Intel Unveils Core i7 Broadwell-U Powered NUC Small Form Factor PC
When Intel launched its first NUC in early 2013, it wasn't hard to be impressed. Here was a super-small PC platform that managed to pack in some substantial performance for its form-factor. The first release had a modest Celeron under its hood, but fast-forward to today, and we see full-blown Core i3 and i5 chips, with the biggest being the Core i5-4250U, Turbo boostable to 2.6GHz.
It seemed like just a matter of time before Intel would pull the curtain off of a big deal: the introduction of a Core i7 NUC. Alright - calling it a "big deal" might be a stretch, as Intel hasn't given it any fanfare. Instead, we find out simply by seeing the model, called NUC5i7RYH, pop up on the official NUC site.
According to Fanless Tech, the new high-end NUC could feature a CPU like the Core i7-5557U, but at a cost of about $427 straight from Intel, and not to mention with its beefy 28W TDP, that seems like a stretch. That is of course unless Intel ends up making this particular NUC a bit larger than previous ones, although its product page doesn't reflect that.
Whichever CPU manages to land in this new NUC though, it's going to make for a very capable little PC, and perhaps a good Steambox competitor (if you don't mind gaming on Intel's integrated graphics, that is). Don't haul out your wallets just yet though: the Core i7 NUC won't be landing until Q2.
