Anandtech [AnandTech] Intel Skull Canyon NUC

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10152/intels-skull-canyon-nuc-is-official

Dimensions: 216mm x 116mm x 23mm (0.69L)

Intel Core i7-6770HQ
Skylake, 4C/8T, 2.6 GHz (Turbo to 3.5 GHz), 14nm, 6MB L2, 45W TDP
Memory 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM (2133+ MHz)
Graphics Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 (Skylake-H GT4+4e with 128MB eDRAM)
Disk Drive(s) Dual M.2 (SATA3 / PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe / AHCI SSDs)
Networking Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 (2x2 802.11ac - 867 Mbps + Bluetooth 4.2)
Intel I-219V Gigabit Ethernet
Audio 3.5mm Audio Jack (Headphone / Microphone)
Capable of 5.1/7.1 digital output with HD audio bitstreaming (HDMI)
Miscellaneous I/O Ports 1x Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C
4x USB 3.0 (incl. one charging port)
1x SDXC (UHS-I)
1x HDMI 2.0, 1x mini-DP 1.2
Consumer Infrared Sensor
Operating System Barebones
Pricing $650 (Barebones)
$999 (Typical build with 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD and Windows 10)
Fact Sheet Intel NUC6i7KYK GDC Fact Sheet (PDF)

 

[Stevo_]

Very nice, been waiting to see how Intel would package these.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Awesome, Iris Pro 580 has almost twice as many EUs than Broadwell's Iris Pro 5200 (72 vs 40). This is gonna be a more than decent unit

Crysis 3 (1366x768) on Iris Pro 5200:


... I now hope that Vulkan gets adopted

 

[Phuncz]

Damn this is an awesome brick. I'm glad Intel reminds people that SFF isn't just inflating an efficient design with features until it's two times as big.

 

[Stevo_]

Yup, pretty sure I "need" one.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

With thunderbolt it would be easy to use the external graphics docks in a few years if you needed upgraded graphics.

 

[Stevo_]

Looks like Newegg has pre-orders up for these, $650

 

[|||]

Anandtech has now posted a review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10343/the-intel-skull-canyon-nuc6i7kyk-minipc-review

 

[Phuncz]

Too bad it's hot, loud and ineffcient. It's thermal-limited meaning during gaming you'll run into its thermal limit and a blasting fan not able to keep up. Both PCIe M.2 connectors and Thunderbolt are limited by the same single DMI 3.0 interface which is PCIe 3.0 x4. So don't expect those GB/s speeds in and out of device at the same time. Why they haven't used the CPU's PCIe lanes is bizarre.

 

[|||]

I agree on not using any of the CPU's PCIe lanes is strange; perhaps there is a dependency of Alpine Ridge going through the PCH? One thing I saw which I liked was the HDMI header supports CEC. I've been waiting for that functionality to begin coming to computers and I hope it gets implemented in the GPU's that are coming out.

Edit: Thinking about it for a second, the M.2 drives could easily be hung off of the CPU...it's been done plenty on X99 platforms.

 

[QinX]

Too bad it's hot, loud and ineffcient. It's thermal-limited meaning during gaming you'll run into its thermal limit and a blasting fan not able to keep up. Both PCIe M.2 connectors and Thunderbolt are limited by the same single DMI 3.0 interface which is PCIe 3.0 x4. So don't expect those GB/s speeds in and out of device at the same time. Why they haven't used the CPU's PCIe lanes is bizarre.

Why you ask?
It is simple. Because if they did, the product might make sense. You can't have a 1000 dollar NUC and have it make sense, nonsense is the only way.

 

[Phuncz]

Ah yes, I was using... uhm what's that word again... that people use... Ah yes, LOGIC ! I was using logic to figure out why.
They just said "to hell with it, slap a skull logo on this wailing banshee and we're done !". I'm suspecting Intel just nixed the PCIe lanes from the CPU to reduce thermal throttling more.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I guess we know the BRIX Pro faults wasn't due to Gigabytes lack of trying now. You'd think Intel would have learned from that.

 

[iFreilicht]

This is a good example of compromising too much into one direction. It wouldn't've hurt anyone if they made that thing just a little bigger to fit a larger heatsink and a stronger blower in there. Then they could've also used the additional PCie lanes from the CPU. Those can't be that significant for the thermal budget, unless you're already operating on the edge of it.

 

[CC Ricers]

Here's an image album I found on r/pcmasterrace where a GTX 970 was modded into a Skull Canyon NUC using an M.2 to PCIe adapter. But it's still limited lane-wise.

 

[Phuncz]

The four lane restriction shouldn't be the biggest problem, but that it shares those four lanes with the other M.2 slot, Thunderbolt, all USB ports, WiFi, LAN, SD-card slot and audio.

 

[BobyMadrox]

Hi,

I have a NUC6i7KYK currently and I was looking for adding a EVGA mini 1060 via a Akitio Thunder3.
I just saw your investigation claiming than the Skull Canyon made compromise for the alimentation of the thunderbolt 3.
I am powering a keyboard, a usb mouse, a headset and a samsung evo 500 go M.2 SSD on it.

I am not an expert and my question is how much I am gonna loose in raw power over a normal eGPU thunderbolt 3 working on a non limited chassis ?
Do you think it is still interesting to add an eGPU or I should seek out another solution ?

I feel a bit scammed right now as it has always been the plan for me, add an eGPU along the road, I wouldn't have bought it if I knew something was wrong with his thunderbolt3 alimentation...

Thanks