Intel NUC 9 Extreme with Core i9 and RTX 2070 in Review
Intel NUC computers have been around for quite a while, and most of the time these miniature PCs are used as small office computers. One notable example was the Intel NUC Hades Canyon that was created in collaboration with AMD and aimed at gamers looking for a compact machine. This is exactly where the new Ghost Canyon enters the arena, as it offers a case smaller than 5 liters (1.3 gallons) without sacrificing performance. The model reviewed by us features an Intel Core i9-9980HK, 16 GB of RAM, and two SSDs with a combined storage capacity of 1.38 TB. 3D acceleration is provided by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070. This combination should be more than powerful enough to run even current games smoothly and without any issues.
If you are considering purchasing this device keep in mind that RAM, storage, and dedicated graphics card are optional and not included with the NUC. Regardless, the Core i9-9980HK equipped SKU will set you back almost $1,700. Alternatively, the Ghost Canyon NUC can also be equipped with an Intel Core i5-9300H for around $1,000, or a Intel Core i7-9750H for around $1,300. In each case you will need to add RAM and at least one storage device. The compute element itself is not too complicated to take apart.
Should you also want to add a dedicated graphics card you need to pay special attention to size. Our review unit was equipped with a miniature GeForce RTX 2070 made by Asus. Intel maintains a Ghost Canyon NUC compatibility list.
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Intel NUC 9 Extreme in Detail
The NUC 9 Extreme offers an 8-core/16-thread Intel Core i9-9980HK processor. The mobile CPU is soldered onto the compute element’s mainboard, which also includes all external ports such as USB, LAN, and HDMI. Combined with the two USB ports at the front the NUC features a total of eight USB ports, two of which are USB-C ports with support for Thunderbolt that also carry a DisplayPort signal. Thus, you can connect a total of three displays to the SoC’s iGPU, two via USB-C and one via HDMI 2.0b. Furthermore, two SO-DIMM and two M.2 slots are available. Network connectivity can be achieved either via one of the two Ethernet ports or the Wi-Fi 6 module. One of said Ethernet ports even supports speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps.
Processor Benchmarks
All things considered the Intel Core i9-9980HK performed admirably, albeit not necessarily any faster than the average notebook equipped with the same processor. To spice things up and provide you with a broader picture we also added three desktop CPUs into the mix: an Intel Core i5-10600K, an Intel Core i9-10900K, and an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X. Compared to these, the Core i9-9980HK performed similarly to the Core i5-10600K, and it was unable to keep up with 10 or even 16 core CPUs. Single-core performance, on the other hand, was the Core i9-9980HK’s strong suit, and it performed only a few percentage points below the Core i9-10900K. In multi-thread benchmarks the CPU failed to compensate for its missing cores when compared to desktop CPUs. Given that the Ghost Canyon NUC can also be equipped with an Intel Core i5-9300H and an Intel Core i7-9750H we added these two to our comparison group as well. That way you get a bigger and more complete picture of what to expect of those two SoCs.
* ... smaller is better
Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit in the Cinebench R15 Loop
Despite its compact build the cooling solution worked very well and managed to cool the CPU adequately enough to ensure consistently high scores in our Cinebench R15 multi-thread loop. Scores dropped by around 150 points after the initial run during which the Core i9-9980HK was able to fully take advantage of its high turbo boost capabilities and remained stable afterwards. On average, our test sample scored 1,463 points. We ran the same test with the GeForce RTX 2070 removed in order to determine whether or not it blocked airflow in the case and are happy to report this was not the case. Minor deviations aside the results were identical.
Application Performance
Our test sample performed just shy of the three desktop processors in our application performance benchmarks. Once again, we ran the same tests with the dedicated GPU removed, and the results were identical save for the graphics tests. To nobody’s surprise the RTX2070 turned out to be much more powerful than the 630. Consequently, the Intel NUC 9 is a great device for everyday work. The installed SSDs performed very well, which reduced waiting times to a minimum. The gaming tests were no big challenge for the device either. Kudos to Intel for creating an all-flash NUC.
3D and Gaming Performance
3D performance depends on what GPU the system is equipped with. Given that the NUC comes without a dedicated GPU by default we repeated all benchmarks on the Core i9-9980HK's integrated GPU. Our review unit performed much better than the average Intel UHD Graphics 630. Nevertheless, it remained too slow for demanding games. Those in turn ran perfectly fine in QHD using the Asus GeForce RTX 2070 Mini. Keep in mind that more powerful GPUs might be too much for the NUC’s 500 W power supply.
Borderlands 3 | |
1280x720 Very Low Overall Quality (DX11) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (138 - 152, n=2) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (94 - 125, n=2) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 () | |
1920x1080 Badass Overall Quality (DX11) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (70.9 - 74.4, n=2) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (61 - 64.5, n=3) |
Metro Exodus | |
1280x720 Low Quality AF:4x | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (82.7 - 181, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (91.1 - 98, n=2) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 () | |
1920x1080 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (33.4 - 62.8, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (53.3 - 54.6, n=5) |
Far Cry New Dawn | |
1280x720 Low Preset | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (117 - 128, n=3) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 () | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (79 - 94, n=3) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (82 - 83, n=2) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) |
Forza Horizon 4 | |
1280x720 Very Low Preset | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (169 - 198, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile () | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:2xMS | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (106 - 118, n=4) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile () |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | |
1280x720 Lite Quality | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (151 - 158, n=2) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (106.5 - 193, n=5) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 (9.5 - 14, n=3) | |
1920x1080 High Quality | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (60.8 - 90.6, n=5) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (77 - 80.6, n=3) |
Dota 2 Reborn | |
1280x720 min (0/3) fastest | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) () | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (129.7 - 153, n=9) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 (70.4 - 99.1, n=11) | |
1920x1080 ultra (3/3) best looking | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) () | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (98.4 - 124, n=9) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 (6.8 - 21, n=11) |
The Witcher 3 | |
1024x768 Low Graphics & Postprocessing | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (193.9 - 357, n=12) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (151.4 - 315, n=5) | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 630 (15.2 - 17.3, n=3) | |
1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (40.9 - 95, n=5) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile (64 - 82.1, n=21) |
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 286 | 216 | 142 | 83.1 | 55.9 | |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 155.6 | 141.8 | 137.6 | 130.3 | 116.1 | |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 193 | 122 | 90.6 | 37.1 | ||
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 127 | 115 | 92.7 | 82.2 | ||
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 147 | 106 | 82 | 86 | 71 | 46 |
Forza Horizon 4 (2018) | 198 | 141 | 132 | 106 | 88 | 61 |
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) | 128 | 92 | 87 | 79 | 63 | 49 |
Metro Exodus (2019) | 181 | 104 | 77 | 60.9 | 48.4 | 30.5 |
Borderlands 3 (2019) | 152 | 126 | 91.7 | 70.9 | 49.8 | 26.7 |
NUC 9 Extreme Power Consumption and Heat Emissions
Intel heavily relies on the stack effect to keep temperatures in check. This means that cold air is sucked in on the sides and travels upwards through the case and out. This all works remarkably well as long as there is no GPU blocking airflow. During our stress test we were able to determine that performance does not suffer from the reduced cooling effects, however noise emissions were significantly increased with a GPU installed. In Prime95 they increased from 38.8 dB(A) to 39.8 dB(A). Why Intel did not simply move the fan over to the other side remains a mystery to us. The mesh covers would have ensured proper ventilation. Running the GPU stress test (FurMark) resulted in 48.5 dB(A), which was at least partly due to the RTX 2070’s fans. The GPU reached a temperature of around 70 °C (158 °F), and both its fans were spinning at around 58% of their maximum speed. We also noticed very clearly audible electrical noise that did not sound like typical coil whine GPUs are known for but mostly made itself noticeable when we accessed the storage devices and occasionally in between.
Power consumption was pretty low overall. When idle, the device consumed as little as 20 W. The highest power consumption recorded without dedicated GPU occurred during our Cinebench R15 multi-thread loop at 127 W. Installing the GeForce RTX 2070 increased idle power consumption to 33 W, and up to 251 W during our FurMark stress test. An acceptable power consumption considering that an NUC equipped as such is basically a full-fledged gaming PC. The maximum that the 500 W power supply had to provide for a short period of time was 270 W. While gaming power consumption was significantly lower and settled at around 237 W on average.
Power Consumption | |
1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (Idle: 95 W) | |
Intel Core i9-10900K (Idle: 52.3 W) | |
Intel Core i5-10600K (Idle: 52.2 W) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) (Idle: 33.1 W) | |
Prime95 V2810 Stress (external Monitor) | |
Intel Core i9-10900K (Idle: 52.3 W) | |
Intel Core i5-10600K (Idle: 52.2 W) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (Idle: 95 W) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (RTX 2070) (Idle: 33.1 W) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (Idle: 20.45 W) | |
Cinebench R15 Multi (external Monitor) | |
Intel Core i9-10900K (Idle: 52.3 W) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (Idle: 95 W) | |
Intel Core i5-10600K (Idle: 52.2 W) | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC (Idle: 20.45 W) |
Temperatures - CPU Temperature Prime95 | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Ghost Canyon NUC | |
Intel Core i5-10600K |
* ... smaller is better
Pros
Cons
Verdict – Tiny Powerhouse at a High Price
Intel’s NUC 9 Extreme kit is a small yet very powerful system. At its current price of $1,700 it is anything but a great deal, and you need to keep in mind that you will need to provide RAM, storage, and if desired a dedicated GPU separately. In return, you get a very well equipped and modern device. Equipped with a high-performance GPU the miniature PC turns into a full-fledged gaming PC capable of running even the latest and greatest games smoothly.
If you do not need the 8-core performance of Intel’s Core i9-9980HK you can also purchase SKUs with slower i7-9750H or i5-9300H processors. Both can frequently be found in gaming laptops and proven themselves with a very solid and adequate performance in the past. Nevertheless, the Core i9-9980HK remains the ultimate kingpin for this NUC.
Despite its great performance the tiny powerhouse will have a hard time getting into gamer’s shopping carts due to its high price.
There are a few shortcomings with Intel’s Ghost Canyon NUC as well, particularly regarding noise emissions with an installed dedicated graphics card. Due to its compact build the fan is almost completely covered in this case, and the air blown onto the SoC’s heat pipe is warm due to the fan’s proximity to the graphics card. Which in turn increases noise emissions dramatically. A slightly different design with the fan on the outer side of the case would have most likely been a better alternative.
All things considered Intel’s NUC 9 Extreme is the smallest PC under 1.3 gallons that can take a GeForce RTX 2070. It features high-quality components and a great build quality. Corsair took a very similar approach with its similarly priced (comparable to a fully equipped Intel Ghost Canyon NUC 9 Extreme) One series that we have already had in review (see One i160). Zotac’s MEK Mini is yet another miniature PC that can be equipped with an RTX 2070.