Intel has launched their new NUC chassis and board alternatives for fanless systems. Previously named "Dawson Canyon", the new, revised NUCs include Intel's 7th Gen Core i3 ( 7100U, 3 MB cache, up to 2.4 GHz) or Core i5 (7300U, 3 MB cache, up to 3.5 GHz) low-power processors (15 W), and are available in chassis or board-only options. The Dawson Canyon NUC is an industrial-grade solution, offering TPM 2.0 and vPro-enabled Intel solutions.

Specifications-wise, we're looking at an UCFF board (4" x 4") with a soldered-down BGA package, up to 32 GB DDR4 2133 1.2V SO-DIMM (x2 DIMM support), up to 4 USB ports (2x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0), 2x full-size HDMI 2.0. Networking is taken care off by Intel's i219-LM 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet chip as well as an Intel Wireless-AC 8265 (IEEE 802.11ac 2x2) solution. There's support for M.2 solutions (PCIe x4: M.2 22x80 [key M] slot PCIe x1: M.2 22x30 [key E] slot) as well as Intel's Optane, should you opt for increased storage amount with an HDD but with improved speeds through Intel's caching technology. Expect fanless solutions to hit the market based on this platform soon, and due to the availability of these Dawson Canyon NUCs in board-state only, expect some standalone chassis to crop up as well.