Unlike Thin ITX, NUC-style boxes aren’t designed around industry-standard specs. There are also other smaller and lesser-known brands and embedded-PC vendors in there, as well. Thus far, Gigabyte has jumped in with its NUC-style Brix boxes that are proving to be fairly innovative. In fact, Intel seems to be trying to invite others into the NUC game. In a nutshell, NUCs are simply 4x4-inch computers packing as much power as possible.įrom what we can tell, Intel’s actions aren’t intended to drive others out of the market. Unlike the CBB program, which was totally reliant on the participation of parts makers and laptop builders, NUCs are actually built and sold by Intel itself. Now, Intel is attempting to both create and fill a niche again with its Next Unit of Computing, or NUC (rhymes with “luck”), a new ultra-compact form factor that the company hopes will push performance computing into unheard-of places. Intel is even offering a limited-edition customized Dragon NUC. While CBB never took off, many of the fruits of that effort are still with us. The company tried and failed, for example, with its Common Building Block program that was meant to create a DIY-laptop world with standardized power bricks, hard drives, optical drives, LCD panels, keyboards, and battery packs. Sometimes when Intel sees a niche it thinks needs to be filled, it tries to jump start it from scratch.
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Trying to figure out the actions of the world’s largest chip company can be confounding to consumers who don’t fully appreciate Intel’s size-13 footprint on the PC industry and its ability to single-handedly change the game. Intel’s push to make the desktop smallera Is Intel actually onto something big with its new Next Unit of Computing (NUC) initiative? Next Unit of What? They’ve been around for years, but their performance has always been fairly underwhelming and they’ve always consisted of specialty hardware, to be embedded into an ATM or smart soda machine.īut now that these compact computers are more capable than ever, readily available, and easily built, there’s no telling what new and interesting applications will spring forth. UCFF PCs as a category aren’t new, of course. All of which serve unique purposes, and thereby highlight the PCs unmatched versatility. The truth isn’t that the PC is getting smaller and thus going away the truth is that for enthusiasts, there’s interest in gigantic PCs, small micro-towers, and now-Intel hopes-ultra-compact form factor (UCFF) PCs no larger than a book. Yes, the Haswell Nuc is actually this small. Witness Corsair’s 900D, Cooler Master’s Cosmos SE, and Digital Storm’s Aventum II. If anything, enthusiast PCs have gotten larger. But it’s not getting smaller in the way the PC fatalists see it. In case you haven’t noticed, the PC is getting smaller.