It’s all coming together. We’ve been anxious for full details on the Intel Skull Canyon NUC that we first saw at CES, and we’ve pointed out that the Razer Core external GPU dock was obviously designed with more than just Razer’s own laptops in mind. At GDC, Intel took the wraps off of the NUC, and perhaps the most notable detail is that it’s designed in part to make use of the Core.
Skull Canyon: Not That Kind NUC
When you hear “NUC,” you tend to think of a cute little box that has pretty good specs, but this is a cut above. Intel crammed impressive specs into the petite 216 x 116 x 23 mm NUC, including a 6th-gen (Skylake) Intel Core i7-6770HQ 45-watt CPU with Intel Iris Pro 580 graphics. It supports up to 32 GB of DDR4-2133MHz+ RAM and has dual M.2 slots for SATA III (6 Gbps), PCIe x4 Gen 3 NVMe and AHCI SSDs. There’s an SD slot that can handle up to 512 GB of additional storage, too.
You can opt for a lid for the NUC sporting the killer skull logo, or if that’s not your thing, you can go with a simple matte black cover.
In addition to the four USB 3.0 ports, full HMDI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort 1.2, Intel Gigabit LAN and headphone/mic jack, the Skull Canyon NUC sports a USB Type-C port equipped with USB 3.1, DisplayPort 1.2 and -- the kicker -- Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps). That one addition means you can connect “other devices,” and Intel specifically mentioned the Razer Core external GPU dock.
| Intel’s Skull Canyon NUC | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel 6th Gen (Skylake) Core i7-6770HQ Processor (45 W TDP), 2.6-3.5 GHz Turbo |
| GPU | Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 |
| Memory | Supports Up To 32 GB DDR4 @ 2133+ MHz (2 DIMM slots) |
| Storage | -2x M.2 connectors supporting 22x42 or 22x80 SATA or PCIe SSD-SDXC card slot (up to 512 GB) |
| Connectivity | -Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) With USB 3.1 And DP 1.2 over USB Type-C-4 x USB 3.0-HDMI 2.0-Mini-DisplayPort V1.2-Intel HD Audio Headphone/Mic Jack |
| Networking | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 4.2Intel Gigabit LAN |
| Consumer Infrared Sensor | Yes |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 216 x 116 x 23 mm (.69L Volume) |
| Barebones MSRP | $650 |
| Full "Typical" Build (16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Win 10) | $999 |
No Steam Machine Here
Although we were told at CES that the NUC wouldn’t ship with Windows, and we inferred that meant it may not be a Windows machine at all, it seems Intel has changed its mind. The NUC will indeed offer Windows 10, and we can’t help but wonder if the original plan was to make this a Steam Machine. It’s not surprising that Intel bailed on that notion. A teeny tiny Windows PC that can (ostensibly) turn into a full gaming PC by connecting to what amounts to a mega-peripheral is a much more enticing setup, thanks to Razer’s work on the Core.
Going with a standards-based external GPU dock, it seems, is already paying dividends for Razer. And for consumers.
Still Pricey
The cost of the Razer Blade and Blade Stealth notebooks paired with the Core bear a sky-high price, and although Intel’s offering isn't much cheaper, it does come in at the lowest-end of the cost scale. The company said the Skull Canyon NUC (NUC6i7KYK) barebones kit will be $650, although a "typical build" with 16 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD will be around $1,000. Considering the $500 cost of the Core, plus a higher-end graphics card to put in it, this is still a pricey proposition, but it just nibbles at the $1,000-$2,199 cost of the Razer notebooks. (Of course, you still need a monitor for the NUC, but, well, you probably already have one.)
You can lay your hard-earned cash down for Skull Canyon NUC preorders in April. The device will ship in May. The Razer Core begins shipping in April.
Seth Colaner is the News Director for Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter @SethColaner. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
