How the NUC 11 Pro restored my faith

Kevin Hofer

17/2/2022

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

I like NUCs. In theory. However, my last three experiences with these smaller PCs have been frustrating. Nevertheless, I decided to give the Intel NUC 11 Pro a chance.

Nothing again. The urge to hurl my Intel NUC 11 Pro into the corner was growing. What happened? Well, I’d been trying to get my latest test NUC up and running for about two hours now. But I simply couldn’t get a picture onscreen. In a last desperate act, I unplugged the RAM and put it back again. You never know, after all. I switched it on, lo and behold: let there be light.

Nothing works

My relationship with micro PCs – or NUCs (Next Unit of Computing) to Intel – is one of frustration. Towards the end of 2018, I was still a relatively fresh tech reviewer at digitec Galaxus. I received a test device from Asus. My conclusion after hours of trial and error and requesting help from dozens of colleagues: the thing wouldn’t run.

Due to this experience, I chose to skip NUCs for a long time. Until I agreed to test an NUC from Intel in mid-2021. The manufacturer sent an NUC 9 Extreme Ghost Canyon. Nice, but by that time its successor the NUC 11 Extreme Beast Canyon was already out. I wanted to test the new one instead. Still, I did take a closer look at Ghost Canyon. Or, more accurately, I tried. Because no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get a picture onscreen. Annoying, but I’d return the device anyway.

A few months later, my NUC 11 Extreme Beast Canyon arrived. Cool, the latest miniature technology – is what I thought. Still, due to previous experiences I was sceptical. Would the NUC turn on? After installing the necessary RAM, SSD and graphics card, I went to turn the thing on. But yet again, the curse that haunted both my previous devices persisted. I couldn’t get an image onscreen. Oh well. At least I got to explore whether Beast Canyon was still an NUC in a video.

It’s actually quite concerning that none of my test NUCs worked. I don’t know if it was because of the quality of the products, I’ve received assembly models or defective test units from other reviewers before me. Maybe it’s just me. Anyway, I swore never to test an NUC again.

But shortly after I sent my Beast Canyon back to Intel, the manufacturer’s next NUC arrived. Not that I’d have ordered the NUC 11 Pro. At first, I didn’t dare to put it into operation. I didn’t want to go through the same experience yet again. The old charade seemed to repeat itself – until I unplugged and reinserted the RAM.

A new chapter?

Now I’m sitting here with a running NUC. Finally! My joy and faith in NUCs are partially restored. Still, I wonder: have my expectations sunk so low that this thing is awesome to me just because it runs? That’s why I really want to put the NUC through its paces to find out what it’s capable of.

Intel sent me the following model:

Barebones

ASUS NUC 11 Pro Kit NUC11TNKv7

Intel Core i7-1185G7

1

At the moment, I have three additional problems:

1. The device is currently unavailable, which is why a review won’t make much sense.
2. I don’t have a reference, i.e. a model that I can contrast with the NUC.
3. This NUC was already launched in the first quarter of 2021. Does reviewing a one-year-old model make sense?

For reference, I could borrow an Intel NUC 10 from our warehouse, with its i7 from the 10th core i-generation. However, since the installed i7-10710U has six cores and twelve threads, any comparison would be unfair. My NUC is equipped with an i7-1185G7. It is one generation newer, but only has four cores and eight threads.

A comparison with the M1 SoC MacMini also isn’t possible. This despite the fact that I could ask my coworker David Lee, proud owner of a Mac Mini, for benchmarks. Most of them are either emulated or don’t run at all due to the differences in CPU architecture. Thus, they cannot be compared either.

Future-proof testing

The NUC 11 Pro is running, but I cannot test it meaningfully. Although it is a good device in itself. When using it in everyday life, I don’t notice any difference in browsing and writing compared to my gaming PC, equipped with a Ryzen 9 5950X and Radeon RX 6800. In Photoshop, differences are somewhat noticeable. It’s only when editing videos that I realise this NUC doesn’t stand a chance against my PC. Not to mention gaming, but a mini PC with integrated graphics isn’t designed for that.

Nevertheless, I subjected the NUC 11 Pro to various benchmarks. To future-proof my tests, so to speak. For now, I finally have a working NUC, and there’ll be more to come! Such as its successor. It should be released before the end of the year. Hopefully, it’ll be available and running as intended. My faith in NUCs has been restored (for now). Let’s see how long it lasts.

If you’re into numbers, I’ll summarise my test results for the NUC 11 Pro in the following table.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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