Intel announced at the beginning of the year that the new generation of NUC minicomputers will get its own Arc discrete graphics card. However, due to the slow progress in the graphics cards field, the NUC has not been updated yet.
Now, a new generation of NUC 12 code -named “Serpent Canyon” has finally appeared. It will replace the existing “Phantom Canyon” and bring unprecedented upgrades.
When buying the NUC 12, users can choose among various models, up to a 12-generation Core i7-12700H processor with 14 cores and 20 threads, 24MB L3 cache, and a maximum turbo frequency of 4.7GHz.
This is also the standard for today’s high-end gaming notebooks, while the previous generation processor is still the 11th-generation Core i7-1165G7 and comes with only 4 cores and 8 threads.
The graphics card has been changed from RTX 2060 to its own Arc A770M, the flagship model of the mobile version. The latter boasts 32 Xe cores, 32 optical tracking units, 256-bit 16GB GDDR6 video memory, and the power consumption range is 120-150W.
In terms of appearance, the company has made it in a way that you use it in multiple modes – horizontal and vertical. We are dealing with a gaming microcomputer. So it’s logical there are cooling holes all around, and there is a cooling grille on the back. The volume is about 2.5 liters.
Also, we can find myriads of interfaces such as the front panel has SDXC card reader, Thunderbolt 4, 3.5mm headset, USB-A, and the rear has four USB-A, 2.5G RJ-45 network ports, Thunderbolt 4, 3.5mm, HDMI 2.1, DP 2.0. By the way, this is the first time that the NUC has added a DP interface.
Intel has also prepared a higher-end NUC 12 Extreme, code-named “Dragon Canyon”. It will sport a desktop-level 12-generation Core i9-12900 processor with up to 16 cores and 24 threads. Of course, it will support full-length discrete graphics cards.
