The Intel Next Unit of Computing - NUC
Consumers have made it crystal clear that small form factor (SFF)
computers are now desired since they reduce the space needed for a
desktop computer. While no one will argue with how nice it is to have a
small PC, it does limit what you can do in terms of expansion. If you
are willing to give up the ability to expand, then you are going to be
seeing some amazing SFF PC's coming out later this year and into the
foreseeable future. Some hardcore enthusiasts are worried that the move
to these ultra SFF systems will create a 'dumbing down' of the of the
household PC, but lets face it we are headed that way anyway. As system
on chip (SoC) processor designs continue to increase, it looks like it
could only be a matter of time until we live in a world of socket-less
desktop PCs.
For those that follow the PC industry you might have heard of the
“Next Unit of Computing” (NUC) mini-PC by none other than Intel. This is
a SFF PC that takes things to the next level by using a 4-inch square
motherboard stuffed into a tiny plastic case. Intel started designing
this system over a year ago and it was originally aimed at the the kiosk
and signage industries. As word about the little system started to
spread, so did interest in the consumer market and now it could be soon
available to consumers.
The Intel NUC has been powered by several processors over the past
year, but this month at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) we saw the
latest NUC version that is powered by a
Intel Core i3-3217U processor
that has been soldered to the underside of the board. This is a 1.8 GHz
dual-core 'Ivy Bridge' processor with Hyper-Threading that is rated at
just 17 Watts! Intel plans on shipping the NUC in this current form for
$399 starting in October 2012. This price might shock some people, but
this isn't a Raspberry Pi board with an ARM CPU/GPU for $35. The Intel
Core i3-3217U processor has a tray price of $225, so over half the cost
of this device is the 22nm processor! Factor in the mainboard, case,
power adapter and packaging and you can see how the cost quickly rises
to nearly $400.
Here is a closer look at the bottom of the board with the Intel Core
i3-3217U processor and the supporting Intel QS77 chipset. This processor
contains Intel HD Graphics 4000, so it has the latest and greatest
Intel GPU technology inside. There is a small fan and heatsink that
keeps both the processor and chipset cool, so the NUC is actively
cooled. At one point we heard that Intel had a Core i5 version of the
NUC, but it appears that isn't going to happen just yet. We hope that
Intel is still considering having an Intel Core i5 version as that would
be a powerful little system that fits in the palm of your hand!
Here is a shot of the cooling solution that is being used on the
Intel NUC that we were shown at IDF 2012. It looks like a typical
notebook cooler, so nothing too revolutionary there.
The Intel NUC might be just 4" by 4" in size, but it has a fairly
robust set of input/output connectors. The NUC mainboard that we were
shown for the retail market has three USB 2 ports (one at
the front, two at the rear), two HDMI ports and an
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet socket, and of course the power port. The Intel
NUC uses an external 65W power adapter/brick just like a laptop. You
might notice that audio ports are missing, but the audio is being sent
out the HDMI ports, just be sure you have a monitor with speakers!
The only things you can alter with this system are the memory and
storage drives. The NUC motherboard has two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots that
support up to 16GB of memory. You also have two mini PCI-E slots that
can be used as an mSATA slot for SSD storage via a full-length PCIe mini
card or for a wireless card. You can also use them for other devices
that use the mini PCI-E interface.
Intel then told us that two different models will be offered at
launch and are identical except that one will be Thunderbolt equipped.
In order to get the Thunderbolt connector and chipset on the board,
Intel had to remove one HDMI video connector and the Ethernet port. You
can see the two versions back I/O panel in the image above. That
Kensington lock will come in handy on a PC this small!
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