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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sorten - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
Two generations old CPUs and DDR3 memory modules! Where do I sign up?I guess they've got some old silicon to dump.
Bulat Ziganshin - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
it's the same chips as in the most modern notebookssorten - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
Not for the U-series chips. XPS, Surface and others have been shipping with 10-series chips for a while now. At the 25W and up TDPs we're seeing a mix of 10 (Comet Lake), 9 and 8 series.Mr Perfect - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
They had me at "modular" and lost me at "soldered-down" This was the complete opposite of what I was picturing from the title.JoeyJoJo123 - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
This. The soldered down LPDDR3 is the biggest disappointment here to me, but honestly, I guess it's not the worst thing in the world. Yeah, limits its capability for high-end enthusiasts that wanted something with high performance and efficiency in a tiny modular form factor, but I'm sure something like this will still suffice for factory/automation purposes or for basic office task usages. It's moreso that this limits the appeal the product could've had to other kinds of enthusiasts (namely, most people that frequent this site).thestryker - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
These seem aimed at the corporate world given that they're pushing vPro cpus. What we're all waiting for is the Ghost Canyon line which the early leak shows similar modular design, but more expandability.AdditionalPylons - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
Agreed. From the title I expected the article to be about Ghost Canyon.willis936 - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
I’m on the lookout for good automation PCs. It’s unclear if they would even shoe horn in a single PCIe slot for less than $600. There are better options.pixelstuff - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
Seems like these might work well for a Smart TV.PeachNCream - Thursday, December 5, 2019 - link
They're getting close to converging with form factors like the RPi while offering enough compute power at a rational, sub-15W fully-loaded system. We throw away a lot of electrical energy and offset a bunch of waste heat from our computing resources which has an impact. It's yet another corner we can cut someday to help our own civilization's survival out a bit.