Intel’s NUC family has unveiled the most powerful NUC 11 Extreme Compute Element, which was exposed earlier this year in March, and just recently launched at the ChinaJoy 2021 exhibition. The new Intel NUC Mini PC 11 Extreme Edition has a powerful codename: “Beast Canyon”. It adopts a modular design, and although its overall volume is only 8 liters, it is undoubtedly a performance “little cannon”. Recently, we received a test sample of this Beast Canyon, let’s take a look at its performance!
NUC Compute Element: NUC11BTMi9
NUC Motherboard Element: NUC11DBBi9
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core i9-11900KB (8 cores 16 threads, 3.3GHz~4.9GHz)
Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200 dual-channel notebook memory (8GB×2, max supports 64GB)
Storage: 500GB NVMe SSD (Sabrent Rocket 4.0, PCIe 4.0)
Discrete Graphics Card: ASUS DUAL-RTX 3060-O12G
Power Supply: FSP 650W Gold Power Supply
Wireless Network Card: Intel AX210NGW Wi-Fi 6E
Dimensions: 357mm×189mm×120mm
Weight: 4.9kg
Reference Price: N/A
The Intel Beast Canyon NUC adopts a modular design, and components can be easily replaced. The overall size is relatively larger than other mini models like Phantom Canyon and Black Panther Canyon, reaching 357mm×189mm×120mm. However, compared to mainstream ATX cases, Beast Canyon looks quite mini, with a total volume of only 8 liters, making it very compact. The height of the case is about half that of an ATX case, and the width is also narrower. The Intel NUC Mini PC 11 Extreme Edition Beast Canyon adopts a rectangular design with a classic black color scheme. The side panels on both sides of the case are designed with a mesh hollow design for better cooling.
▲ This machine has a rather heavy wooden outer packaging box, which is quite unique and novel.
The front face features a black hexagonal area in the middle, which is the RGB logo lighting area of the Intel NUC skull logo. In the powered-on state, it displays a colorful NUC skull logo pattern, looking very imposing. Users can customize the RGB lighting effects of the machine in all aspects and can also change the lighting logo on the front panel, for example, replacing the skull logo with other patterns. Additionally, below the black hexagonal area is a power switch button, and below the button are the front panel I/O ports, which from left to right include two USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports, an SDXC card reader slot, and a 3.5mm audio port.
▲ The front panel defaults to the classic Intel NUC skull logo pattern, but users can customize and change the front panel pattern.
Additionally, the front panel I/O ports and the bottom of the left and right sides are designed with LED light strips, which provide a great atmosphere effect when powered on, making the entire machine look cooler.
From the side view, this machine has an octagonal side panel, and the side panel is designed in a mesh hollow shape. At the top of the case, three 92mm cooling fans from Cooler Master are equipped, which have strong cooling capabilities but do not support lighting effects. At the back of the case, there are numerous expansion ports, including six USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports on the motherboard, one HDMI 2.0b port, one RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and three DP1.4a ports and one HDMI 2.1 port from the discrete graphics card. Additionally, the cooling exhaust port of the NUC 11 Extreme Kit compute element and the power socket of this machine are also located at the back of the case.
The bottom of Beast Canyon’s chassis is also noteworthy. First, it has two rubber anti-vibration strips to prevent the machine from scratching the desktop; second, there is an additional M.2 SSD slot designed in the middle of the bottom; finally, there is a square switch below the SSD slot that can control the LED light strip of this machine.
Opening Beast Canyon is also simple. After removing the four screws on the back to take off the back panel, you can easily remove the side panel. The top cover of this machine integrates three fans, and to make disassembly easier, its top cover adopts a hinge design, allowing you to open the top cover according to the instructions without having to remove it. This machine adopts a modular design internally, and due to the longer chassis length, it can install full-size desktop graphics cards (limited to 30.48cm in length). Intel claims it can support up to the GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card. I simply tested it with the reference GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card, and it can be perfectly installed by just removing the graphics card cover. The ability to install full-size discrete graphics cards is Beast Canyon’s biggest advantage, making it a true performance “little cannon”.
▲ The top fans of the case adopt a hinge design.
▲ Beast Canyon supports full-size discrete graphics, and it can perfectly install a reference RTX 3080 Ti graphics card.
In addition to supporting discrete graphics, this machine is also equipped with a FSP 650W Gold power supply, NUC11DBBi9 motherboard element, and NUC 11 Extreme compute element. In terms of expansion slots, this machine has two PCIe x16 Gen4 slots, four M.2 SSD slots (two directly connected to the processor supporting PCIe 4.0 x4 slots, and two supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 slots). Additionally, the motherboard of this machine also has one PCIe x4 Gen4 slot for user upgrades.
▲ The motherboard element is equipped with two PCIe x16 Gen4 slots.
▲ The NUC 11 Extreme compute element has two memory expansion slots and three M.2 SSD slots inside.
The processor, memory, network card, and PCIe 4.0 SSD of this machine are all concentrated in the NUC 11 Extreme compute element module, which connects to the motherboard via the PCIe x16 Gen4 slot. The NUC 11 Extreme compute element is the core of Beast Canyon, and the Core i9-11900KB processor installed in this machine is packaged within this compute element.
▲ The NUC 11 Extreme compute element is the core of this machine, integrating the processor, memory, SSD, network card, and other components.
Opening the shell of the NUC 11 Extreme compute element reveals that it also has dual-channel memory slots. This machine is equipped with HyperX 16GB DDR4 3200 dual-channel memory. At the top right of the chassis, we can see that it is equipped with a FSP 650W Gold power supply, which has 8pin and 2×6+2pin PCIe power connectors, supporting a maximum output of 350W for the graphics card, meeting the power requirements of graphics cards like the RTX 3080 Ti.
The Intel NUC Mini PC 11 Extreme Edition is equipped with the Core i9-11900KB processor, which is a desktop processor codenamed Tiger Lake, manufactured using Intel’s 10nm SuperFin process and Willow Cove architecture, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads, a base frequency of 3.3GHz, and a maximum turbo frequency of 4.9GHz, with a 24MB cache and a TDP of 65W. Additionally, the letter “B” in the processor suffix indicates that it is soldered to the motherboard using BGA technology and is not replaceable.
▲ The Core i9-11900KB processor has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base frequency of 3.3GHz, maximum turbo frequency of 4.9GHz, and a TDP of 65W.
From our test results, this machine achieved a single-thread score of 623pts and a multi-thread score of 4602pts in CINEBENCH R20. In terms of single-thread performance, the Core i9-11900KB performs at the same level as the Core i9-11900K, leading the Core i9-11900 by about 15.7%, which is quite good. However, in terms of multi-thread performance, this machine’s Core i9-11900KB lags behind the Core i9-11900 (5071pts) by about 10%, as the Intel NUC Mini PC 11 Extreme Edition is a mini computer, and its power supply and cooling system may limit the processor’s performance.
In terms of graphics, this machine is equipped with the ASUS DUAL-RTX 3060-O12G, which is based on the GA106 core, has dual fans, 12GB of GDDR6 memory, 3584 CUDA cores, a default frequency of 1320MHz, and a Boost frequency of 1837MHz. This machine scored 10064 in the 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme scenario, indicating that its graphics performance is above average for this configuration. In the 3DMark Time Spy scenario, this machine scored 8536 in graphics, which is only about a 2% slight difference compared to the reference RTX 3060 graphics card.
▲ The equipped discrete graphics card has 12GB of GDDR6 memory and a Boost frequency of 1837MHz.
With strong graphics performance, this machine can easily handle popular games. For example, it achieved an average of 85.3fps in “Forza Horizon 4” at 1080p maximum settings; in “Cyberpunk 2077” at 1440p resolution with the “Ray Tracing: Ultra” preset (Ultra settings, RT Ultra, DLSS Auto), the average frame rate was 40.59fps. If you want to further improve the frame rate, you just need to disable RT and enable “DLSS Auto”—the average frame rate can be boosted to 66.66fps. For “Shadow of the Tomb Raider”, this machine achieved an average of 119fps at 1080p resolution with the highest settings, and even at 1440p resolution with the highest settings, it can achieve an average of 81fps, which is quite impressive.
This machine is equipped with a 500GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and the new PCIe 4.0 brings a leap in read and write speeds for SSDs—in the CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1 testing software, the sequential read speed reached 5000.12MB/s, and the sequential write speed reached 2512.15MB/s. This means that whether copying large game files or copying creative materials and work files, this machine can provide higher efficiency.
▲ CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1 SSD test results.
After experiencing it, I believe that the Intel NUC Mini PC 11 Extreme Edition is a very interesting computer, suitable for those with strong hands-on abilities, enthusiasts who enjoy “tinkering”, or gaming players who like mini computers. This machine adopts Intel NUC’s modular design, and the components inside the chassis can be replaced and customized, which is a favorite among enthusiasts. At the same time, this machine has strong expansion capabilities and occupies only 8 liters of space, saving space compared to ATX cases.
Compared to previous NUC products, this machine also supports full-size discrete graphics, making it easier for future upgrades, which is very attractive to most enthusiast users. Finally, from our tests, the overall performance of the Intel NUC Mini PC 11 Extreme Edition is also quite good, meeting users’ diverse application needs. If you are planning to build a “little cannon” type of host recently, this machine is worth considering.
