Intel Launches NUC 12 Enthusiast “Serpent Canyon” SFF Mini PC with Intel Core i7-12700H CPU & Arc A770M GPU
This new small form factor system is covered inside a 2.5 L (230×180×60 mm) chassis. You get an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU with 14 cores, 20 threads (45W TDP), and either an integrated Iris Xe Graphics or the A770 dGPU. The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Serpent Canyon SFF Mini PC can produce up to five streams in 4K resolution. For connectivity, the system offers USB 3.2 Gen2, Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort 2.0, and HDMI 2.1. Currently, Intel offers four versions of the Intel NUC lineup:
Intel NUC 12 Extreme “Dragon Canyon” (12th Gen Core-S & Arc A-series desktop) Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast “Serpent Canyon” (12th Gen Core-H & Arc A-Series Mobile) Intel NUC 12 Pro “Wall Street Canyon” (12th Gen Core-P) Intel NUC X15 “Alder County” (12th Gen Core-H & Arc A-Series Mobile) (laptop)
So coming to the specifications, the NUC 12 ‘Serpent Canyon’ Mini PC will rock up to an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU which features 6 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores. The chip has a total of 14 cores, 20 threads, and 24 MB of cache which can clock up to 4.70 GHz and has a TDP of 45W (MTP rated at 115W). The entry-level design will rock the Core i5-12500H which features 4 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores. The CPU has a max clock speed of 4.5 GHz, features 18 MB of cache, and has a base TDP of 45W which can go up to 95W at MTP (Maximum Turbo Power). Both CPUs are designed for laptops and make a decent choice for smaller-sized NUC PCs. The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast ‘Serpent Canyon’ will host dual DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM slots for a total of 64 GB system ram capacity, dual M.2 22x80 Gen 4 NVMe slots, and a single M.2 Gen 3 slot. On the GPU side, we are getting up to an Intel Arc A770M GPU. The Intel Arc 7 lineup is going to utilize the flagship ACM-G10 GPU and we already know about the mobility variants which include the Arc A770M and the Arc A730M. Similarly, the Arc A770M 16 GB is one of the top-end variants for mobile PCs that are equipped with the full ACM-G10 configuration, utilizing 32 Xe-Cores for 4096 ALUs, and 32 ray tracing units. This GPU has a graphics clock of 1650 MHz and a TDP between 120 to 150W. It’s going to replace the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 that was featured in previous SFF NUC designs so the performance is going to be somewhere in the mainstream segment when compared with the standard desktop lineup. There are also 12 GB and 8 GB discrete variants mentioned which point toward the Arc A730M and the Arc A550M. One key difference between the NUC 12 Extreme and NUC 12 Enthusiast is that the former rocks full-length discrete graphics cards while the latter will be equipped with discrete GPUs for the mobile segment. This specific variant is the top SKU and there will be more flavors as listed below:
Intel Core i7-12700H + 16 GB Arc Discrete Graphics Intel Core i7-12700H + 12 GB Arc Discrete Graphics Intel Core i5-12500H + 8 GB Arc Discrete Graphics
In addition to the CPU and GPU, the Intel NUC 12 ‘Serpent Canyon’ Mini PC will house various I/O ports such as SDXC card slot (UHS-II), Dual Thunderbolt 4 (5V/9V charging options), 3.5mm Audio Jack, HDMI 2.1, Dual DP 2.0 outputs, a 2.5GbE LAN port, six USB 3.2 Gen 2 (two on front, four on back) and a DC Power-In port (19V DC 230/330W power supply). The whole system measures 230 x 160 x 60mm and is around 2.5 liters in all. With multiple display support, optical audio connectivity, and super fast WiFi-6E or 2.5G Ethernet support combined with powerful hardware, the NUC 12 Enthusiast is a new option for home theater systems or gaming consoles. According to Intel, this system is eligible for the “Arc 7 System Bundle” worth $370. The specifications known about the system are that it is 8GB DDR4 memory and 256GB storage. The cost for the system will be $1,699. Upgrading to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage is possible to raise the price to $1,944.
News Sources: Fanless Tech, SimplyNUC (YouTube)
