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Intel NUCs with 10nm CPUs Now Available in the US

Intel 10nm is Here (Sort Of…)

Intel‘s Crimson Canyon Next Unit of Computing (NUC) mini-PCs have arrived in major US retail stores. These are equipped with their latest 10nm Cannon Lake processors with an 8th Gen architecture. This is a somewhat exciting development considering the troubles the company has had with 10nm manufacturing. In fact, their 9th Gen flagships and current desktop processors are still on 14nm++++.

Does this mean Intel has solved their 10nm dilemma? Not exactly. You see these are rather simple chips with dual-core, quad-thread configurations. Intels’ 10nm process is not quite ready or as refined as their 14nm process, or else the 8-Core 9th Gen CPU series with up to would be using it.

What Can Users Expect from These New Intel NUCs?

The CPU they use is the Core i3-8121U. It is a dual-core with Hyper-threading running at 2.2 GHz. Furthermore, it turbo boost up to 3.2 GHz. It only has a 15W TDP, which makes it ideal for the fanless NUC device.

Two models are available so far: the BOXNUC8I3CYSM1 and the BOXNUC8I3CYSN1. The ‘M’ variant comes with 8GB of LPDDR4-2400, while the ‘N’ variant has 4GB of LPDDR4-2400. Both make use of an AMD Radeon 540 GPU with its own 2GB of GDDR5 memory. Furthermore, both units also have 2x HDMI 2.0b ports for dual simultaneous monitors.

Storage support includes 1TB HDD built-in. Plus four USB 3.0 Type-A ports as well as a microSDXC slot for external expansion.

Lastly, network connectivity is possible through an Intel i219V Ethernet port and built-in Intel Wireless-AC 9560 802.11ac 2×2+BT5.

How Much are these new 10nm NUCs?

The ‘M’ variant BOXNUC8I3CYSM1 is available now for $533 USD. Meanwhile, the ‘N’ variant BOXNUC8I3CYSN1 will be available starting December 19th for $529 USD. Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit is pre-installed. At this time, these NUCs are not yet available in the UK.

Intel is also throwing in a generous 18Q4 NUC Crimson Canyon Gaming Bundle with these NUCs if purchased through NewEgg. This includes the following software for free (total value of over $300 USD):