When you think of a gaming machine, the first image that comes to mind is this monster of a PC that takes up half your workspace and has cables dangling everywhere. While there's no denying that a bigger PC will always provide the fastest gaming experience, many of us appreciate space. Until last year, getting a smaller PC meant hugely compromising the performance you'd get on your PC to play new video games, but that's changing with Intel's latest NUC 9. It is about the size of two small pizza boxes stacked on top. One and other. It's so small that from its size alone, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's an underpowered machine, but the skull-logo mesh grille requires you to be more careful. The Intel NUC 9 is packed with extremely powerful internals that would make any serious gamer jealous. You can configure it with an octa-core Intel Core i9-9980HK processor and up to 64GB of RAM with multiple drives and an RTX graphics card. These specs will put the last generation of consoles to shame.
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(Image credit: Intel)
Everyone's needs are different and the way Intel designed the NUC 9 is very modular. Unlike your traditional PC where everything resides on the motherboard, the NUC 9 relies on a daughter card to which the "compute element" and graphics card connect. The compute element houses the processor, RAM, and storage, as well as all ports and I/O. Being modular in nature, you can potentially upgrade the NUC 9 in the future to newer processors on the fly. as Intel releases new items based on newer processors. Mr. Wajahat Ali, Intel Product Manager at ASBIS Middle East
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(Image credit: Asbis) The NUC 9 Extreme is a fantastic concept, it has high-quality components and a great build quality. The design, with the computing element and an integrated mobile processor, is radically different from what you might expect . a desktop that can be installed in a variety of unique applications The compute element also has slots for memory modules that you can configure to your liking, as well as two M.2 slots for adding your NVMe drives. The latest generation of wireless radios for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 are also present. On the back of the module are all its ports such as USB, Ethernet and Thunderbolt. The computing element is available with processor options ranging from Core i5 to Core i7 and even Core i9. For those who want to use the Intel NUC 9 as a workstation, there is also an Intel Xeon option. In addition to the compute module, you can also add a powerful graphics processor. The NUC 16's second PCIe x9 slot supports a double-wide graphics card with a 6+2-pin PCIe power connector that delivers up to 225W. These specifications may allow you to equip the Intel NUC 9 with an Nvidia RTX2070 graphics card. Along with the two PCIe X16 slots, there is also an additional PCIe x4 slot, and Intel equips the NUC 9 with a built-in 500W power supply to provide enough power to run all of its components. There is an SDXC slot present at the front with some USB ports and a 3,5mm jack for easy access. If you're looking for a small PC that doesn't compromise on performance, the Intel NUC 9 is the direction to go. It is the king of small PCs.