Today’s Intel® Next Unit of Computing (NUC) covers a wider range of needs by sporting cutting-edge technologies such as a 6th-generation Intel® Core™ i7-6770HQ processor and a Thunderbolt 3 port. Compared to previous versions of the Intel NUC series, this “Skull Canyon” version comes with a redesigned chassis that features a thinner but wider footprint to house the performance needed for gaming in 3D and creating digital content. Powering this latest NUC is an Intel Core i7-6770HQ processor that features four cores and speeds of up to 3.5 GHz and provides 6MB of cache memory. For instant loading times and running multiple apps, Intel lets you customize this kit with up to 32GB of DDR4 memory, as well as two M.2 SSDs running in a RAID 0 array.
To meet the challenges of workstation users, as well as gamers, it is armed with an Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 engine, delivering 4K content across multiple displays and running modern games at playable frame rates. This hi-end GPU operates at up to 950 MHz and offers 576 shader cores, to place the unit around the level of a dedicated GTX 750 Ti GPU. This combination of features is 50 to 75% faster than a previous Broadwell Iris Pro 6200 solution and provides you with a gaming system that can be mounted behind a monitor.
Unlike previous generations of NUCs, the onboard Thunderbolt 3 port lets you step up the NUC’s graphics performance by connecting an external dedicated graphics card housed in a Thunderbolt-capable enclosure. Moreover, this port offers a maximum throughput of 40GB/s to support daisy-chaining capabilities with other Thunderbolt devices. Other notable onboard ports are four USB 3.0 ports, along with mini DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 ports. Aside from these ports, it sports a dual-band wireless module that grants 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless capabilities, as well as a card slot for accessing content on SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards.
