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Intel crams its freshly baked seventh-gen CPUs into five new NUC mini PCs

inel nuc mini pc kaby lake ces 2017 intel 7th gen
Now that Intel’s second-wave “Kaby Lake” CPU assault is officially out of the bag, the company has introduced new miniature PCs based on those freshly baked seventh-generation processors. There are five units in all, two of which rely on a Core i3 processor, two that use a Core i5 processor, and one containing a Core i7 chip. Even more, the i5 and i7 models include Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, whereas the i3 models provide a USB 3.1 Type-C port.

With the Core i3 and i5 models, the only difference between the two “BNK” and “BNH” models is that the latter unit is slightly larger to include an additional SATA 3 port for a 2.5-inch hard drive or solid state drive measuring up to 9.5 mm thick. By default, both the BNK and BNH units provide an M.2 SSD slot for SATA 3 or PCIe x4 Gen 3 NVMe or AHCI SSDs that play host to the operating system installed by the user. The Core i7 unit automatically comes with both storage connections.

NUC7i3

For starters, this model packs an Intel Core i3-7100U with a base clock speed of 2.40GHz. It relies on Intel’s integrated HD Graphics 620 component, which is capable of cranking out a 3840 x 2160 resolution through its HDMI 2.0 or USB 3.1 Type-C ports. Other notable features include a handful of USB 3.0 ports, Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, wired gigabit networking, and 7.1 Surround Sound capabilities.

NUC7i3BNK / NUC7i3BNH
Processor: Intel Core i3-7100U (dual-core)
Processor speed: 2.40GHz
Memory: Dual-channel, DDR4 @ 2,133MHz
32GB maximum
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 620
Storage: 1x M.2 SSD slot (SATA3 or PCIe)
1x SATA 3 port for 2.5” drives (BNH model only)
Ports (front): 2x USB 3.0 (one charges)
1x Infrared port
1x Headphone/microphone jack
1x Micro SD card slot
Ports (back): 1x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
1x USB 3.1 Type-C
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 2.0 (internal)
1x Combo speaker/TOSLINK optical jack
1x Gigabit Ethernet
Audio: 7.1 Surround via HDMI or DisplayPort
Dual array microphones (front)
Connectivity: Wireless AC (2×2)
Bluetooth 4.2
Power: 19 volt, 65-watt wall-mount adapter
Enclosure: Aluminum and plastic with replaceable lid
Size: 4.52 x 4.37 x 1.37 inches (BNK model)
4.52 x 4.37 x 2.00 inches (BNH model)
Other features: Supports third-party lids
Fan sensor inputs for monitoring fan activity
ACPI-compliant power management control
HDD and Power LEDs
Multi-color selectable front panel LED ring
Kensington lock with base security
Three-year warranty
Supports VESA mounting

NUC7i5

As the name indicates, these units are based on a Core i5-7260U processor with a base clock speed of 2.2GHz and a boost clock speed of 3.4Ghz. It’s identical to the Core i3 model save for tossing out the USB 3.1 Type-C port for a Thunderbolt 3 Type-C port. This port enables transfer speeds of up to 40 gigabits per second whereas USB 3.1 only moves at 10 gigabits per second.

Another difference is that this model relies on an integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 component as opposed to the NUC7i3’s Intel HD Graphics 620 component. The Iris Plus Graphics 640 has a base clock speed of 300MHz and a turbo speed of 950MHz whereas the Graphics 620 has a base clock speed of 300MHz and a boost clock speed of 1,000MHz.

The Core i5-7260U is actually the slower chip of the new “U” Core i5 processors Intel just revealed. It follows the Core i5-7360U with a base clock speed of 2.3GHz and a boost clock speed of 3.6GHz. That speedier chip relies on the Iris Plus Graphics 640 component too, only it’s clocked slightly faster at a base speed of 300MHz and a boost speed of 1,000MHz.

NUC7i5BNK / NUC7i5BNH
Processor: Intel Core i5-7260U (dual-core)
Processor speed: 2.2GHz base, 3.4GHz turbo
Memory: Dual-channel, DDR4 @ 2,133MHz
32GB maximum
Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
Storage: 1x M.2 SSD slot (SATA3 or PCIe)
1x SATA 3 port for 2.5” drives (BNH only)
Ports (front): 1x Infrared port
1x Micro SD card slot
2x USB 3.0 (one charges)
1x Headphone/microphone jack
Ports (back): 1x Thunderbolt 3 Type-C
1x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 2.0 (internal)
1x Gigabit Ethernet
1x Combo speaker/TOSLINK optical jack
Audio: 7.1 Surround via HDMI or DisplayPort
Dual array microphones (front)
Connectivity: Wireless AC (2×2)
Bluetooth 4.2
Power: 19 volt, 65-watt wall-mount adapter
Enclosure: Aluminum and plastic with replaceable lid
Size: 4.52 x 4.37 x 1.37 inches (BNK model)
4.52 x 4.37 x 2.00 inches (BNH model)
Other features: Supports third-party lids
Fan sensor inputs for monitoring fan activity
ACPI-compliant power management control
HDD and Power LEDs
Multi-color selectable front panel LED ring
Kensington lock with base security
Three-year warranty
Supports VESA mounting

NUC7i7

There’s only one unit offered here: the NUC7i7BNH. It relies on Intel’s Core i7-7567U with a base clock speed of 3.5GHz and a boost clock speed of 4.0GHz. This is the fastest chip in Intel’s new “U” seventh-generation Core processor lineup on a computing level, but not the fastest regarding to the integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 component. All five of the new “U” Core i7 processors have a base graphics clock speed of 300MHz. However, the i7-7567U has a boost clock speed of 1,100MHz while the i7-7600U tops at 1,150Mhz, the highest on the list. We know — it’s not much of a difference.

Outside the CPU and graphics aspect, the NUC7i7 is identical to the NUC7i5BNH model sporting the extra SATA 3 connector for a 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD, a Thunderbolt 3 port, a handful of USB 3.0 ports, and more. As with all the other models listed above, customers are required to supply their own memory and storage devices on top of purchasing these “bare-bone” units. Intel believes that customers will see “great” gaming with these mini PCs, but without a discrete graphics chip from AMD or Nvidia, customers may want to shy away from high-resolutions and visually intense titles.

NUC7i7BNH
Processor: Intel Core i7-7567U (dual-core)
Processor speed: 3.5GHz base, 4.0GHz turbo
Memory: Dual-channel, DDR4 @ 2,133MHz
32GB maximum
Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650
Storage: 1x M.2 SSD slot (SATA 3 or PCIe)
1x SATA 3 for 2.5” drives (HDD or SSD)
Ports (front): 1x Infrared port
1x Micro SD card slot
2x USB 3.0 (one charges)
1x Headphone/microphone jack
Ports (back): 1x Thunderbolt 3 Type-C
1x HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz)
2x USB 3.02x USB 2.0 (internal)
1x Gigabit Ethernet
1x Combo speaker/TOSLINK optical jack
Audio: 7.1 Surround via HDMI or DisplayPort
Dual array microphones (front)
Connectivity: Wireless AC (2×2)
Bluetooth 4.2
Power: 19 volt, 65-watt wall-mount adapter
Enclosure: Aluminum and plastic with replaceable lid
Size: 4.52 x 4.37 x 2.00 inches
Other features:

Supports third-party lids
Fan sensor inputs for monitoring fan activity
ACPI-compliant power management control
HDD and Power LEDs
Multi-color selectable front panel LED ring
Kensington lock with base security
Three-year warranty
Supports VESA mounting

Now, just as a refresher, here is the list of seventh-generation “Kaby Lake-U” processors from Intel revealed this week:

Processor Base/Boost Speeds GPU Base/Boost Speeds
i7-7567U 3.5GHz / 4.0GHz 300MHz / 1,100MHz*
i7-7600U 2.8GHz / 3.9 GHz 300MHz / 1,150MHz
i7-7500U 2.7GHz / 3.5GHz 300MHz / 1,050MHz
i7-7660U 2.5GHz / 4.0GHz 300MHz / 1,050MHz
i7-7560U 2.4GHz / 3.8GHz 300MHz / 1,050MHz
i5-7287U 3.3GHz / 3.5GHz 300MHz / 1,100MHz
i5-7267U 3.1GHz / 3.5GHz 300MHz / 1,050MHz
i5-7300U 2.6GHz / 3.5GHz 300MHz / 1,100MHz
i5-7200U 2.5GHz / 3.1GHz 300MHz / 1,000MHz
i5-7360U 2.3GHz / 3.6GHz 300MHz / 1,000MHz
i5-7260U 2.2GHz / 3.4GHz 300MHz / 950MHz*
i3-7167U 2.8GHz 300MHz / 1,000MHz
i3-7100U 2.4GHz 300MHz / 1,000MHz*

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Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
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