I wish there was at at least 1 regular SATA3 port with space for a 2.5" SSD like the H versions of the regular NUC. Even if there was one less m.2 port.
An m.2 PCIe for OS/programs and a 1TB+ SSD for storage is the best combo IMO.
No, that's what a m.2 PCIe for OS/programs and a 1TB+ SSD for storage are for. The 1tb drive comes to play with vm's that cannot be cloud stored or shouldn't be cloud stored. Even via a nas doesn't make sense.
I wonder how well this will do at 45w in this chassis. I doubt it will stay in turbo very long. Wish it had 8MB cache. Can't wait to see this paired with a external GPU Chassis, and running a DX12 title that supports multi-adapter so we can use the iris pro's gpu with whatever we are running in the chassis.
What exactly would be the point of pairing this with an external GPU? If it's a fixed system just get one that's big enough to fit both the CPU and the GPU in one box.
Disclaimer: I work for Intel on the team that developed this product. Great question peterfares - we see at least 2 potential uses for this. 1) for someone looking to get started with gaming can buy this system and if they later decide they want/need additional graphics performance they have the opportunity to do so. 2) use this at home with the external GPU but still have the ease of use to take just the NUC with you to a LAN party for the ultimate portable gaming system.
Thanks for the reply. I'm not really sure I see either of those use cases having many buyers considering how expensive external GPU docks look like they're going to be but cool product nonetheless.
Agreed! I do like the idea of an external GPU box... but so far they are all in the $3-600 range while only supplying 4 lanes of PCIe3. That is going to limit the installable card to ~$2-300 before you run into performance issues. To make this practical we need to see the external boxes drop in price considerably (at least half the price of the card you would put in it), or make thunderbolt "gangable" so you can have multiple connectors and get a decent 8-16 lanes of connectivity (which would be a nightmare to design).
In the mean time would it be too much to ask to have a single small box that is just a little larger than the external GPU boxes coming to market that house the PC and the dGPU? The box can be sold just like a bare bones NUC is now with just the mobo, cpu, psu, and case. Then entry level users can throw in RAM and SSDs to their heart's content, leaving the GPU space empty until they can afford the upgrade. It would be a much cleaner design, allow for a direct 16 lane PCIe connection to the dGPU for use with a powerful card, cut down on overall cost, and still be extremely portable for taking to a lan party... or on-site for video editing, 3D rendering, etc. etc. etc. It would be like the Shuttle PC that Shuttle was never able to successfully make.
PCIe 3.0 x4 is not a real life bottleneck, even for high end GPUs.You might lose 10% in extreme cases - in many other, 1-2%, or none at all. YMMV, but it's really not that bad.
There's also the competition from OEMs, such as the HP EliteDesk 800 35W G2 Mini and the Dell OptiPlex 7040 Micro. Both feature a Core i7-6700T option, which is rated 35W sTDP, and both have one M.2 slot and one SATA3 2.5" bay for an additional SSD drive. Would be nice if Ganesh pitted those against the NUC6i7KYK when he does his review...
I need to get a basic 4k video editing computer in the not too distant future. This just shot to the top of my list. Sure, I could get more CPU performance in a $1000 DIY build, but size is nearly as important in this case. With 2x16GB of DDR4 and some decent SSDs in there, this should do the job nicely.
I said basic ;) I'd probably go for either a 256GB system drive + 1TB work drive or ditch the system drive altogether and spend the money on a large Name drive. I already have network storage, and both usb 3.1 and TB3 provide excellent external options.
I don't understand both usage scenario you mentioned. If someone is getting into PC gaming, a full tower is vastly cheaper and more future-proof. And NUC for lan party? I don't think anyone will bring own monitor, keyboard and GPU dock around. A gaming laptop is much better overall for that purpose (and cheaper)
I do enjoy NUC products for nice onboard computing platforms, and may get one soon, but not for gaming.
The article states "So, we will definitely have 4Kp60 output with HDCP 2.2 support over the HDMI port, making it suitable as a future-proof HTPC platform.".
However I would say that is far from the truth as Skylake does not support full fixed function hardware decoding of HEVC Main10 (the standard in UHD blurays). We will have to wait for the Kaby Lake version to actually have a future proof HTPC machine.
So the paring of this with an external GPU could provide HEVC Main10 hardware decode, or could allow you to play more intensive games.
It isn't a laptop, you don't need full fixed hardware support to make it work. A lot of this can be done in software without needing to worry about the battery life hit.
Hello. The spec for UHD Blu-ray is Main10 up to 128mbps and 60fps. You obviously haven't tried to decode an equivalent file. Try jellyfish-140-mbps-4k-uhd-hevc-10bit.mkv from http://jell.yfish.us/ and you'll see even with hybrid decode a Skylake CPU (even 6700k) is not able to playback the file smoothly. Therefore the full fixed function hardware support is required to playback UHD Blu-rays.
Hevc Main10 at those bitrates is just too intense, it's about being able to play them back smoothly in the first place, let alone being concerned about power usage.
I was hoping they would launch their own external GPU solution with this, just for standard reference, and now we're still stuck with $499 razer madness.
I might as well get buffen up by lugging mini itx around for the next 1-2 years.
Currently, only the -H series CPUs support the GT4e configuration.
I don't think Skylake will have any SKU with eDRAM and high TDP.
Future generations might have something similar to what you mention, but, I am not sure Intel's marketing team will find a lot of takers for that - Getting eDRAM helps drive up performance while bringing down system-level power consumption, but that comes with higher price. Such a combination makes sense only for mobile / laptop platforms, or machines like the Skull Canyon NUC.
90W TDP CPUs are either used by people who don't care about graphics performance OR by people who are going to use a discrete GPU anyway. Note that Intel iGPU, even with eDRAM, can't compete with even mid-range current-generation dGPUs.
Hi Ganesh, Well, I'm willing to buy this "Pricey" CPU. The problem is I hate it being throttled down so much.
I think we need to think about something new in respect to the GPU. It can be used and used as Vector Processing Unit (GPGPU) and in that respect, Intel's offering can be good enough (Once their Drivers will be good).
Running GPGPU on embedded GPU makes much more sense and someone who would like that will enjoy such offering.
I don't know, is there a way to buy 45W and make it not throttle?
Ganesh, there's a third category of people interested in powerful iGPUs: those who like their PCs silent, or close to it.
As far as I know, there aren't even any fanless GPUs (excluding those with exotic dual-slot cooling towers hanging off of them) that can keep up with Haswell integrated graphics, let alone Iris Pro.
I do welcome quadcore NUC offerings, but the pricing is outrageous. For $999 one can easily get a i7 quadcore laptop with 960m GPU, all with RAM, SSD, display, keyboard and so on.
Some people don't want a laptop under any circumstances. They'd prefer a large screen and a comfortable, ergonomic viewing distance, with a separate keyboard, a real mouse... and are happy with laptop internals.
Finally..this is the first micro pc I'd like to have. I mean, the GPU is actually usable..it can easily play a ton of steam and older titles in 1080p. And even a fair number of new AAA games on low/medium settings.
I have mixed feelings about this NUC. On one hand, it's nice to see Intel's Iris Pro in the wild. Then again, Iris Pro really needs to be a lot more commonly available in desktop and laptop CPUs because current Intel graphics, while good, aren't very well balanced. There's a lot of CPU power and not a lot of iGPU so lots of people are resorting to hot and complex designs that include an otherwise unnecessary AMD or NV GPU.
I also find the skull branding is quite possibly the most childish and low-brow stupidity ever to crawl out of Intel's marketing department. Sure, it might appeal to a teens to twenty something male, but that leaves the rest of us who would prefer a more professional, upscale look out in the cold and there are a lot more of us that have a lot more disposable income who would like something with Iris Pro targeted at us.
In fact it looks like a decent workstation replacement. It can drive several screens and seem powerful enough. I am keen to see some austere accountant with a skull-designed mini pc on its desk.
hubick & sugarbear7 -- Thank you both for the information about the alternative, non-teenage boy case panel. Skull motifs should remain the exclusive domain of the Coalition from the Rifts RPG and never wander into real life where adults are living.
I think the specs look great, though I dislike the design. I am not sure why they fancy having that skull on their electronic items, i.e. SSD, I think I've seen this on motherboard, and now this...
I guess I am the only mid to late 30's guy here that has always liked the Skull Trail line. Is it a tiny bit juvenile? Sure, but come on, if you are a gamer in your 30's and 40's (or older) and you are pretending to be concerned with maturity.....stop lying to yourself. This is still a little more than I would want to pay, but I have been impatiently waiting for a product very much like this to hit the shelves.
Razer Core price is announced.... it's whopping $499.
So you need to pay $999 for the Skull Canyon NUC + $499 for Razer Core external GPU BOX + $500 for GTX 980 GPU. $2000 for mobile i7 and GTX 980. Suddenly gaming laptops seem affordable!
So this doesn't have a VESA mount? No way to screw this in the back of a monitor? That is a major plus point on the regular NUCs that this seems to be missing :/
I've an i7 NUC which doesn't even handle full hd without a very noisy fan. That's on web pages. Will this be any better? I like the small desktops but will I be able to use this with4K?
This looks interesting, but it's going to be expensive. -$650 for the Intel Skull Canyon Nuc -$180 for a Samsung 950 pro m2 ssd -$100 for 16GB memory -$100 for Windows 10 x64 -$500 for the Razer Core eGFX module -$250 for a video card to throw into the Razer Core
You're talking about around $1,800 for everything....ouch! If you're going to be doing any serious gaming may as well just buy a full on desktop. The price of the Razer Core eGFX module needs to come down, $500 is way too much just for a module.
Or $0 Windows, you get Windows 7 thru a torrent and after that you do Win 10 free upgrade. (after July MSFT will be asking for $129, i cant stand them.)Graphics are monsters, so no Razor, 16GB memory is $50(2x8 DDR4). Why SAMS, you get Intel for $90 240GB, plenty of room and you can buy $50 1TB extra, or if you are slick rick, you can get unlimited SSD disk space online thru hosting for $24/per year.
This could be the basis for a fun modular/DIY laptop - and if Intel sticks with the same form factor for a few generations, it would be upgradeable too. All you'd need to add is a chassis with a display, keyboard, touchpad, and battery, and pass-through connectors for either front or rear connectivity. Heck, it could even connect a dGPU through TB3 :P
On a more serious note, I'd love to see someone design an external GPU case tailored to stack with this (VESA mount should allow for some kind of interlocking, and a short TB3 cable can provide both power and data for the GPU. Should be able to fit most mobile GPUs too, right? After all, MXM modules would fit in both directions inside a 216x116mm chassis, and the chassis designer would be free to set thickness to match cooling needs.
Let's review: AirPlay and ChromeCast seem to work flawless in 2016, yet the great minds at Intel are still in denial about MiriCast/WiDi quagmire! They could have provided the perfect HTPC solution with the SkullCanyonNUC but noooooooooooooooooooooo!
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103 Comments
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ImSpartacus - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Dual m.2 is nice. I'm glad Intel went all in on solid state storage.lordmocha - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Yeah it's good to see. Now we just need an Intel 750 to come out in M.2 form-factor.sugarbear7 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I wish there was at at least 1 regular SATA3 port with space for a 2.5" SSD like the H versions of the regular NUC. Even if there was one less m.2 port.An m.2 PCIe for OS/programs and a 1TB+ SSD for storage is the best combo IMO.
jospoortvliet - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
That is what a nas or private cloud storage like ownCloud are for :-)Lord 666 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
No, that's what a m.2 PCIe for OS/programs and a 1TB+ SSD for storage are for. The 1tb drive comes to play with vm's that cannot be cloud stored or shouldn't be cloud stored. Even via a nas doesn't make sense.jasonelmore - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
I wonder how well this will do at 45w in this chassis. I doubt it will stay in turbo very long. Wish it had 8MB cache. Can't wait to see this paired with a external GPU Chassis, and running a DX12 title that supports multi-adapter so we can use the iris pro's gpu with whatever we are running in the chassis.It is very good looking, good job intel
peterfares - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
What exactly would be the point of pairing this with an external GPU? If it's a fixed system just get one that's big enough to fit both the CPU and the GPU in one box.bcpatter - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Disclaimer: I work for Intel on the team that developed this product.Great question peterfares - we see at least 2 potential uses for this. 1) for someone looking to get started with gaming can buy this system and if they later decide they want/need additional graphics performance they have the opportunity to do so. 2) use this at home with the external GPU but still have the ease of use to take just the NUC with you to a LAN party for the ultimate portable gaming system.
Mondozai - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
SC is the most innovation we've had in the PC space in years, but that isn't a very high bar to cross, but still. The portability is awesome.extide - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
What about DX12; dGPU + this, for some great extra compute/gfx ? (Come on, this is what everyone is drooling about right now)peterfares - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Thanks for the reply. I'm not really sure I see either of those use cases having many buyers considering how expensive external GPU docks look like they're going to be but cool product nonetheless.CaedenV - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Agreed! I do like the idea of an external GPU box... but so far they are all in the $3-600 range while only supplying 4 lanes of PCIe3. That is going to limit the installable card to ~$2-300 before you run into performance issues. To make this practical we need to see the external boxes drop in price considerably (at least half the price of the card you would put in it), or make thunderbolt "gangable" so you can have multiple connectors and get a decent 8-16 lanes of connectivity (which would be a nightmare to design).In the mean time would it be too much to ask to have a single small box that is just a little larger than the external GPU boxes coming to market that house the PC and the dGPU? The box can be sold just like a bare bones NUC is now with just the mobo, cpu, psu, and case. Then entry level users can throw in RAM and SSDs to their heart's content, leaving the GPU space empty until they can afford the upgrade. It would be a much cleaner design, allow for a direct 16 lane PCIe connection to the dGPU for use with a powerful card, cut down on overall cost, and still be extremely portable for taking to a lan party... or on-site for video editing, 3D rendering, etc. etc. etc. It would be like the Shuttle PC that Shuttle was never able to successfully make.
Valantar - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
PCIe 3.0 x4 is not a real life bottleneck, even for high end GPUs.You might lose 10% in extreme cases - in many other, 1-2%, or none at all. YMMV, but it's really not that bad.ericgl21 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
bcpatter,Why no UHS-II card slot?
Why not the i7-6870HQ?
Why no (optional) external WiFi antennas to extend the range?
8steve8 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Good Question, why not i7-6870HQthat CPU is just better, with the exact same price, according to intel... but maybe that's a typo.
http://ark.intel.com/compare/93340,93341
ericgl21 - Sunday, March 20, 2016 - link
There's also the competition from OEMs, such as the HP EliteDesk 800 35W G2 Mini and the Dell OptiPlex 7040 Micro. Both feature a Core i7-6700T option, which is rated 35W sTDP, and both have one M.2 slot and one SATA3 2.5" bay for an additional SSD drive. Would be nice if Ganesh pitted those against the NUC6i7KYK when he does his review...nclundsten - Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - link
not sure why you consider those comparable.. as neither has a thunderbolt 3 port.The hp elitedesk has usb type c, but that is not the same as thunderbolt 3 on a usb-c connector.
Valantar - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I need to get a basic 4k video editing computer in the not too distant future. This just shot to the top of my list. Sure, I could get more CPU performance in a $1000 DIY build, but size is nearly as important in this case. With 2x16GB of DDR4 and some decent SSDs in there, this should do the job nicely.cm2187 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
But don't you need large SSDs for that? Samsung will release some consumer 4TB SSDs shortly. But they will likely be in 2.5 form, not M2.Valantar - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I said basic ;) I'd probably go for either a 256GB system drive + 1TB work drive or ditch the system drive altogether and spend the money on a large Name drive. I already have network storage, and both usb 3.1 and TB3 provide excellent external options.Valantar - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
So much for commenting from my phone. Apparently NVME isn't in its dictionary :Pnerd1 - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
I don't understand both usage scenario you mentioned. If someone is getting into PC gaming, a full tower is vastly cheaper and more future-proof. And NUC for lan party? I don't think anyone will bring own monitor, keyboard and GPU dock around. A gaming laptop is much better overall for that purpose (and cheaper)I do enjoy NUC products for nice onboard computing platforms, and may get one soon, but not for gaming.
Murloc - Sunday, March 20, 2016 - link
you don't need more than this to play LoL.lordmocha - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
The article states "So, we will definitely have 4Kp60 output with HDCP 2.2 support over the HDMI port, making it suitable as a future-proof HTPC platform.".However I would say that is far from the truth as Skylake does not support full fixed function hardware decoding of HEVC Main10 (the standard in UHD blurays). We will have to wait for the Kaby Lake version to actually have a future proof HTPC machine.
So the paring of this with an external GPU could provide HEVC Main10 hardware decode, or could allow you to play more intensive games.
gundamf90 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Skylake do support HEVC Main10 via DXVA; however, not sure it is full fixed function hardware or use mostly GPU for the acceleration.lordmocha - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
Skylake can do Main10 in hybrid mode, it is not full hardware decodig.CaedenV - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
It isn't a laptop, you don't need full fixed hardware support to make it work. A lot of this can be done in software without needing to worry about the battery life hit.lordmocha - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
Hello. The spec for UHD Blu-ray is Main10 up to 128mbps and 60fps. You obviously haven't tried to decode an equivalent file. Try jellyfish-140-mbps-4k-uhd-hevc-10bit.mkv from http://jell.yfish.us/ and you'll see even with hybrid decode a Skylake CPU (even 6700k) is not able to playback the file smoothly. Therefore the full fixed function hardware support is required to playback UHD Blu-rays.lordmocha - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
Hevc Main10 at those bitrates is just too intense, it's about being able to play them back smoothly in the first place, let alone being concerned about power usage.tipoo - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
128MB L4 usually makes up for the 8MB-6MB L3 cache shrinkjosh1986 - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
No thunderbolt 3? This would be a great gaming machine SFF with the Razer Core tucked away http://www.anandtech.com/show/10137/razer-core-thu...lockdown571 - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Try reading the article? Yes it has thunderbolt 3. Anandtech even comments about the possible of using the Razer Core.josh1986 - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
How about you read the article. The spec sheet did not metion any TB3 connection.jeffkibuule - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Umm... spec sheet has it as the 3rd bullet point under "Key Features"?"Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) with USB 3.1 and DP1.2 over USB-C"
extide - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
It's ok man, everyone gets drunk sometimeslittlebitstrouds - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Watch me be wrong, get pointed out being wrong, and then act wrongier still.Lesson: Learn when to admit a mistake, you're in your 30's now, you can get over childish behaviors.
Mr Perfect - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
If you learn to do that, teach me how. ;)magreen - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
No place to put a CPU? Man, this thing would be great with a CPU.jeffkibuule - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Spec sheet *explicitly* comments on this. I'm gonna say yes.WorldWithoutMadness - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
I was hoping they would launch their own external GPU solution with this, just for standard reference, and now we're still stuck with $499 razer madness.I might as well get buffen up by lugging mini itx around for the next 1-2 years.
Samus - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Thank you for supporting the enthusiast community, Intel.lilmoe - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
They need to start making motherboards smaller than Mini-ITX, and PSUs to accommodate smaller form factor builds...I want to make my own custom build mini-PC with a mobile processor and better-ish graphics.
sugarbear7 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Spot on. Me too!mczak - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - link
Looks quite nice and small, though the linked spec sheet says 216mm x 116mm x 23m - quite the tower I'd say :-).zodiacfml - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Nice but the price isn't, though expected. I'm one of those people who comments that for the price, a laptop exists with the same specs.vladx - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
It's obviosly not a budget-oriented solution, premium more likely.spikebike - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Please let there be a popular linux distro that works well on this unit.Drazick - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Ganesh,Will we ever see an higher TDP CPU with the Iris Pro 580?
Something like i7 with 90 Watt TDP or even better and Extreme Edition?
Otherwise, how could one fight the throttling of the CPU and make it work hard and fast?
Thank You.
ganeshts - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Currently, only the -H series CPUs support the GT4e configuration.I don't think Skylake will have any SKU with eDRAM and high TDP.
Future generations might have something similar to what you mention, but, I am not sure Intel's marketing team will find a lot of takers for that - Getting eDRAM helps drive up performance while bringing down system-level power consumption, but that comes with higher price. Such a combination makes sense only for mobile / laptop platforms, or machines like the Skull Canyon NUC.
90W TDP CPUs are either used by people who don't care about graphics performance OR by people who are going to use a discrete GPU anyway. Note that Intel iGPU, even with eDRAM, can't compete with even mid-range current-generation dGPUs.
Drazick - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Hi Ganesh,Well, I'm willing to buy this "Pricey" CPU.
The problem is I hate it being throttled down so much.
I think we need to think about something new in respect to the GPU.
It can be used and used as Vector Processing Unit (GPGPU) and in that respect, Intel's offering can be good enough (Once their Drivers will be good).
Running GPGPU on embedded GPU makes much more sense and someone who would like that will enjoy such offering.
I don't know, is there a way to buy 45W and make it not throttle?
Thank You.
magreen - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Ganesh, there's a third category of people interested in powerful iGPUs: those who like their PCs silent, or close to it.As far as I know, there aren't even any fanless GPUs (excluding those with exotic dual-slot cooling towers hanging off of them) that can keep up with Haswell integrated graphics, let alone Iris Pro.
vladx - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
There may be people interested in that but it's too small of a target for Intel.nerd1 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I do welcome quadcore NUC offerings, but the pricing is outrageous. For $999 one can easily get a i7 quadcore laptop with 960m GPU, all with RAM, SSD, display, keyboard and so on.Samus - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
And this is 1/5 the size...see?lilmoe - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
No it's not. Laptops have other peripherals to worry about, this doesn't. The PCB portion of a laptop is just as small, if not smaller.The pricing on this thing is (and all other decently spec'ed mini-PCs) is seriously outrageous.
sugarbear7 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Some people don't want a laptop under any circumstances. They'd prefer a large screen and a comfortable, ergonomic viewing distance, with a separate keyboard, a real mouse... and are happy with laptop internals.8steve8 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
yeah given it has no competition, it's hard to argue the price is wrong.I wish they went all in on USB-C, they could have USB-C Power in (which can deliver like 100W).. also needs at least one front facing usb-c port.
I'd rather have 1 inch extra height and a regular HSF to cool the CPU/GPU, this might be loud... but i'll wait for a solid review.
nerd1 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
We had Brix Pro and Alienware Alpha for a while.8steve8 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
brix pro was super loud which ruins it for most people, it was also 4th gen core, this is 6th gen core.8steve8 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
maybe i should have said no current competition... a skylake brix pro would compete, but it doesn't exist.vladx - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
This is a premium design not targeted towards people like yourself.8steve8 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
not too premium without more TB3/ usb-c ports... also I'm afraid it will be paird with a very ugly and innefficient possibly buzzy/loud AC/DC adapter.nerd1 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I'm using a number of industrial fanless SPFF PCs, so I'm actually the target audience of this product.cm2187 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Will there be linux drivers like with the other intel NUC?darkich - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Finally..this is the first micro pc I'd like to have.I mean, the GPU is actually usable..it can easily play a ton of steam and older titles in 1080p. And even a fair number of new AAA games on low/medium settings.
ragenalien - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
The alienware alpha should still be more powerful and significantly cheaper.darkich - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
But this is A LOT more compact. One could basically carry it around in a pocketnerd1 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
This one is twice the size of NUC and I highly doubt it will fit in a pocket. It's wider than AW alpha.darkich - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
What?!This is half the width of AW alpha, and less than one third the thickness. And one quarter the weight!
20 cm length, 10 cm width, 2cm thickness. It.is nowhere near the size of the Alpha and would easily fit in a big jacket or pants pocket
nerd1 - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
AW alpha is 200mm wide. This one is 216mm wide. 216 is larger than 200 in my book.darkich - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
Oh wow. How about you read tje specs sheet again?216mm x 116mm x 23mm.
It is narrower than the iPad mini, and about as long.
darkich - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
..and only 2.5 times thicker than the iPad mini.Your comparison with the Alpha is ridiculous
damianrobertjones - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
The design... It's not the same as the other current NUC models so doesn't seem right.cm2187 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
It does look ugly. But the world looks different through the eyes of a teenager... We're not the core market anymore....I'll happily use that to do virtualisation. Small form factor, lots of RAM, lots of cores.
BrokenCrayons - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I have mixed feelings about this NUC. On one hand, it's nice to see Intel's Iris Pro in the wild. Then again, Iris Pro really needs to be a lot more commonly available in desktop and laptop CPUs because current Intel graphics, while good, aren't very well balanced. There's a lot of CPU power and not a lot of iGPU so lots of people are resorting to hot and complex designs that include an otherwise unnecessary AMD or NV GPU.I also find the skull branding is quite possibly the most childish and low-brow stupidity ever to crawl out of Intel's marketing department. Sure, it might appeal to a teens to twenty something male, but that leaves the rest of us who would prefer a more professional, upscale look out in the cold and there are a lot more of us that have a lot more disposable income who would like something with Iris Pro targeted at us.
cm2187 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
In fact it looks like a decent workstation replacement. It can drive several screens and seem powerful enough. I am keen to see some austere accountant with a skull-designed mini pc on its desk.sugarbear7 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Agreed on the iGPUs for desktop CPUs!As for the cover, they come with a plain matte black cover in the box. **Phew!**
hubick - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
"we do actually ship two lids with each Skull Canyon - with and without the skull" - http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/03/intels-high...BrokenCrayons - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
hubick & sugarbear7 -- Thank you both for the information about the alternative, non-teenage boy case panel. Skull motifs should remain the exclusive domain of the Coalition from the Rifts RPG and never wander into real life where adults are living.=^..^=
zepi - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Intel spec is wrong on size, probably a typo.216mm x 116mm x 23mm,
0.216m x 0.116m x 0.023m * 1000liters/m^3 = 0.576liters
Either they've typoed it as 0.69liters instead of 0.58liters or they've used incorrect measures for calculating the volume.
Not that it really matters.
Le Geek - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
You are assuming that the case is a perfect cuboid which it isn't.Femton - Monday, March 28, 2016 - link
Size should be 211x116x28mm which is 0.68L.http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit...
watzupken - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I think the specs look great, though I dislike the design. I am not sure why they fancy having that skull on their electronic items, i.e. SSD, I think I've seen this on motherboard, and now this...fanofanand - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I guess I am the only mid to late 30's guy here that has always liked the Skull Trail line. Is it a tiny bit juvenile? Sure, but come on, if you are a gamer in your 30's and 40's (or older) and you are pretending to be concerned with maturity.....stop lying to yourself. This is still a little more than I would want to pay, but I have been impatiently waiting for a product very much like this to hit the shelves.vladx - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I'm 28 and I like it the skull as well though I'd preffer a more polished version, this one is quite bland.nerd1 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Razer Core price is announced.... it's whopping $499.So you need to pay $999 for the Skull Canyon NUC + $499 for Razer Core external GPU BOX + $500 for GTX 980 GPU. $2000 for mobile i7 and GTX 980. Suddenly gaming laptops seem affordable!
sugarbear7 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Now waiting to hear how quiet the system is. Despite the price, if it's super quiet... sold.Texag2010 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
So this doesn't have a VESA mount? No way to screw this in the back of a monitor? That is a major plus point on the regular NUCs that this seems to be missing :/bcpatter - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Disclaimer: I work for Intel on the team that developed this productThis product does include a VESA mount with the unit.
Texag2010 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Thanks for that update! Glad it didn't get omitted!bobajot - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
I've an i7 NUC which doesn't even handle full hd without a very noisy fan. That's on web pages. Will this be any better? I like the small desktops but will I be able to use this with4K?jwcalla - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
Intel seems to think that we all swim in gold coins like Scrooge McDuck.gigahertz20 - Thursday, March 17, 2016 - link
This looks interesting, but it's going to be expensive.-$650 for the Intel Skull Canyon Nuc
-$180 for a Samsung 950 pro m2 ssd
-$100 for 16GB memory
-$100 for Windows 10 x64
-$500 for the Razer Core eGFX module
-$250 for a video card to throw into the Razer Core
You're talking about around $1,800 for everything....ouch! If you're going to be doing any serious gaming may as well just buy a full on desktop. The price of the Razer Core eGFX module needs to come down, $500 is way too much just for a module.
cm2187 - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
I don't understand the point of buying a mini pc if you need to stack it on a gigantic external graphic card container. Why not buy a full tower then?Murloc - Sunday, March 20, 2016 - link
so now you're giong to add the Core and video card to every SFF or laptop computer out there and then claim the price is outrageous?If you want hardcore gaming, you buy a desktop.
Also the core is a new thing prices will come down if this stuff is finally mature.
The point of these things are situations where you do NOT want a desktop. Get it?
Vlad_Da_Great - Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - link
Or $0 Windows, you get Windows 7 thru a torrent and after that you do Win 10 free upgrade. (after July MSFT will be asking for $129, i cant stand them.)Graphics are monsters, so no Razor, 16GB memory is $50(2x8 DDR4). Why SAMS, you get Intel for $90 240GB, plenty of room and you can buy $50 1TB extra, or if you are slick rick, you can get unlimited SSD disk space online thru hosting for $24/per year.Valantar - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
This could be the basis for a fun modular/DIY laptop - and if Intel sticks with the same form factor for a few generations, it would be upgradeable too. All you'd need to add is a chassis with a display, keyboard, touchpad, and battery, and pass-through connectors for either front or rear connectivity. Heck, it could even connect a dGPU through TB3 :POn a more serious note, I'd love to see someone design an external GPU case tailored to stack with this (VESA mount should allow for some kind of interlocking, and a short TB3 cable can provide both power and data for the GPU. Should be able to fit most mobile GPUs too, right? After all, MXM modules would fit in both directions inside a 216x116mm chassis, and the chassis designer would be free to set thickness to match cooling needs.
jhoff80 - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
Damn, I didn't think of that before now, but a GTX980 desktop MXM card in a Thunderbolt 3 case would be really exciting.intrasight - Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - link
NUC lids, including this one, can be replaced. I assume that someone will make a lid for this one that contains a GPU. Perhaps with a GeForce 940MX.pseudoid - Saturday, March 19, 2016 - link
Let's review: AirPlay and ChromeCast seem to work flawless in 2016, yet the great minds at Intel are still in denial about MiriCast/WiDi quagmire! They could have provided the perfect HTPC solution with the SkullCanyonNUC but noooooooooooooooooooooo!smegma11 - Friday, March 25, 2016 - link
Will there be Windows 7 drivers. I'm never going to use Windows 10.Femton - Wednesday, March 30, 2016 - link
Does anyone know whether the case is made of plastic or metal?sohil.gera - Saturday, April 30, 2016 - link
What price are we expecting for it in india