I understand what NUC is trying to achieve as a form factor, but if you can buy a complete i3-7100 Kaby Lake laptop for less (including Windows) then I just don't see the point.
Maybe you don't need portability (or perhaps you take it between a small number of fixed places), and you want a full-sized monitor. Waste of space to buy the LCD in a laptop, then.
It could also be of use at a retail counter or nurse's station in a hospital, where there's not much space--just bolt it on the back of the monitor via the VESA mount. (Admittedly, an AIO might fill the same niche.)
These prices are kind of jacked up and I don't think they'll reflect the eventual reality since my Broadwell i3 NUC was $280 barebones and I've seen no indication that Kaby Lake has this kind of price difference on other platforms.
Yea, a quick stop at pcpartpicker shows a decent lower end mini-ITX gaming PC coming in at right at $700. That's with i5 7500, RX 480, 16gb dual channel DDR4, 480gb ssd, ect.
I get that you're paying for the small size and low power draw but these prices seem $100 to $150 too high.
The NUC lineup has always been too high, and it is for a reason; competition. Intel is not a system-builder company, they prefer to sell to system builders, and provide reference designs that other companies can take ques from. For example, my school district bought a bunch of re-branded Intel NUCs from a 3rd party in bulk for far cheaper than what Intel was selling them for. MSI Cubi, and Gigabyte BRIX systems are also very similar in footprint using similar parts for a much cheaper price.
So is it expensive? Yes. It is worth it... maybe, or maybe not. But if you are on a budget there are plenty of other cheaper options available because those are the units that Intel would prefer you to purchase.
Think of it like the MS Surface lineup. There are plenty of surface clone devices for far less money. But Surface is what gets all the hype because it was 'the first' of the form factor and has the most PR behind it. But I could almost guarantee that the surface clone devices out-sell Surface several times over just on cost alone. And MS is OK with that because they are not really in the market to sell Surface PCs; they are in the market to keep PC manufacturers honest and making decent machines because they put out crap for too long. Now there is a standard of 'what can be done' which has raised quality across the board. The NUC play is almost exactly the same.
The Skylake Brix only supports DDR3L, whereas the Intel NUC does DDR4. Also, the Intel supports 32GB RAM while the Brix tops out at 16. There's a couple of other things like this. Are the extra features worth the price premium? You have to decide for yourself.
Partpicker is just a site where you can scan for components across multiple vendors, so there is nobody selling the PC he described, he was simply saying that he put those components together in a theoretical PC, and the price of said theoretical PC was $700.
point being that it is small, and is not a laptop. This is a great small server, HTPC, desktop, POS or any other of the hundreds of scenarios when you don't want a laptop.
I can see using these in a: Bank, Office, Hospital, School, Lab (especially a lab where I can keep everything off of a desk/table and this can bolt the back of the monitor), or anywhere else where I want to have a decent amount of power but want a REAL monitor (not some 15") and keyboard to work with. You work all day on a 27" monitor then spend 15 minutes cramped on even a 17" notebook and tell me again why this doesn't make sense.
Not everyone needs (or wants) their computer to be mobile. A LOT of people don't want them to move once they're where they're at.
To be honest I'm thinking of buying one of these (at least the sky lake variant with the Iris GPU) for everyday tasks and some gaming like CS:GO, DiRT 3, GTA V and some other games. My expectations are not high and i'm not planning to max out the settings in every games especially the newer ones
Iris pro had some issues. Heat output and price were two major issues.
Im just glad intel is finally using the 28 watt model. That is going to be a great HTPC gaming box. Tiny and out of the way, but enough oomph to play party games.
The size of the box is meaningless without counting the size of the power brick. They really should have powered these with USB-C, like Chromebooks, MacBooks and many laptops, as these are essentially laptop parts.
I am hoping in the future where a monitor can also serve as the power supply to these machine via the single USB-C cable while also acting as the cable for video and USB hub on the monitor. It will be a very neat setup. 65W is perfect for USB-PD.
The power brick size does not matter for of the relevant use cases. 1) Imagine placing it under your TV or monitor in the gap from the supporting surface to the bottom of the display. 2) Imagine mounting it on the back of your TV/monitor.
In neither case does the power brick size really matter as that area is behind the TV/monitor and out of sight. All that matters is that it can sneak into that narrow space.
Ya... that is one large disappointment. I keep hoping for PoE versions, or cheap universal USB-C chargers to come out for these things, but nothing yet :( Also keep hoping to see fanless designs, and nothing there either.
I honestly think a usb-C charger would cost you more than a no-name replacement brick for something like this. They run on like 19v and a few amps, power bricks for that are dime a dozen.
What argument is this anyways? External powerbrick makes it way easier to work with these small machines - and adding an internal brick just increases weight, size and ads another point of failure in a machine that is supposed to just work. This is a laptop without a screen or keyboard, and they all comes with bricks unless you want to add 1lbs to the weight and another few inches.
That would be nice but we have to be realistic... Skylake/KabyLake only native supports DP 1.2 and HDMI 1.4. Falon Ridge adds USB 3.1, TB, and HDMI 2.0. Intel doesn't have anything this generation to support anything better. Also, DP 1.2 already supports UDH at 60Hz. The Immediate need to support higher resolutions isn't essential right this moment.
And yet they chose "Baby Canyon", the phrase that'll earn you an instant divorce after the pregnancy. I'm guessing that the marketing team was all-male and/or non-parents.
Baby Canyon. How fitting. Costs about as much as having a baby. And the canyon represents the amount of performance you are throwing away by wasting money on something that is smaller than it needs to be.
By the way, the question is not "will it work", it's will Microsoft deny updates to Windows 7 running on the new hardware (as they have previously threatened to do). Also, Intel has stated that it will not provide official Kaby Lake drivers for Windows 7, so I'd like to know the implications of that. Having to rely on Windows 7 default drivers for, say, AHCI has usually meant inferior SSD performance. I don't really care about lack of software support for gimmick features like speedshift (although maybe this isn't such a gimmick for NUCs).
you CAN use windows 7, but you shouldn't. It SUPPORTS windows 7, but no one sayd you should get it with windows 7. It also supports windows xp, but no one is bitching about that. Figure out the difference between recommended and supported.
it's supported - not recommended. Windows 7 is probably the easiest and most compatible OS to install today, and tons of people and businesses still buy it. It does NOT say you should buy windows 7, but rather by default it is supported.
to be fair though, a USB3 dongle NIC will make this in to whatever you need for it to be. Most USBC dongles comes with a NIC just for giggles and laughs these days. I think i bought a dongle for USBc with a DVI connector, a gigabit NIC, and 2 USB3 ports for like $13 from newegg (Dell branded). The whole point of USBc is that it should connect whatever you need to expand the box with.
Any indication that Intel is taking their graphics drivers seriously? I currently see absolutely no point in investing into Iris pro graphics if it shows no performance improvement over HD520/620 in certain (even current triple A) titles.
Currently, Intel seems to be hell-bent on wasting die space
Still sucks there are no physical quad core models like the Skull Canyon model or whatever it was called. That thing was really amazing in potential, had it not been let down by its graphics component.
I have the skulltrail one, and thought all the specs look great, it is still just a glorified laptop. It's awesome to be able to put the machine in my backpack and basically it weights no more than a book of similar size, and I have every connector in the world available to me, dual M.2's, qudchannel RAM... It is not made for gaming, and anyone thinking that they are should perhaps rethink their strategy. This is a compromise, as is the macbook pro: You want a sleak, sexy, Intel made computer - here you go - you want to bitch and moan about what it doesn't have and how expensive it is; then you are not the target, and should be building your own or buy a full sized desktop.
Price seems very steep. I mean for about $550 I can get a skull trail NUC now. Yeah it's bigger but also has TB 3 and a much faster CPU and GPU. Downside is lack of hardware decode for 4k.
" Optane-ready - allowing Optane M.2 SSDs to work seamlessly in conjunction with 2.5" hard drives"
Nonsensical statement.
An Optane SSD as an NVMe SSD that uses Optane NVRAM instead of NAND-based NVRAM. Any computer that supports an NVMe SSD will support an Optane SSD, therefore a computer doesn't have to be 'Optane-ready' to use an Optane SSD.
Where the confusion I think comes in is in Optane _RAM_. Intel has spoken about being able to slot in Optane RAM sticks into RAM slots. Perhaps 'Optane ready' means it will support this.
"2Intel® Optane™ Memory and its logo denote a platform feature made up of individual components and not solely a single small factor solid state drive or a memory media. A system that is Intel® Optane™ memory ready includes: an 7th Gen Intel® Core™ or Xeon® E3 v6 processor1, an Intel® 200 series2 or 100/C230 series3 (HM175, QM175, or CM238) chipset, M.2 type 2280-S1-B-M or 2242-S1-B-M connector on a PCH Remapped PCIe* Controller and Lanes in a x2 or x4 configuration with B-M keys that meet NVMe Spec 1.1 and System BIOS that supports the RST 15.5 driver. Support limited to Intel® S-, H-, and U-series processors. Only supported on 7th Gen Intel® Core™ or Xeon® E3 v6 S-series processors. Only supported on 7th Gen Intel® Core™ or Xeon® E3 v6 H-series processors."
This isn't "just another NVMe SSD". Nor is this the difference between an SSD with planar NAND vs an SSD with 3D NAND. That's why initial Optane offerings come in sizes of... 16 and 32GB. This isn't primary storage, it's used for caching of data including data needed at boot time. So unless you can find another way to tell your OS to cache data on that device and also use it at boot lets just go forward on the assumption that this can be viewed just like SRT. It needs both hardware and software support to run and it runs *in conjunction* with your primary storage.
No, the point s that you don't have a gigantic array of ports in the front or back. Anything you need can be done with a dongle, USB3, USB 3.1, TB3. If you want loads of old, large and dust eating ports - buy a desktop.
Intel, stop trying to make Thunderbolt happen. IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN. At least, not unless you make it ubiquitous by (a) not charging an arm and a leg for it (b) stop gimping it on lower-end models.
At this point, however, Thunderbolt is destined for the same fate as Firewire: overpriced Mac junk.
I think it makes sense to have a TB3 port on the back - it'd typically be used for connecting screens or storage. A type C port on the front too would have been nice, especially if it were USB 3.1. Even if it were only on the larger chassis models.
I'd like to see smaller eGPU cages. Ones with a 75W limit and, say, low profile dual slot. Itd be a lot smaller to hide, and a lot cheaper for the end user.
Anyone notice the pricing at random sites is radically better than the linked article. $700 for a barebones is pretty hard to swallow, but search for NUC7i7BNH and a bunch of sites have it for just slightly over $500. PC Connection is $500.88, shopblt $521.75.
Not bad for (what intel claims) is a significant GPU upgrade from the previous skull canyon. I guess that's why the skull canyon has dropped from $650-$700 ish to $550.
I'll be watching for comparisons of the Iris 650 gpu.
We use NUCs for business desktop PCs. And laptops do not compete. The standard setup for most people is either a single 20-24" monitor, or in many cases dual 20-24" monitors. And laptop keyboards do not hold up to serious typing, that requires a quality desktop keyboard. But my customers also do not wish to have a boat anchor occupying their office space. So NUC it is. And though I have checked out other NUC like solutions, the aluminum chassis speaks of quality that the customer appreciates. I have one at home as a media center PC that is the center of my entertainment system. Low power consumption, virtually noiseless, and more flexibility than a cable box or streaming box. I do everything at home with that and a 120" projector screen.
Almost exactly the same situation here. NUCs are great desktop replacements for the office and offer fair pricing in my opinion; desktops with good SSDs, 8GB RAM and the same CPU spec cost similar, and with the NUC you get the benefit of hanging off the back of a screen too.
People seem to overlook the fact they put the good spec 'U' CPUs in them too, not just the base models.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
70 Comments
Back to Article
SaolDan - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Neat!nathanddrews - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
I understand what NUC is trying to achieve as a form factor, but if you can buy a complete i3-7100 Kaby Lake laptop for less (including Windows) then I just don't see the point.1_rick - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Maybe you don't need portability (or perhaps you take it between a small number of fixed places), and you want a full-sized monitor. Waste of space to buy the LCD in a laptop, then.It could also be of use at a retail counter or nurse's station in a hospital, where there's not much space--just bolt it on the back of the monitor via the VESA mount. (Admittedly, an AIO might fill the same niche.)
Eletriarnation - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
These prices are kind of jacked up and I don't think they'll reflect the eventual reality since my Broadwell i3 NUC was $280 barebones and I've seen no indication that Kaby Lake has this kind of price difference on other platforms.SquarePeg - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Yea, a quick stop at pcpartpicker shows a decent lower end mini-ITX gaming PC coming in at right at $700. That's with i5 7500, RX 480, 16gb dual channel DDR4, 480gb ssd, ect.I get that you're paying for the small size and low power draw but these prices seem $100 to $150 too high.
CaedenV - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
The NUC lineup has always been too high, and it is for a reason; competition.Intel is not a system-builder company, they prefer to sell to system builders, and provide reference designs that other companies can take ques from. For example, my school district bought a bunch of re-branded Intel NUCs from a 3rd party in bulk for far cheaper than what Intel was selling them for. MSI Cubi, and Gigabyte BRIX systems are also very similar in footprint using similar parts for a much cheaper price.
So is it expensive? Yes. It is worth it... maybe, or maybe not. But if you are on a budget there are plenty of other cheaper options available because those are the units that Intel would prefer you to purchase.
Think of it like the MS Surface lineup. There are plenty of surface clone devices for far less money. But Surface is what gets all the hype because it was 'the first' of the form factor and has the most PR behind it. But I could almost guarantee that the surface clone devices out-sell Surface several times over just on cost alone. And MS is OK with that because they are not really in the market to sell Surface PCs; they are in the market to keep PC manufacturers honest and making decent machines because they put out crap for too long. Now there is a standard of 'what can be done' which has raised quality across the board. The NUC play is almost exactly the same.
Ej24 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
I wonder how the prices compare with a comparable Gigabyte Brix pc? There are technically competitors in this space.spikebike - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Sadly the competition seems to cheap out on the GPUs. I'd love to be wrong and see the 28 watt i7 + iris 650 graphics in something cheaper.1_rick - Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - link
The Skylake Brix only supports DDR3L, whereas the Intel NUC does DDR4. Also, the Intel supports 32GB RAM while the Brix tops out at 16. There's a couple of other things like this. Are the extra features worth the price premium? You have to decide for yourself.spikebike - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
URL for the mini-itx gaming pc you describe?nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
http://www.newegg.comfanofanand - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Partpicker is just a site where you can scan for components across multiple vendors, so there is nobody selling the PC he described, he was simply saying that he put those components together in a theoretical PC, and the price of said theoretical PC was $700.nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
point being that it is small, and is not a laptop. This is a great small server, HTPC, desktop, POS or any other of the hundreds of scenarios when you don't want a laptop.SiSiX - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
I can see using these in a:Bank, Office, Hospital, School, Lab (especially a lab where I can keep everything off of a desk/table and this can bolt the back of the monitor), or anywhere else where I want to have a decent amount of power but want a REAL monitor (not some 15") and keyboard to work with. You work all day on a 27" monitor then spend 15 minutes cramped on even a 17" notebook and tell me again why this doesn't make sense.
Not everyone needs (or wants) their computer to be mobile. A LOT of people don't want them to move once they're where they're at.
Ro_Ja - Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - link
To be honest I'm thinking of buying one of these (at least the sky lake variant with the Iris GPU) for everyday tasks and some gaming like CS:GO, DiRT 3, GTA V and some other games. My expectations are not high and i'm not planning to max out the settings in every games especially the newer onesmooninite - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Yes! Finally Kaby Lake Iris! Can't wait to see how it performs against Low/Mid-Range AMD and NVIDIA offerings.SharpEars - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Yes, but it's Kaby Lake Iris Plus and not Iris Pro like with SkylakeTheinsanegamerN - Thursday, March 2, 2017 - link
Iris pro had some issues. Heat output and price were two major issues.Im just glad intel is finally using the 28 watt model. That is going to be a great HTPC gaming box. Tiny and out of the way, but enough oomph to play party games.
fazalmajid - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
The size of the box is meaningless without counting the size of the power brick. They really should have powered these with USB-C, like Chromebooks, MacBooks and many laptops, as these are essentially laptop parts.random_person_1 - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
I am hoping in the future where a monitor can also serve as the power supply to these machine via the single USB-C cable while also acting as the cable for video and USB hub on the monitor. It will be a very neat setup. 65W is perfect for USB-PD.dullard - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
The power brick size does not matter for of the relevant use cases.1) Imagine placing it under your TV or monitor in the gap from the supporting surface to the bottom of the display.
2) Imagine mounting it on the back of your TV/monitor.
In neither case does the power brick size really matter as that area is behind the TV/monitor and out of sight. All that matters is that it can sneak into that narrow space.
dullard - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
for MANY of the1_rick - Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - link
I carry a Skull Canyon back and forth to work every day. The brick is huge, but it's pretty light. YMMV but it doesn't bother me at all.CaedenV - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Ya... that is one large disappointment. I keep hoping for PoE versions, or cheap universal USB-C chargers to come out for these things, but nothing yet :(Also keep hoping to see fanless designs, and nothing there either.
nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
I honestly think a usb-C charger would cost you more than a no-name replacement brick for something like this. They run on like 19v and a few amps, power bricks for that are dime a dozen.nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
What argument is this anyways? External powerbrick makes it way easier to work with these small machines - and adding an internal brick just increases weight, size and ads another point of failure in a machine that is supposed to just work. This is a laptop without a screen or keyboard, and they all comes with bricks unless you want to add 1lbs to the weight and another few inches.skiboysteve - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
I wish they published the multimonitor count and display resolution supportedskiboysteve - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
And they really should support higher than DP 1.2 by this point.weilin - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
That would be nice but we have to be realistic... Skylake/KabyLake only native supports DP 1.2 and HDMI 1.4. Falon Ridge adds USB 3.1, TB, and HDMI 2.0. Intel doesn't have anything this generation to support anything better. Also, DP 1.2 already supports UDH at 60Hz. The Immediate need to support higher resolutions isn't essential right this moment.weilin - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
UDH -> UHDSharpEars - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
KabyLake supports HDMI 2.0 and these NUCs bear this out.ganeshts - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Two displays, 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz for both (HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2, DisplayPort 1.2)sor - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Skull Canyon had a skull imprinted on the outside/ top of case. I presume Baby Canyon will have a baby?CaedenV - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
... a baby falling off a bridge across a canyon?Perhaps it got scrapped due to the marketing team.
Carmen00 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
And yet they chose "Baby Canyon", the phrase that'll earn you an instant divorce after the pregnancy. I'm guessing that the marketing team was all-male and/or non-parents.Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Baby Canyon. How fitting. Costs about as much as having a baby. And the canyon represents the amount of performance you are throwing away by wasting money on something that is smaller than it needs to be.Michael Bay - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
It`s incredibly cheap to have a baby where you`re from, then.nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
well, making a baby isn't really a costly thing - raising it on the other hand.fanofanand - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Having a baby is $6-20k depending on complications. Mr. Bay is spot on.RU482 - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Windows 7 is a supported OS? I thought Win7 support ended with SkylakeCaedenV - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Nope, they added it for 'just one more' generation.But seriously, win7 will continue to work fine on new chips. It may not be as optimized, but it will still run all the same.
Oubadah - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Skylake was the "just one more" generation.Oubadah - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
By the way, the question is not "will it work", it's will Microsoft deny updates to Windows 7 running on the new hardware (as they have previously threatened to do). Also, Intel has stated that it will not provide official Kaby Lake drivers for Windows 7, so I'd like to know the implications of that. Having to rely on Windows 7 default drivers for, say, AHCI has usually meant inferior SSD performance. I don't really care about lack of software support for gimmick features like speedshift (although maybe this isn't such a gimmick for NUCs).Michael Bay - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
What sort of updates? 7 only receives security now.nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
you CAN use windows 7, but you shouldn't. It SUPPORTS windows 7, but no one sayd you should get it with windows 7. It also supports windows xp, but no one is bitching about that. Figure out the difference between recommended and supported.awehring - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
@Ganesh: from where is your information regarding Windows 7 / 8.1?At the NUC support page all the drivers are only for Windows 10 / 64 bit.
Windows 7 / 8.1 support is not mentioned there.
nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
it's supported - not recommended. Windows 7 is probably the easiest and most compatible OS to install today, and tons of people and businesses still buy it. It does NOT say you should buy windows 7, but rather by default it is supported.dgingeri - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Still none with dual NICs. Well, Intel is leaving the custom built home router market wide open for others.nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
to be fair though, a USB3 dongle NIC will make this in to whatever you need for it to be. Most USBC dongles comes with a NIC just for giggles and laughs these days. I think i bought a dongle for USBc with a DVI connector, a gigabit NIC, and 2 USB3 ports for like $13 from newegg (Dell branded). The whole point of USBc is that it should connect whatever you need to expand the box with.mrdude - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Any indication that Intel is taking their graphics drivers seriously? I currently see absolutely no point in investing into Iris pro graphics if it shows no performance improvement over HD520/620 in certain (even current triple A) titles.Currently, Intel seems to be hell-bent on wasting die space
Samus - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Still sucks there are no physical quad core models like the Skull Canyon model or whatever it was called. That thing was really amazing in potential, had it not been let down by its graphics component.nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
I have the skulltrail one, and thought all the specs look great, it is still just a glorified laptop. It's awesome to be able to put the machine in my backpack and basically it weights no more than a book of similar size, and I have every connector in the world available to me, dual M.2's, qudchannel RAM... It is not made for gaming, and anyone thinking that they are should perhaps rethink their strategy. This is a compromise, as is the macbook pro: You want a sleak, sexy, Intel made computer - here you go - you want to bitch and moan about what it doesn't have and how expensive it is; then you are not the target, and should be building your own or buy a full sized desktop.beginner99 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Price seems very steep. I mean for about $550 I can get a skull trail NUC now. Yeah it's bigger but also has TB 3 and a much faster CPU and GPU. Downside is lack of hardware decode for 4k.eldakka - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
" Optane-ready - allowing Optane M.2 SSDs to work seamlessly in conjunction with 2.5" hard drives"Nonsensical statement.
An Optane SSD as an NVMe SSD that uses Optane NVRAM instead of NAND-based NVRAM.
Any computer that supports an NVMe SSD will support an Optane SSD, therefore a computer doesn't have to be 'Optane-ready' to use an Optane SSD.
Where the confusion I think comes in is in Optane _RAM_. Intel has spoken about being able to slot in Optane RAM sticks into RAM slots. Perhaps 'Optane ready' means it will support this.
close - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Not quite so simple:"2Intel® Optane™ Memory and its logo denote a platform feature made up of individual components and not solely a single small factor solid state drive or a memory media. A system that is Intel® Optane™ memory ready includes: an 7th Gen Intel® Core™ or Xeon® E3 v6 processor1, an Intel® 200 series2 or 100/C230 series3 (HM175, QM175, or CM238) chipset, M.2 type 2280-S1-B-M or 2242-S1-B-M connector on a PCH Remapped PCIe* Controller and Lanes in a x2 or x4 configuration with B-M keys that meet NVMe Spec 1.1 and System BIOS that supports the RST 15.5 driver.
Support limited to Intel® S-, H-, and U-series processors.
Only supported on 7th Gen Intel® Core™ or Xeon® E3 v6 S-series processors.
Only supported on 7th Gen Intel® Core™ or Xeon® E3 v6 H-series processors."
This isn't "just another NVMe SSD". Nor is this the difference between an SSD with planar NAND vs an SSD with 3D NAND. That's why initial Optane offerings come in sizes of... 16 and 32GB. This isn't primary storage, it's used for caching of data including data needed at boot time. So unless you can find another way to tell your OS to cache data on that device and also use it at boot lets just go forward on the assumption that this can be viewed just like SRT. It needs both hardware and software support to run and it runs *in conjunction* with your primary storage.
damianrobertjones - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
"DisplayPort 1.2 via USB-C connector"Another new cable to buy :( I have drawers full of the things.
P.s. I'd imagine the price to rise slightly as that's the aim: Each new gen gets more expensive.
nowayandnohow - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
No, the point s that you don't have a gigantic array of ports in the front or back. Anything you need can be done with a dongle, USB3, USB 3.1, TB3. If you want loads of old, large and dust eating ports - buy a desktop.damianrobertjones - Monday, January 23, 2017 - link
My point stands... I STILL have to buy a new cableThe_Assimilator - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Intel, stop trying to make Thunderbolt happen. IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN. At least, not unless you make it ubiquitous by (a) not charging an arm and a leg for it (b) stop gimping it on lower-end models.At this point, however, Thunderbolt is destined for the same fate as Firewire: overpriced Mac junk.
utmode - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
@The_Assimilator+1.
no body buys TB device. I haven't seen any body has it.
Meteor2 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
I think TB3 has a place; external GPUs always spring to mind, or just moving lots of video (say if you're a vlogger).I'm surprised there's only one Type-C port, and that it's on the back.
MattMe - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
I think it makes sense to have a TB3 port on the back - it'd typically be used for connecting screens or storage. A type C port on the front too would have been nice, especially if it were USB 3.1.Even if it were only on the larger chassis models.
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, March 2, 2017 - link
I'd like to see smaller eGPU cages. Ones with a 75W limit and, say, low profile dual slot. Itd be a lot smaller to hide, and a lot cheaper for the end user.clixbou - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Any Kaby NUCs with drivers for Linux?(Professional software developers are looking for reasonable alternatives to Mac computers)
fanofanand - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Did they rename Iris Pro to Iris Plus? Or is this a different type of iGpu?MattMe - Saturday, January 28, 2017 - link
I think the Iris Plus is the models with 64mb edram, the Iris Pro is being saved for the 128mb models.spikebike - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
Anyone notice the pricing at random sites is radically better than the linked article. $700 for a barebones is pretty hard to swallow, but search for NUC7i7BNH and a bunch of sites have it for just slightly over $500. PC Connection is $500.88, shopblt $521.75.Not bad for (what intel claims) is a significant GPU upgrade from the previous skull canyon. I guess that's why the skull canyon has dropped from $650-$700 ish to $550.
I'll be watching for comparisons of the Iris 650 gpu.
falko2904 - Monday, January 23, 2017 - link
We use NUCs for business desktop PCs. And laptops do not compete. The standard setup for most people is either a single 20-24" monitor, or in many cases dual 20-24" monitors. And laptop keyboards do not hold up to serious typing, that requires a quality desktop keyboard. But my customers also do not wish to have a boat anchor occupying their office space. So NUC it is. And though I have checked out other NUC like solutions, the aluminum chassis speaks of quality that the customer appreciates. I have one at home as a media center PC that is the center of my entertainment system. Low power consumption, virtually noiseless, and more flexibility than a cable box or streaming box. I do everything at home with that and a 120" projector screen.MattMe - Saturday, January 28, 2017 - link
Almost exactly the same situation here. NUCs are great desktop replacements for the office and offer fair pricing in my opinion; desktops with good SSDs, 8GB RAM and the same CPU spec cost similar, and with the NUC you get the benefit of hanging off the back of a screen too.People seem to overlook the fact they put the good spec 'U' CPUs in them too, not just the base models.
Silma - Monday, January 23, 2017 - link
NUCs would be great if not that expensive.I'll base my next HTPC on the Up2 (http://www.up-board.org/upsquared/), whose main disadvantage is HDMI 1.4b, so no Netflix 4K.
But so much cheaper.