Intel Skull Canyon NUC
Is there any sense in buying a higher-powered NUC?
It’s probably fairer to call the Intel Skull Canyon machine a mini-PC rather than a NUC, as it does not use the same form factor as the smaller square PCs. Instead, the computer is rather thin, but extra-long in a video cassette-style shape. At first glance, the computer appears positioned as a mini gaming PC, perfect for living room use, and while that is somewhat true, the reality of Intel’s Skull Canyon NUC is a little different.
The PC has a powerful Core i7-6770HQ CPU — a quad-core processor (with eight threads) that can boost from 2.6GHz up to 3.5GHz. It uses a 14nm process and has a 45W TDP — putting it well beyond the power of most NUCs. The CPU also includes Intel’s Iris Pro Graphics 580, which can run at up to 950MHz and output 4K resolutions.
The system is sold as a barebones solution, and requires RAM and also an SSD added. It supports up to 32GB of 2133+ DDR4 across two channels, as well as dual slots for SATA3 or PCIe X4 SSDs.
As for this being a gaming machine, the Iris Pro graphics are only really suitable for playing new games at low detail settings, or older titles with everything on max. For example, Bioshock Infinite barely hits 20fps at 1080p with the settings on max, whereas the older Grid 2 averages 83fps.
To get any real gaming performance, you need to run an external GPU. In this case, that’s made possible with a 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 port, which can handle an external GPU dock. The problem is that such docks are not readily available, let alone affordable.
On the plus side, the Core i7 CPU has loads of grunt for day-to-day productivity tasks, and the Iris Pro can power up to three 4K displays. Importantly, it’s also got a pretty hefty cooling solution, so can run under full load without throttling, albeit with a bit of fan noise.
The NUC6i7KYK includes loads of connectivity options, with an SD card reader, dual USB 3.0, an IR port and a 3.5mm audio jack on the front panel. Around the back, it features Gigabit LAN, two more USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, 7.1 channel audio out and a USB-C connector which can handle Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Gen 2 or DisplayPort. Built in, the PC also has dual-band 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.2. The whole shebang measures in at 211mm x 116mm x 28mm — though it also has an almost as large 19V, 120W laptop-style power brick to add to the mix.
The Skull Canyon NUC is a bit of an odd beast, and it’s hard to tell who Intel is trying to attract with it. While the underlying hardware is great, the barebones system starts at around $1,000, and still needs RAM and an SSD.
If you actually want to play modern games, it also needs a GPU dock and videocard, which makes it significantly more expensive than a gaming PC, and still not very convenient.