Monday, September 19th 2022
Intel Launches the NUC 12 Enthusiast, its Most Powerful Mini-PC
Today, Intel announced the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Mini PC and Kit (code-named Serpent Canyon). Designed for gamers and content creators, the compact mini-PC is built to include Intel Arc graphics in the smallest form factor. The NUC 12 Enthusiast features the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors and is the first Intel NUC to include Intel Arc A-series graphics in the form of the Intel Arc A770M graphics processing unit (GPU).
"The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Kit is one of the most exciting NUC's to launch because it's the first to pair an Intel processor with discrete Intel graphics. The system provides a strong combination of high performance in content creation and gaming usages, and wide array of I/O - typically found in larger systems - all in a small form-factor design. More importantly, this NUC features helpful technologies like Intel Thread Director and Intel Deep Link that make it perfect for anyone trying to create and game in the convenience of a truly compact design," said Brian McCarson, Intel vice president and general manager of the NUC Group.
Featuring an Intel Arc A770M GPU with 16 GB GDDR6 VRAM, Intel Arc graphics elevates gaming performance with a new microarchitecture optimized for gaming and the latest visual technologies, including AI-enhanced upscaling, real-time ray tracing and full support for DirectX 12 Ultimate.
By combining Intel Arc graphics with up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H mobile processor with Intel's performance hybrid architecture, the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Kit delivers all the performance and innovative capabilities users need in an ultra-compact, 2.5L form factor.
The NUC 12 Enthusiast also brings Intel Deep Link to the desktop for the first time, enabling both the CPU and GPU to seamlessly work together to boost performance across a variety of workloads.
Additional features include:
"The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Kit is one of the most exciting NUC's to launch because it's the first to pair an Intel processor with discrete Intel graphics. The system provides a strong combination of high performance in content creation and gaming usages, and wide array of I/O - typically found in larger systems - all in a small form-factor design. More importantly, this NUC features helpful technologies like Intel Thread Director and Intel Deep Link that make it perfect for anyone trying to create and game in the convenience of a truly compact design," said Brian McCarson, Intel vice president and general manager of the NUC Group.
By combining Intel Arc graphics with up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H mobile processor with Intel's performance hybrid architecture, the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Kit delivers all the performance and innovative capabilities users need in an ultra-compact, 2.5L form factor.
The NUC 12 Enthusiast also brings Intel Deep Link to the desktop for the first time, enabling both the CPU and GPU to seamlessly work together to boost performance across a variety of workloads.
Additional features include:
- Support for up to 64 GB dual-channel DDR4 memory
- Three M.2 PCIe slots, including two Gen4 NVMe slots
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports and six USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (Type-A)
- Fast connection with Intel i225-LM 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1690i and Bluetooth 5.2
- HDMI 2.1 TMDS-compatible port (up to 4K60)
- Two DisplayPort 2.0 (1.4-certified) ports
23 Comments on Intel Launches the NUC 12 Enthusiast, its Most Powerful Mini-PC
This was posted last night at 11:51pm....
@btarunr I know this is a press release, but the title says Nuc 12 Extreme, while everything else says Nuc 12 Enthusiast - and the Extreme series is the ITX-alike, compute-element equipped series AFAIK. I assume the title is wrong?
Plus, it's not acceptable to launch at the end of 2022 top end GPU with old HDMI 2.0 port (18 Gbps only) and old DisplayPort 1.4 (32 Gbps).
"Enthusiast" device must feature HDMI 2.1 at 40-48 Gbps and DisplayPort 2.0 with minimum 40 Gbps video connection.
Btw, A770M is listed on the Intel's site as "Launched" since Q2 2022, which is 30 Jun. When was the paper launch of Arc mobile?
If the review staff have the time, you should ask Intel for one of these and review it. Nothing super extensive, just a good go with the main selection of games and apps being benchmarked to see what A770M can do. Could be interesting.
AMD's RDNA3 GPUs will feature DP 2.0 ports with 80 Gbps. Wait for it in November.
Apparently you didn't pay enough attention then. You can just lookup the spec sheet Intel's website to figure out the DP2.0 in their Arc A770M
www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/228341/intel-arc-a770m-graphics/specifications.htmlUHBR10 is 40Gbps
If the cert is pending, they probably can't say too much in announcements and press releases maybe? legal issues from both the consumer and VESA itself? I wouldn't know.
This will be sure to garner plenty of clicks too with a peek at the 770M. Much can be inferred about their desktop cards with a review of that mobile GPU.
I would love to finally see this new interface in action, as I plan to buy devices with it. It should not be a big deal for Intel or any other company to demo this interface for the public, in the same way as they demo other features. Phoronix revelead DP 2.0 patches for Display 13 engine in Intel graphics more than a year ago, so we know it's been in preparation, including patches for panel replay feature.
Scandal that happened with HDMI transition from 2.0 to 2.1 should give everyone a healthy dose of scepticism regarding DP 2.0 until any vendor shows that those new ports indeed work properly and reliably. When HDMI organisation cancelled 2.0 spec, all HDMI ports on motherboards, NUCs, laptops, etc. were miraculously allowed to be marketed as "HDMI 2.1", even though almost none of those supported FRL protocol for ultra-high speeds. As you probably know, FRL protocol is the most important and defining feature of the 2.1 spec. Due to consumer backlash linked to HDMI in 2020 and 2021, Intel has to market DP 2.0 with two stars "**" and be really careful about it.
As a matter of consumer caution, I am saying "no" to any DP 2.0 spec claims until publicly demoed, tested by reviewers and certified. I hope this clarifies my position.