Intel Unveils Specificiations of NUC Element Modular PCs
by Anton Shilov on December 4, 2019 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Desktop
- Intel
- NUC
- UCFF
- NUC Element
In preparation to kick off sales of its NUC Element modular computers, Intel has disclosed some additional details about the product family. As expected, Intel will offer NUC Element boards, chassis, and pre-assembled modules designed to fit into both Intel and third-party enclosures.
Intel’s NUC Elements is the company’s new modular PC initiative aimed to simplify system-level design while enabling OEMs to build ultra-compact desktop computers. NUC Elements modules are based on Intel’s U-series Core, Celeron, or Pentium Gold processors with TDPs up to 15 Watts. The modules come with 4 GB or 8 GB of soldered-down dual-channel DRAM, up to 64 GB of eMMC solid-state storage on select SKUs, and Wi-Fi 5 + Bluetooth 5.0 via Intel's Wireless-AC 9560 radio.
Each NUC 8 Compute Element uses a card-edge consolidated connector for power and I/O, with the connector offering USB 3.1/2.0, DisplayPort/HDMI, eDP, GbE, PCIe, HD audio, and an eSPI interface. OEMs and chassis vendors can then mix and match these as they please, including hanging off additional peripherals via PCI and USB bridges.
The NUC Elements family will altogether include seven NUC 8 Compute Element ‘Chandler Bay’ modules. Intel, in turn, will offer two boards for the modules to plug into: the "rugged" ‘Austin Beach’ (CMB1BB) board, and the pro-focused ‘Butler Beach’ (CMA1BB) board.
Finally, Intel will be offering four two chassis as well, which they will be selling as part of board + chassis kits to customers who are in essence looking a turnkey solution. These kits will all be based around the Austin Beach board, with a version of the chassis for each of the two variations of Austin Beach.
Intel’s NUC Elements are qualified to work for 24/7 and come with a three-year warranty. Pricing depends on actual configuration and other factors.
Related Reading:
- The Modular PC: Intel’s new Element brings Project Christine to Life
- Intel Launches the NUC Compute Element for Modular Computing Systems
- Intel Confirms Comet Lake-Based NUC 10 ‘Frost Canyon’ UCFF PCs
- EGlobal's NUC-Like PC Packs Intel’s Unlocked Hex-Core i7-8750HK CPU
Source: Intel
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willis936 - Thursday, December 5, 2019 - link
Raspberry pis are an order of magnitude cheaper than these systems.PeachNCream - Thursday, December 5, 2019 - link
Yes and quite a bit slower and less practical as general purpose computing platforms, but that was never the intent of the RPi to begin with and still is not at present despite the RPi 4 seeing substantial upgrades to position it better to serve as one. That also isn't the intent of the NUC Element, but we are moving in the direction of smaller, lower power consumption, cheaper computing if one looks at the overall trend in home computing - ignoring, of course, the fact that 80386 desktop PCs ran happily with 60W power supplies, but were fairly powerful in their heyday and that modern desktops usually consume a sh*tload more power to arrive at the same end which is accomplishing home computing tasks - but thats more a representation of the practical car-to-unnecessary gas-hogging SUV/pickup truck evolution of some parts of the first world and the obesity-laden US in particular have experienced in the last couple decades and not an accurate portrayal of the amount of compute power avaiable for the expenditure of a given watt of energy we generate to accomplish that computational task.Farfolomew - Sunday, December 8, 2019 - link
Love your posts and analysis PeachNCream, but perhaps you didn't need to get so negative and go down the route of pooping all over rest of America. Not that I disagree with you, but your arguments come across much more coherent, credible, and unclouded when you stick to topic :-). Just an observation.eastcoast_pete - Sunday, December 8, 2019 - link
Are they the "Back to he Future" edition with the reactivated 22 nm Haswell chips? Not sure that AT had that announcement here, but Intel is indeed bringing their oldie but goodie Haswells and 22 nm process node back for entry-level chips, due to "lack of 14 nm capacity". And these Haswells only work with DDR3 RAM, so seeing them here soldered down would make sense. On the other hand, if that level of power does it for you, consider a faster and just overall better Athlon APU-based system instead. Amazed that Intel is giving up on market segments like this. I am looking for a compact new system, and it's getting ridiculous with Intel now.