The NUC 9 Pro Kit is a reminder that Intel does have some clever ideas up its sleeves

The next-gen of NUCs?

I’ve always had a soft spot for Intel’s Next Unit of Computing (NUC) systems. These small-form mini-computers allow PC enthusiasts to do things like installing specialised software and use them for everything from home theatre systems, edge devices, to even ultra-compact gaming systems. Heck, they were one of the first mass-market solutions to downsizing your bulky desktop systems way back in 2013. The same size, however, also meant that they don’t allow for upgrading flexibilities. If you’d wanted more RAM, a more powerful CPU or wanted to add a PCIe add-on card, well, tough luck. Luckily, Intel has listened and with its latest generation of NUCs like the NUC Kit that I’m talking about today, these are designed with modularity in mind and can cater to a variety of use cases.

Small in size, Big in power

Immediately off the bat, you can see that this is no longer the typical NUC "cube" form factor. This is a design revolution. Intel has completely redesigned the system from the inside and out. The company is selling the NUC Kit in various different specifications but generally divided into two different categories – Extreme and Pro. “Extreme” is made for gamers while “Pro”, like the NUC 9 Pro that Intel sent over is positioned as a high-end system for professional users with demanding workloads such as content creation, CAD/CAM, and other enterprise-level computing.

I would be very remiss if I did not talk more about the NUC 9 Pro’s casing, which is pretty much the key highlight of this review. Firstly, I cannot emphasis enough on the system’s incredibly small form factor. I mean, just take a look at it – it packs a discrete NVIDIA Quadro graphics card in a size that’s smaller than my PlayStation 4. I could even pack it in my backpack as a portable PC, if I should choose to despite its hefty weight.

Unlike many other small-form-factor (SFF) casings, Intel has incorporated clever design bits to the NUC 9 Pro’s frame. The mesh sides help keep the powerful components cool without the use of a liquid cooling system. Opening the case begins by removing just two screws at the back of the top panel, which also houses two small 80mm fans. Interestingly, there are no wires connecting those fans. Instead, the same panel has metal contacts on the end of it that meet with contacts in the case frame to provide power to them. In short, assembly and disassembly of the NUC 9 Pro is extremely simple and straightforward, and any PC DIY beginner with little experience building PCs should have no difficulty with it.

Oh, and there are no RGB or other gaudy gaming tropes even for the NUC Extreme kit. Whether that counts as a positive or negative is totally a personal taste.

Performance Review

To recap, as with all other Intel NUC units, they come in various base configurations (which includes a processor of your choice), but you'll need to outfit it with your own storage, memory and add-on cards as you see fit.

The NUC 9 Pro kit that Intel sent our way came equipped with the following specifications and we've also listed a configuration from HP that we are pitting against:-

We have not reviewed many Intel Xeon-powered systems before, at least not recently. But I picked out the HP Z2 Mini G4 for comparisons because like the NUC Kit, it is a similar small-form-factor mini computer that also comes with an NVIDIA Quadro graphics card – although it comes with an older 8th-Gen Intel Core i7 8700 processor. It’s also not hard to see how both are targeted at similar market segments; despite the Intel NUC providing more modularity. By the way, Xeon processors support error checking and correcting memory and so are more stable and less prone to data corruption due to memory errors, whereas most Core i7 processors do not. So for critical usage or scenarios, a Xeon based workstation will be more preferable than a consumer-class Core i7 processor-based one.

To evaluate the system’s performance, I ran SPECviewperf  13 benchmarks on it to see how it fares. For the uninitiated the benchmark is considered to be the worldwide standard for measuring graphics performance based on professional applications, running nine benchmarks that represent graphics content and behaviour from actual applications - including categories such as 3D Max, CATIA, Creo, Energy, Maya, Medical, Showcase, Siemens NX, and Solidworks. Unsurprisingly, the NUC 9 Pro with the better P2200 graphics card outclassed its competitor.

In our SYSMark 2018 tests, an application-based benchmark that reflects usage patterns of business users in the areas of Productivity, Creativity and Responsiveness. Unlike synthetic benchmarks, SYSMark runs real-world applications and workloads in real-time to measure the computer’s performance and comparing it with the HP Z2 Mini G4, the scores here fell in line with the processor-class used.

Closing Thoughts

Throughout the benchmarking progress, the NUC Kit’s fans were surprisingly quiet even while under load. That’s not to say it’s utterly silent – its presence can still be heard on my desk – but by comparison, it is significantly quieter than my shalt-not-be-named gaming laptop, which has to run its fans faster and louder to compensate when running SYSMark 2018.

Thanks to its powerful components and generous I/O, the NUC 9 Pro is appealing to content creators such as video editors and digital artists. What the NUC Kit has shown that there isn’t necessarily a huge compromise to be made when it comes to a full-size desktop workstation versus an Intel’s mini form-factor here. It’s certainly not as fast nor as powerful as the former types, but if you’re looking for something of an in-between, say a footprint that occupies an even smaller area than a professional laptop like the ASUS ProArt StudioBook and yet just as if not more powerful, then the NUC 9 Pro is a very logical choice to go with.

Intel’s past NUC computers have prioritized size and power consumption over everything else, which made them impressively tiny machines that could be installed in a variety of unique applications – even mounted behind a TV or monitor. The NUC 9 is not that – this is what you get when Intel goes for broke on performance and it’s not a direct replacement for the older NUC systems.

But what the NUC Kit (reminder note: the platform the NUC 9 Pro is built upon) has proven, is of Intel’s clever ideas on how to make PCs smaller, without giving up their performance or ability to upgrade components. In the end, the NUC Kit is an extremely flexible platform, and I can see many enterprises using it as a workstation for CAD/CAM, M&E, or other situations that require intense graphics or compute-intensive workloads. Experiential gamers could also use it as a mini game server or build a high-end mini gaming machine. It is expensive though. You can also find out more about the kits here if you're keen on building one.

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