With NUC 12 Extreme "Dragon Canyon", Intel adds socketed desktop processors to the NUC family

Intel has announced the launch of the Intel NUC 12 Extreme, and the Intel NUC 12 Extreme Compute Element, code-named Dragon Canyon, and Eden Bay, respectively. It is a highly modular desktop PC kit that has been developed to deliver "phenomenal performance" for high-end gaming and content creation tasks.

The Intel NUC 12 Extreme provides high performance and capabilities that professional creators and gamers require in a compact and modular form factor, with the new 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processors, capacity for full-size 12-inch discrete graphics cards, and a full range of I/O ports including Thunderbolt 4.

Talking about the Intel NUC 12 Extreme, a spokesperson from Intel stated:

The Intel NUC 12 Extreme brings Intel’s new performance hybrid architecture and a socketed motherboard to the NUC line for the first time. For those who want a powerful system with a small footprint and more versatility than ever before, the Intel NUC 12 Extreme Kit is an outstanding option.

The latest Intel NUC comes with features including performance hybrid architecture and access to faster PCIe interfaces, accelerating load times, all in a footprint capable of fitting on any desk. The modular Intel NUC 12 Extreme Compute Element allows enthusiast gamers and creators to produce their own small form-factor designs, enabling users to configure the system footprint to their liking.

The NUC 12 Extreme provides breakthrough speeds with up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, featuring eight Performance-cores (P-cores) and eight Efficient-cores (E-cores), 24 threads, and over 5.1 GHz turbo boost max frequency.

In addition to these features, it also includes Intel UHD Graphics 770 (32EU), support for over 64 GB dual-channel DDR4-3200 MHz SODIMMs, support for PCIe Gen5 x16 graphics cards, support for over three PCIe Gen4 M.2 SSDs, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211, and a 10Gbps Ethernet port standard; and supplementary 2.5Gbps Ethernet port on Intel Core i9 processor SKUs.

From the second quarter of 2022, the Intel NUC 12 Extreme will be available for the users. For Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i9 , pricing will range from $1,150 to $1,450, respectively.