The gaming-oriented Intel Hades Canyon NUC with an Intel Kaby Lake-G processor is technically the first of Intel’s min computers to feature an 8th-gen Intel processor. But the company’s first mainstream NUC systems with 8th-gen chips are coming later this year.

While most older NUC systems featured the same kind of 15 watt processors you’d typically find in a thin-and-light laptop, the upcoming “Bean Canyon” NUCs will feature 28 watt Intel Coffee Lake chips rather than 15 watt Kaby lake Refresh processors.

Intel had already told us to expect Coffee Lake processors earlier this year, but a leaked product slide posted by FanlessTech is the first to tell us which Coffee Lake chips Intel will use.

It looks like there are at least 5 Bean Canyon NUC models on the way:

  • NUC8i3BEK with Core i3-8109U (short)
  • NUC8i3BEH with Core i3-8109U (tall)
  • NUC8i5BEK with Core i5-8259U (short)
  • NUC8i5BEH with Core i5-8259U (tall)
  • NUC8i7BEH with Core i7-8559U (tall)

The tall versions have a 2.5 inch drive bay capable of accommodating a 9.5mm SATA3 hard drive or solid state drive, while the short models have just a SATA3 port for a physically smaller SSD.

Each model measures 4.6″ x 4.4″ across, but the short versions are just 1.4 inches high, while the tall models are 2 inches high.

Despite using more power-hungry processors than last year’s NUC systems with 7th-gen Intel Core chips, the new models are expected to feature a similar design to the “Dawson Canyon” NUCs pictured in this article.

As for the chips that power these computers, they’re all 8th-gen Intel Core processors with 2 or 4 cores and Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics. That won’t give you the same amount of GPU power you’d get from an AMD or NVIDIA graphics processor, but you should get a little more bang for your buck for gaming, video editing, or other tasks than you’d get from a system with an Intel UHD 620 GPU.

Here are some more details about the chips:

  • Core i3-8109U – 2 cores/4 threads, 3 GHz base frequency/3.6 GHz turbo, 4MB cache, 300 MHz – 1.05 GHz GPU
  • Core i5-8259U – 4 cores/8 threads, 2.3 GHz base frequency/3.8 GHz turbo,  6MB cache, 300 MHz – 1.05 GHz GPU
  • Core i7-8559U – 4 cores/8 threads, 2.7 GHz base frequency/4.5 GHz turbo, 8MB cache, 300 MHz -1.2 GHz GPU

 

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22 replies on “Intel’s next-gen NUC mini PCs will have 28W Coffee Lake processors”

  1. Hyper threading is the big deal here. I don’t think the i5 has had hyperthreading yet (someone correct me if that’s wrong!). This makes the 8th gen i5 very attractive for unnoficially getting VMware ESXI running on these things with sufficient CPU processing; The higher TDP will also help this as well.

    I’ll be buying 3 when it launches. I was considering the hades canyon (2015) skull nuc since it had hyperthreading, but this might be more economical when it finally releases…

    1. The i5 machines I have, mostly Ivy Bridge U laptops, are dual core chips with hyperthreading. Not sure if all i5s are the same.

      1. They must not all be equal; We have 150 of these deployed where I work (5th gen i5) and they are definitely quad core, and task manager shows quad, not octa, like a hyper threaded cpu would display.

  2. Brad,

    It would be awesome if you could compare this Coffee Lake NUC with the new Mintbox Mini 2!

  3. Brad,

    It would be awesome if you would compare this Coffee Lake NUC with the new Mintbox Mini 2!

  4. “As for the chips that power these computers, they’re all dual core processors with Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics.” Actually only the i3 model is a dual core, the rest are quad core. -olli

  5. im reading a click bait ad here that says “Anthony Bourdain Is Making This Cocktail Popular Again”

    stay classy 😐

    1. Brad doesn’t place ads on here himself, he uses a service to do that. I would think it was in rotation and when Anthony passed away they didn’t catch it for removal.

  6. I hope the include the thunderbolt 3 port that they removed for this gen. those pictures look like said gen.

      1. yeah, i had the NUC7i5BNK and it had one but the recent one didn’t. sad considering it had a quad core i7…

  7. With those GHz I bet those fans are going to get plenty loud.
    I hope we will have also Chinese fanless options.

    1. Akasa will surely have fanless cases for these within a few months of them releasing.

  8. Worthless without a high-end GPU.. Everything this days require one.. gaming, graphics, vr, ar, ai, opencl, photoshop, movie editing, etc.. They should have added an AMD gpu on it.. without it, it sucks.. made the mistake several times and fell for Intel marketing fake hype.. now those machines are piling dust.. NVIDIA or AMD high-end GPUs required or again.. it sucks..

    1. I think you’re considering the wrong demographic for this thing. Nobody is buying this thing for VR, gaming, or movie editing.

      The included Intel Iris Plus 655 is more than sufficient for things like Photoshop, and nearly any productivity task you throw at it. To be honest, its probably good enough for some movie editing too. The previous gen Iris 650 was good enough to play brand new games like Battlefield 1, and Pubg.

      And no, not “Everything this days” requires a high-end GPU. You just have silly expectations of what the the NUCs should be capable of.

      1. You’re absolutely right.

        Also, a high-end GPU in a slim 4×4″ mini PC is simply unrealistic.

        28W processors and Iris Plus graphics will not only handle light gaming, but also offer a true desktop experience.

        Millions of people are still buying PCs for basic home use, and the NUC is now a serious contender.

    2. “They should have added an AMD gpu on it..” they did, it was called the Hades Canyon. If you need a nuc with more gaming power you can get that. The Bean will fit my needs, rocksmith, gta iv, and gta v, So I will buy this.

      1. Josh, I play Rocksmith as well. HD4600 wasn’t enough for FullHD smooth performance, wondering if Iris 650 is

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