Intel NUC 12 Pro: Handy mini PCs with fast 12-core CPUs
Intel’s “Alder Lake-P” series processors are in the 12th NUC-Pro generation. Even with Intel, however, the 14-core Core i7-1280P seems to be rare.
Intel has introduced its next mini PC generation in the form of the NUC 12 Pro aka Wall Street Canyon – but without much fanfare. Only the Ark database and partner announcements bear witness to the mini PCs with processors from the Alder Lake-P CPU family. The processors provide up to 12 CPU cores and an integrated Xe graphics unit.
The iconic cases remain largely unchanged at 117mm × 112mm. The “K” versions are still 37 mm flat, while the 54 mm high “H” models still have room for a 2.5-inch data carrier, such as a SATA SSD.
Wall Street Canyon without a CPU top model
The available processors range from the Core i3-1220P with two performance and eight efficiency cores to the Core i7-1260P with two additional performance cores, more cache and higher clock frequencies. There are also vPro versions for corporate customers, such as the Core i7-1270P. All processors have a standard thermal design power (TDP) of 28 watts.
Striking: Even Intel does not plan a NUC 12 Pro with the Alder Lake P top model Core i7-1280P, which as a 14 core combines six performance cores with eight efficiency cores. Notebooks with the Core i7-1280P have been rare since Alder Lake-P was introduced – there are currently just 12 devices available from a handful of retailers.
The processors are always firmly soldered due to their mobile origin. Two SO-DIM slots together take up to 64 GB of RAM in the form of DDR4-3200 bars; The mini PCs cannot handle DDR5 memory. The single M.2 M-Key connector for an NVMe SSD is connected via four PCI Express 4.0 lanes.
Watch out for Thunderbolt 4
Interested parties should avoid the so-called Lite versions for the full variety of connections. Only the non-lite models have two fast Thunderbolt 4 ports with DisplayPort functionality. Together with the two HDMI 2.0 ports, four (Ultra HD) monitors can be connected – but you won’t find HDMI 2.1. There are also three USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbit/s), one USB 2.0, NBase-T Ethernet with 2.5 Gbit/s, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and a jack for a headset.
SimplyNUC is already taking pre-orders for the first NUC 12 Pro models, but only sells pre-configured systems with quite high component prices for storage and an SSD. Including taxes and shipping, the cheapest model with a Core i5-1240P, 4 GB DDR4-3200 RAM, a 256 GB small PCIe 3.0 SSD and without an operating system costs just under 790 euros.
