The Intel NUC barebones pc has come a long way from the small black boxes we used to tinker with for our media centre PCs. Even back then the Intel NUC was a powerful little device but now that Intel has built gaming-grade NUCs, small form factor PCs are finally gaming-cool and have the performance to boot.

Launched back in 2013, the NUC, or Next Unit of Computing is an Intel-engineered and built PC that is not only tuned for performance but comes in a small package with some upgradable parts; it is aimed at people who want the performance of a desktop computer without the big case, noisy fans, or power consumption that comes with a large desktop PC. In fact, I see small form factor PCs becoming the standard desktop computer for home and work while larger, fully upgradable computers will remain the weapon of choice for those of us who are early adopters and want to play with the latest technology at launch.

The Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Mini PC Kit is shipped from the factory without a hard drive or RAM. Instead, you choose your configuration from the list of options your retailer has on offer to build a semi-custom version of your dream small form factor PC. The unit we received for review from our friends at Intel and Rectron came with 16GB of Transcend DDR4 RAM and 512GB of Transcend M.2 storage.

Installing these components is very easy, a small Allen key is included to remove the outer casing while a few Philips screws protect the outer metal chassis. Once you lift this cover, you’ll have easy access to two M.2 SSD slots and two RAM slots.

The hardware that you cannot swap out is the CPU and graphics card. This Intel NUC features an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 Discrete Graphics card with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM.

Even though this is a small PC, it is loaded with I/O ports and has every other feature you’ll need on a desktop machine. Built-in on the motherboard you’ll find Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 and Bluetooth 5 and there is a beam-forming, far-field, quad-mic array for voice recording – just bring your own webcam. Other notable ports include two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI 2.0b, and one Mini DisplayPort 1.4. Oh, and if you are a video or photo editor, you’ll love the inclusion of an SDXC card slot on the front.

All of this tech is neatly housed in a computer chassis that I can easily hold in my hand (check out the video below) and better yet, Intel did a great job on designing a chassis that will look super sexy on any desk. The honeycomb pattern doubles as air vents all around while the texture makes this feel like a futuristic computing device.

For those of us that love a touch of lighting, Intel also adorned the top of the NUC with the skull logo that lights up blue when the PC is on. If you’d prefer a more stealthy look, you can remove the skull logo or you can use the additional insert to create your own logo…. and yes, you can rotate the logo at any angle you’d like.

Also included in the kit is a base stand for the NUC that lets you position it vertically next to your monitor. This also makes the NUC the perfect companion to your large-screen TV. Add a few Xbox controllers and you’re in for a very good time.

Another thing I really liked about this PC is that it’s powered by a 230W power brick, which means that this gaming PC will play well with load shedding and not drain your inverter as fast as a comparable desktop PC.

As someone who still uses a desktop PC for secondary production and other tasks around the studio, I can see a major benefit to migrating my large machines to a small form factor PC such as this. This Intel NUC delivers more power than my mid-range desktop but is a fraction of the size.

But what about performance I hear you ask? Well, as you’d expect from its spec list, this machine is a powerhouse. We ran both 3DMark and Cinebench benchmarks and the results are really impressive. You will be able to play most PC games at around 60fps at 1440p while content creators will be able to render those pixels with ease. To see the benchmark scores, check out the video below.

For under R25,000 kitted out, the Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Mini PC Kit (NUC11PHKi7C) is hard to resist if you want to rock the coolest gaming PC around.

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