News Intel announces Skull Canyon gaming NUC

Makes me wonder, what with Thunderbolt 3 and I assume the latest version of Windows 10 bundled with it, whether this system could take advantage of AMD's recently announced XConnect Technology? Plug 'n' Play external graphics, sounds like it would be a great feature for this PC.

 

Yes Intel has confirmed it'll work with Razor's external graphics - Nvidia and AMD are supported.

Not sure why you'd end up spending the best part of $2k to do that though, when total volume between this + GPU box = less power than a mini-ITX rig.

What I don't like about this is:
a) Cheap plastic box for $650? GTFO.
b) Skull was good when it was overclocking/enthusiast. Is NUC enthusiast? I don't see it.
c) You have to lay it flat - you can't put it on its side because of buttons/vents. Seems a bit stupid.
d) No VESA/kensington that I saw, so less business applications
e) I bet it's noisy like a laptop when under load.
f) Waiting for benchmarks, but still not totally sure what the point of Iris is if it's not gaming (Intel still late with drivers). I see it benefits CPU performance but how marginal is that benefit for a fixed system versus, say, an i7-6700T?

 

Yep, I was thinking along the same lines - what kind of market does it make sense to have a SFF Gaming PC + external GPU, instead of all-in-one ATX, mini-ITX box - who is Intel aiming this NUC at? Also, factor in most people's game collections need a 3.5" hard-drive for storage, and that's another external box you need (I suppose you could take advantage of the dual M.2 slots but that's another expense). Add all your other points, and I'm failing to see a compelling reason for Gamers to get this.

 

I genuinely don't know, although I disagree with the 3.5" drive statement. I would say you don't need a 3.5" in any PC anymore. If you're willing to go this niche you can afford a 1TB 2.5" SSD plus there are two M.2 slots. That's plentyplenty. I survive on a 256GB alone with a couple of games installed, everything storage is on the NAS. 3.5" storage goes there!

 

At the very least they should combine the nuc and a swappable graphics enclosure into a single unit that is smaller than a custom built sff gaming pc.

Iris pro is not a gaming gpu so you'll need an external one. If they're targeting gamers at least put together a space efficient design to hold everything. Then at least it would offer something.

 

Coming soon... The Skull [whatever] Compute Stick!

 

This would make a very nice HTPC/Media box to plug into a TV. Fast SSD storage locally, with media either streamed or on NAS.

Powerful enough iGPU to play older/casual games as is, and the option to use an external GPU dock makes sense if you wanted to share a GPU between multiple systems - such as a HTPC connected to a TV/projector and a laptop in the bedroom, even if it seems counter to how most people would use such a dock - a stationary dock with portable laptop.

Edit: I would accept that an Nvidia Shield media player paired to a PC running Nvidia gamestream could deliver a similar gaming experience, but would be less flexible.

 

I love my NUC, but largely because its desk footprint is so tiny, I can tuck it places where even the smallest mITX system won't fit. That and it's all-but inaudible when doing HTPC duties... it gets more audible if you load it properly. Sure, it's fairly tall (for a tiny box with a total volume slightly larger than a 500ml bottle) but it doesn't take up a lot of room. Not sure I'd want one that was thinner-with-larger-footprint.

I've not got experience of the latest Iris Pro GPUs (my Iris Pro chip is a 4870HQ) but that one runs really freakin' hot and still can't cope with any half-demanding game.

Still, this is interesting, if a bit of a niche product.