You can never predict what your next computer will look like. Looking back 10 years, we were still enjoying the old CRT monitors, using hosts with only a tenth of today’s performance, and happily browsing internet news over dial-up connections at a few Kbps. Everything has developed too quickly.
Although the PC market has been sluggish in recent years, various new forms of products have still emerged, such as Intel NUC and Compute Stick in desktop PCs, and 360-degree convertible and detachable laptops in mobile PCs. Today, we will talk in detail about Intel NUC and see what magic this small box possesses.
The trend is towards smaller cases
From the development of home desktop PCs, the mainstream computer models have long been dominated by mid-tower cases, with changes mainly in cooling design and appearance. However, we always hope the computer case can be a little smaller, even smaller.
In fact, this wish has long been realized by Intel.
Looking at the development of desktop PCs, significant changes have only occurred in recent years. In terms of case size, conventional desktop PCs are increasingly tending towards miniaturization, with mid-tower models shifting to micro-tower models, micro-tower models shifting to small form factors, and ITX shifting to Mini ITX and Mini PCs. Among these, Intel NUC stands out, having been sought after by many players since its release due to its compact body.
In addition, the design of Intel Compute Stick is simply incredible, as its size is only slightly larger than a regular USB flash drive, yet it integrates an Intel processor, memory, hard drive, Bluetooth module, and comes with a built-in Windows operating system that can be directly connected to a monitor via HDMI to boot up. The emergence of the Compute Stick signifies the official arrival of the era where PCs can fit in your pocket.
What is Intel NUC?
NUC stands for Next Unit of Computing, a product developed entirely by Intel, representing Intel’s design direction for the future of PC development. In terms of appearance, the current standard NUC body measures approximately 10cm on each side and is less than 5cm in height, easily fitting in the palm of your hand. The compact size is coupled with a maximum configuration of a Core i5 processor, which can fully meet daily work and entertainment needs.
Moreover, the latest Skylake NUC features an M.2 slot, DDR4 2133MHz memory slot, HDMI, mini DP output interfaces, SDXC slot, headphone jack, and six USB ports, offering excellent expandability.
This small NUC product is significantly smaller than previous mid-tower desktop models, which could not easily fit on a desk, while NUC can do so and occupies very little space, making its size advantage quite obvious.
With the release of the sixth-generation Skylake processor, Intel has also upgraded the NUC, with the two models on the right equipped with Core i5-6260U processors, which include Intel Iris HD 540 graphics. The performance of the standalone processor can rival most laptops, fully capable of replacing a typical home desktop PC.
The leftmost Skull Canyon NUC (code-named: Skull Canyon) is the high-performance NUC product that Intel released earlier this year. In terms of appearance, it is significantly different from existing NUCs, and those familiar with Intel know that the Skulltrail logo represents its high-end positioning. In terms of size, it measures 211mm in length, 116mm in width, and 28mm in height, also very compact.
In terms of expandability, it has dual-channel DDR4 2133MHz slots, two M.2 slots, SDXC slot, HDMI, DP, mini DP interfaces, four external USB ports, and four internal hidden USB ports. Additionally, it is equipped with a Thunderbolt 3 interface that supports data transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. In terms of interfaces, although the number is less than traditional PCs, it is richer than conventional gaming laptops.
I initially thought that the small size of the Intel NUC would mean poor performance, but I was wrong. It is not only compact and easy to install, but its performance can also meet my daily work and entertainment needs. Therefore, the Intel NUC can completely be regarded as a small desktop PC.
Can such a small NUC also play games?
Its appearance is not the only impressive aspect; this Skull Canyon NUC is equipped with an i7-6770HQ processor featuring a quad-core, eight-thread design, with a base frequency of 2.6GHz and a boost frequency of 3.5GHz. It also has Intel Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics, and the performance of this single processor exceeds that of most mainstream gaming laptops. The integrated Iris Pro 580 is currently Intel’s top integrated graphics, featuring 72 execution units, with 128MB eDRAM cache, supporting 4K output, and its performance easily surpasses entry-level discrete graphics.
The Skull Canyon NUC connects to the Razer Core external graphics card dock.
Moreover, Intel’s positioning for the Skull Canyon NUC is not that simple; you may have already thought of existing cases where external graphics card docks are connected via Thunderbolt 3. This means we can also connect the Skull Canyon NUC to external graphics card docks, thus achieving the performance of high-end gaming desktop PCs, making it capable of handling large games. Unexpectedly, the Skull Canyon NUC also has the potential to become a gaming console.
At this point, I wonder what your thoughts are; my friends and I are all amazed. Such a compact body with such powerful performance presents a significant contrast to previous PCs, and a revolution is happening.
The impact of NUC on the future of PCs
1. Miniaturization
The biggest feature of Intel NUC is its compact size, which can fully demonstrate that a small body can also meet daily usage requirements. I believe that future consumer-grade PCs will trend towards miniaturization. As for how small they can get, it depends not only on the processor but also on the design of the cooling module and graphics card, adhering to physical logic.
2. Integration
With the miniaturization design of NUC and Compute Stick, their motherboard designs are also more compact, with the CPU, memory, and hard drive integrated onto the motherboard, allowing for a higher degree of integration.
3. Gaming
Looking at the hardware performance of the Skull Canyon NUC, its processor performance has surpassed that of most gaming laptops, and the integrated graphics performance is also impressive. Importantly, it can connect to external graphics card docks via Thunderbolt 3 to further enhance gaming performance.
In comparison, the impact of Intel NUC is not limited to desktop PCs; it also influences the development of gaming products. The DIY market may further decline, while external graphics card dock solutions will become more popular. Moreover, manufacturers such as Razer and Gigabyte have already begun to launch related products, and models equipped with Thunderbolt 3 interfaces can generally be compatible, offering broad compatibility.
4. More common low-voltage processors
Intel NUC series products are equipped with Intel’s mobile platform low-voltage processing, while Skull Canyon, although not a low-voltage platform, belongs to the mobile platform version rather than the traditional desktop version of the processor. It can be understood that as processor performance continues to improve, power consumption decreases while providing stronger processing capabilities per unit of power, thus significantly enhancing the processing performance of small devices. Currently, the performance of desktop processors is completely excessive, while the performance of mobile platform processors is sufficient for daily usage.
Secondly, Intel’s advancements in the CPU field are also remarkable, as they have achieved year-on-year performance improvements while keeping TDP constant or lower. The above image shows the Cinebench R15 test scores from Haswell NUC to the latest Skylake NUC and Skylake Canyon processors, with significant improvements each year, particularly evident in the performance of the quad-core standard voltage processor equipped in Skull Canyon.
The image above shows the 3DMark scores from Haswell NUC to Skylake NUC and Skull Canyon. The test results indicate that the performance of the Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics is nearly double that of the HD 6000, showing significant performance improvements, with scores even approaching mid-range discrete graphics.
Summary of the article:
You may wonder why Intel, as a CPU manufacturer, is vigorously promoting mini PCs. In fact, Intel is no longer just a company that produces CPU hardware; they are more focused on future technological developments, having already made strides in emerging fields such as big data and smart wearables. Regarding traditional PC hardware, NUC and Compute Stick represent the design direction for future mini PCs and pocket PCs. For a long time to come, major OEM manufacturers will reference Intel NUC to design more personalized products, just as Microsoft Surface leads the 2-in-1 market.
From this article, we can see that as the traditional desktop market declines, Intel is simultaneously enhancing the performance of mobile platform processors. A prime example is Intel’s latest Skylake processor, which has introduced an overclocking version—i7-6820HK—for mobile platforms for the first time. Additionally, the performance improvement of the Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics paired with the i7-6770HQ processor in Skull Canyon is significant, bringing performance closer to NVIDIA GTX level discrete graphics.
It is undeniable that Intel NUC is already powerful, and Skull Canyon is the strongest among them. As for the future of PCs, major OEM manufacturers are also actively exploring; aside from the points listed in this article, we will see more forms of products in the future. The design may become even smaller, or it may even be possible to implant computers into human arms as depicted in movies. In short, everything is possible.
