During CES 2022, Intel unveiled the successor to the NUC 11 Extreme compute module. Codenamed Dragon Canyon, the new NUC 12 Extreme will be powered by a 12th Gen Core i9 processor, bringing Alder Lake to Intel's extreme computing module.
Cassandra Bodzak, Intel's marketing specialist, presented the NUC 12 Extreme and its specifications (via FanlessTech) during the Intel client collaboration experience at CES 2022. The computing module was dismantled and presented on a wall, showcasing its components and core specs.
From the outside, not much has changed since the NUC 11. However, looking at its components, we see Intel is moving from the 11th Gen Core KB-series CPUs to the 12th Gen Core i7/i9 chips. That means that the socket was also replaced, in this case, with the LGA1700 desktop socket. In addition, the NUC 12 Extreme packs up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 memory and has up to 3x PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, Thunderbolt 4 support, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, customisable RGB lighting on the front panel and 10G LAN, HDMI and USB 3.2 Gen2 ports.
Bodzak didn't mention the GPU options featured in the NUC 12 Extreme, but we expect Intel Arc GPUs will be on the list. The Intel NUC 12 Extreme is expected to release during this quarter.
KitGuru says: Considering the early specifications, the NUC 12 Extreme is looking like a highly capable mini PC. Would you consider using one of these as your main system?