Intel introduced the NUC 13 Extreme – codenamed “Raptor Canyon” – which is their most powerful minicomputer to date. The new Raptor Canyon PC will offer 13th generation processors and space for up to 12-inch graphics cards with three slots. The Minikit is designed for game enthusiasts and content creators looking to tidy up their desk.
The chassis of the Raptor Canyon has been redesigned to reduce noise and optimize airflow, while maintaining the iconic compact size of the NUC series. We are sorry to say the iconic RGB skull faceplate leave this new tower pc even if you can now find a smaller skull inside.
The new gaming NUC features unlocked 13th Gen i9, i7 or i5 processors that use a new hybrid core architecture to ensure streaming and gaming at the highest possible level. The top-spec model includes an incredibly fast Intel Core i9-13900K processor.
Intel NUC 13 Extreme will be launched first in China and will be available to a wider audience in early 2023. Kit prices will start at $ 760 (around £ 667 or AU $ 1,180) for the base i5 and go up to $ 1,179 (around £ 1,030 or AU $ 1,830 depending on the setup you’re looking for.
Analysis: NUC is a great door to building PCs for beginners
Intel NUC aims to provide people who may not be sure they will build their own gaming PC with a smaller and less complex canvas. That’s why they’re so cool. It’s a great option for people like us who don’t have a lot of desk space and don’t need something particularly expensive.
Since Intel NUC 13 Extreme supports 12 ” graphics cards with three slots, you can buy a new GPU or slot in an older card and upgrade when you have cash. Don’t expect any massive RTX 3090 Ti or 4090 models to fit in it, though. You’ll also need an SSD and some RAM, but thankfully they’re not that expensive.
The hybrid core architecture we mentioned above is a clever technology that is new to the 13th generation processors that split the cores into two halves: performance cores and performance cores. P cores are there to cope with a heavy workload, the main thing you run on your PC – like a game or a resource-intensive program. Meanwhile, electronic cores are optimized to handle background processes.
Let’s say you have a game running on one monitor, but your music player or Discord chat open on another, your CPU isn’t trying to focus and control both loads on its own. This is especially beneficial for streamers as E cores can keep streaming software running smoothly in the background, while P cores provide optimal gaming performance.