a major concern for users. Compared to these data points, what the NUC offers is a fresh and refreshing experience.I previously didn’t pay much attention to the NUC series, but often such products can provide more surprises. Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t have the chance to use such a small Windows device again after AYANEO. Daily office work and web surfing go without saying; if used for Photoshop, AI, CAD drafting, or making small-scale video editing projects, the Wall Street Canyon can fully handle it. It can be said that it provides almost all usage scenarios, except for large games and 3D rendering, in a volume of just 0.71 liters. It’s not an exaggeration to say it has refreshed my understanding of mini PCs. Mounting it behind a monitor for use as an all-in-one device should also be very suitable.Now, desktop computers are all about adding features, with increasingly larger graphics cards being a burden. Moving the recently assembled 7950x feels like the weight of the last generation’s flagship with separate water cooling and four hard drives. At this point, holding the NUC in one hand and admiring it gives a refreshing feeling of minimalism.Overall, if I had to point out a downside to this device, it would be the price. However, pricing is subjective. The NUC series products are gradually expanding, moving from mini PCs to studio-oriented designs, and I believe future NUCs will continue to bring interesting products to users.Thank you all for watching!
