Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kit - A Big Little Beast

As a PC enthusiast, building my own gaming rig is as much a right of passage as it is a labour of love. Watching all your handpicked components come to life in a kaleidoscope of RGB illuminations is a tech geek’s moment of satisfaction.

- Aaron Yip

AT A GLANCE

PROCESSOR INTEL 11TH GEN CORE

MAX MEMORY 64GB DDR4 3200

EXPANSION 2X M.2 PCIE X4 GEN3 SLOTS (PCH), 2X M.2 PCIE X4 GEN4 SLOTS (CPU); DOUBLE-WIDE

PCIE X16 GEN4 (CPU) SLOT, PCIE X4 GEN4 (CPU) SLOT,

12-INCH MAX CARD LENGTH

DIMENSIONS 3 5 7 X 189 X 1 20MM

PRICE FROM US $ 1,05 0

Intel seems to think so too, and with their latest NUC 11 Extreme Kit aka Beast Canyon, has given us a glimpse of how the experience of building a gaming computer could be different in their world.

For those not in the know, NUC is short for “Next Unit of Computing” and the NUC Kit series (there are also other NUC variants) is Intel’s obsession with putting full-sized PC power in a mini-PC form factor.

Whereas previous generations of NUC Extreme Kits have been kept largely small and limited to mini-ITX graphics cards, the latest NUC 11 Extreme Kit is now more appealing for enthusiasts by supporting a full-size discrete graphics card. This also makes it the largest NUC to date.