If you don’t count the “Hades Canyon” and “Skull Canyon” models aimed at gamers, most of Intel’s NUC mini computers to date have shipped with 15 watt or lower power processors. But while the new Intel NUC “Bean Canyon” line of computers are about the same size and shape as their predecessors, they’re powered by 28 watt quad-core “Coffee Lake” chips with Iris Plus graphics.
As FanlessTech notes, that makes them the most powerful Intel NUC models yet (if you’re only looking at the versions with 4″ x 4″ motherboards.
After going up for pre-order this summer, several Bean Canyon NUC models are now available for purchase.
You can pick up a NUC8i5BEK barebones computer with an Intel Core i5-8259U processors, Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics from Newegg for $390Â or from Amazon for $402.
The 4.5″ x 4.4″ x 1.2″ computer has an M.2 slot for PCIe NVMe or SATA solid state storage and support for up to 32GB of dual-channel DDR4-2400 RAM. You’ll need to supply your own memory, storage, and operating system.
The little computer features a Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C port, four USB 3.1 Type-A ports, an HDMI port, a headset jack, and a power button on the front. It also has dual array microphones, an Ethernet jack and support for 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0.
If you’re looking for a little more power and/or storage, the NUC8i7BEHÂ is a 4.5″ x 4.4″ x 2″ model with a Core i7-8559U processor and room for a 2.5 inch hard drive or SSD in addition to the M.2 slot for solid state storage.
It’s up for order from Amazon for $484Â and Newegg is selling it for about $490.
Newegg also offers a number of bundles that let you pick up a Bean Canyon NUC plus memory and storage. Some configurations also come with a Windows 10 license.
Meanwhile, SimplyNUC is still taking pre-orders for several different Bean Canyon models, including the entry-level NUC8i3BEK with a Core i3-8109U processor and a $299 price tag for a barebones version, making the NUC8i3BEK the most affordable Bean Canyon NUC.
hmm kinda hard to get the NUC8I5BEH tho
I wonder if using a PCIe NVMe SSD takes away from the PCIe lanes needed for thunderbolt to work fully.
It doesn’t seem to. I just setup my NUC8i7BEH with an NVMe SSD and an eGPU. CUDA-Z is showing full speed transfers. It’s a slick little setup!
Definitely does not take away any PCIe lanes as I used an NVMe SSD and a TB3 eGPU case with a NUC7i7 for a while and both ran at full x4 speed.
It should have had a second HDMI or a DisplayPort.
I think you can do video on the TB3 (USB-C-alike) port, though of course it means adding adapters and/or new cables to your arsenal…
I have the NUC7i7 and use a USB-C to DisplayPort cable. Using that and HDMI right now and both work great.
AMD needs to move into this go factor. 2400g mini PC would sell pretty well as a cheap gaming PC.
I agree. An AMD Ryzen version of this would cost $100 less.
Very pretty, slick design.
Are NUC motherboards manufactured in China? Hopefully Intel is not contracting with Supermicro for NUC boards.