I’m a fan of small form factor PCs. Besides the space-saving benefits these little machines bring, there’s something really cool about seeing these little machines pack so much power. Take the Intel NUC 11 Extreme, or Cupertino’s most powerful machine to date, last year’s Apple Mac Studio M1 Ultra. But this time, we go even smaller with the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast. This is a very powerful little mini PC, at least on paper.
Currently Intel Inside only
Before I go any further, let me briefly explain what this product actually is. The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is a mini PC in the Next Unit of Computing series of small desktops and desktop kits. Unlike their bigger and more powerful “extreme” counterparts, the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is even smaller, roughly the size of your average fiction novel, but lacks a bit in terms of raw performance. It sits on top of the NUC Pro lineup, which has a processor found in lighter laptops and lacks discrete graphics.
Going back to the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast, our particular unit featured 6 Intel’s Performance and 8 Efficiency cores and a total of 20 threads, along with 16 GB of 3200 MHz DDR4 RAM and a 500 GB SSD. It has a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H. There’s also Intel’s own Arc A770M graphics card here, rather than an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card, making it one of the first all-Intel machines (not counting those with integrated graphics, of course). not).
And while this isn’t the most powerful machine we’ve tested, it’s still a pretty good PC.
All in all, we’re seeing performance very similar to something like a high-end gaming laptop, and for good reason. It actually has hardware for laptops. For those unfamiliar with Intel’s processor nomenclature, the H- suffix basically means that this is a chip for high-performance laptops such as gaming and content creation. Similarly, the Arc A770M here is also a mobile graphics card, not an Arc A770 for desktop configurations. Of course, you should probably expect that from a desktop that has a smaller footprint than most laptops.
Unfortunately, when it comes to raw compute performance, the M1 Ultra-powered Apple Mac Studio wins, with 24,227 points on the Cinebench R23 multi-core, beating out the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast’s 15,485 points. However, the NUC 12 Enthusiast is a bit behind in single-core performance, with its 1719 points slightly ahead of the little powerhouse in Cupertino. However, it’s noticeably more powerful than the Intel Core i9-11900KB in the NUC 11 Extreme and still a solid Core i7 in the laptop tier. In that case, the NUC 12 Enthusiast is still a pretty capable machine for content creation and video editing, if not exactly a Mac Studio. Either way, if all you want is performance, you can always choose to build your own PC with a top tier processor like the Intel Core i9-13900K or the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.
In fact, the Arc A770M may be more impressive than the processor itself. Even very demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2 and F1 22 get playable frame rates from 1080p high to ultra-settings that look very stunning in a wide variety of games. performance. In fact, it outperforms my Ryzen 5 3600 and GeForce RTX 2060 desktop at home on Time Spy, where he scored 11,033 against my PC’s 7,201. However, one odd quirk about the Arc A770M (and Intel’s Arc graphics cards in general) is that while it works fairly well for newer titles, the lack of DirectX 9 support leaves it a bit underwhelming when it comes to older games. am. Instead, the CPU should emulate the DX9 API. This will result in slower performance for older titles like CS:GO, but Intel is working on drivers so it should improve over time.
As for temperatures, things get a little hot inside that little box, to say the least. Gaming laptop users are used to their machines operating near the red line. It’s very likely, and it’s actually pretty much the same case. The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast runs warm, jumping from the mid-80s to the mid-90s with heavy use, dangerously close to its maximum operating temperature of 100°C. . The bigger surprise here, however, is that the Arc A770M actually performed fine by comparison, peaking in the mid-70s despite being only in 1080p gaming scenarios.
Discreet “desktop”
If you’re a fan of minimalist design, the NUC 12 Enthusiast itself doesn’t look as sleek or attractive as something like the Mac Studio. That’s partly because of the angular, edgy look of the plastic chassis with the glowing hexagonal power button. The NUC 12 Enthusiast also comes with a stand in case you want it upright like a console or cheap internet router. The construction is mostly solid, but there are few moving parts such as fans. should do it You can take one or two small knocks without taking much damage.
Of course, the best thing about having a PC this small is how discreet it is. It can be stored behind the monitor. It can also be easily hidden behind the TV for a clean look when used in a home theater or as a couch gaming rig in the living room. Get amazing performance in a PC with a volume of just 2.5 liters. It’s hard to believe you could build a desktop this small, yet so powerful.
As a quick comparison, other popular small form factor PC cases typically range from 8L to 18L or so. The super popular Cooler Master MasterBox NR200 has a 18L case and the Fractal Node 202 has a 10.2L case. Then there are more expensive and niche cases like the 7.2L Dan Case A4-SFX and the 8.2L Louqe Ghost S1 MkIII. Of course, you can go even smaller, but using a non-standard Flex ATX power supply such as the Velkase Velka 3 with 3.9L capacity is going into uncharted territory and is also limited in terms of type. of hardware that can fit them.
It also has pretty solid I/O for a device this small. On the front are two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, an audio combo jack and a full-size SD card slot. Meanwhile, on the back, you’ll find four USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port, a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, an optical audio out port, two DisplayPort 2.0 ports and an HDMI 2.1 port. It’s arguably as good, if not better, than Mac Studio in this regard. Mac Studio has more USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 10Gbps Ethernet port, but no DisplayPort output and only two USB-A ports.
That said, it’s not a full desktop, which it shows. Unlike regular PCs and the Intel NUC Extreme lineup, the NUC 12 Enthusiast uses laptop parts, so everything is soldered on. This means there is no way to upgrade your CPU or graphics card in the future. NUC Extreme models do this because they use replaceable “compute elements” for regular desktop-grade graphics cards and processors. In fact, the only RAM and storage upgrades here are two SODIMM slots and three M.2 storage drive slots, two of which are PCIe 4.0 and the third one is PCIe 3.0 and M.2 SATA. is supported. drive.
Niche but decent lil powerhouse
All in all, you’re looking at a very solid machine. Anyone specifically looking for a small, powerful desktop for home theater or couch gaming setups, or simply because they want a minimal workstation at home that doesn’t require them to go the Apple Mac Studio route. I am really happy with the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast. Well, there are some caveats here. So the lack of future upgrades, but if performance to size is your main priority then the NUC 12 Might be so be the winner.
emphasis on Might be so But.As far as we know, the NUC 12 Enthusiast, like his previously reviewed NUC 11 Extreme, isn’t officially available in Malaysia. US$1,180 (~RM5,088.75), but this is a barebones configuration with no RAM or storage.However, the NUC 12 Enthusiast is for sale at least on Shopee, and at your local PC shop RM7,599 For a barebones kit, it will set you back for machines tested with 16GB of RAM and 500GB of storage RM8,279 instead. It can also have 64 GB of RAM and a 2 TB SSD. RM9,179.
So not only are you paying a premium for building a regular computer, but you’re also paying a premium for buying a small form factor PC from the start, you’re paying a premium above the US recommended retail price. increase. Of course, it’s still cheaper than the best Mac Studio at RM25,599 which starts at RM8,799. It’s probably the only real competitor in the “small box, big performance” off-the-shelf computer market.
Still, despite the price, I think it’s a decent piece of hardware. Admittedly, you could definitely build your own ITX small form factor PC with about the same performance for less, but something this small I don’t think you can get a thing. And like I said, if size is all you’re after, the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is certainly something to consider, but probably not worth the money.
