Intel updates its NUC lineup, including a continuation of its Hades Canyon gaming mini-PC

Intel is upgrading its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) line of miniature computers with its 11th generation processors and is again including a game-oriented model. The NUC 11 Enthusiast is a continuation of the 2018 NUC 8 Hades Canyon, which managed to package AAA game performance (not to mention I / O that rivaled a full-size desktop) in a tiny case.

Included in the update are updates to the company’s most traditional small-cubed NUC Performance Mini computers, which previously had 10th generation processors. The update brings Wi-Fi 6 and Intel Xe graphics to the i5 and i7 models. Intel has also added a NUC Pro line, some of which have vPro-enabled CPUs and all of which can power 8K monitors. There is also a NUC 11 computing unit, which is just a card designed to be integrated into future computers. This is not the first time that Intel has this idea, but we will get into that more in a moment.

Image: Intel

NUCs, however, are notable because of their size and, although the Performance and Pro lines are really very small, they are smaller updates than we had before. What is more interesting is the game version.

The NUC 11 Enthusiast, code-named “Phantom Canyon”, promises gaming performance with a 28W quad-core i7-1165G7 (the same one found on the Dell XPS 13 2020) and an RTX 2060, which was made out of date the day before the announcement of the Intel computer. It also maintains the stacked I / O that made the last generation excellent, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2.5 Gb Ethernet, six colossal USB 3.2 Type-A ports and Wi-Fi 6. The lack of HDMI 2.1 (only 2.0b) can be forgiven due to the inclusion of a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 output. And again, it all fits inside a box that is about the size of a heavy book.

Image: Intel

Like other NUC models, Enthusiast also has integrated Xe graphics, which should be good for streamers or creative professionals who appreciate Intel’s Quick Sync video encoding technology. Although it is a shame about the almost updated graphics card, the computer must still provide a good amount of gaming performance in an absolutely tiny package, and I am happy to see that Intel is still working on mini gaming PCs.

Intel has a long history of trying to turn NUC into a full-size, miniature gaming PC. She even teamed up with AMD to put dedicated Vega graphics on NUC 8, which clearly hoped to attract more players than office workers, with a shiny skull logo emblazoned across the top. Then, at CES 2020, it exhibited the NUC 9 Extreme, which was intended to be a gaming PC with an easy-to-update computing unit. Except that Intel has so far not released any updates for the computing units, so for the moment, it’s just an expensive, modular gaming PC for no reason.

Intel has not yet released pricing and availability, but SimplyNUC.com has the Phantom Canyon starting at $ 1,349. It seems to be a better deal than the NUC 9 Extreme, which costs $ 1,599 on the same site and also requires a separate graphics card. It also beats its more direct predecessor, the NUC 8 Hades Canyon, which still costs $ 1,234 for hardware almost two years old.

Intel appears to be using the same strategy used for NUC computers in the past, where people can buy a complete computer or kit where they will be asked to provide RAM, storage unit and operating system. The $ 1,349 model from SimplyNUC has the drive and RAM, but you will have to overpay or bring your own copy of Windows.