Get 'em while you can: Intel begins purging NUCs from inventory
- Reference: 1692039852
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/08/14/intel_nuc_purge/
- Source link:
As of August 18, Intel's NUC 12 Enthusiast kits, X15 and P14E reference laptops — yes, Intel [1]made notebooks — will officially be [2]discontinued , with the last call for interested parties to get their hands of remaining stock being September 8.
Intel's NUC 12 Enthusiast kit was particularly notable as it served as a showcase for the chipmaker's ARC A770M GPU. This particular NUC, code named [3]Serpent Canyon , was discontinued less than a year after hitting the shelves in September 2022. Based on the performance [4]we saw from the chipmaker's desktop chips, we can't say we're all that surprised.
[5]
From the product change notifications, it's not exactly clear how long Intel will continue providing support for these products. This responsibility may actually end up falling on Asus, which has reportedly [6]agreed to manufacture, sell, and support 10th to 13th-gen NUC hardware. We've reached out to Intel for clarification.
[7]
[8]
The latest bout of product discontinuations comes just weeks after the chipmaker [9]killed off its PC division as part of a widely publicized cost-saving measure intended to curb Intel's annual spending to the tune of $8 billion to $10 billion a year by 2025. We expect these discontinuations to be the first of many to come over the next few weeks as the chipmaker clears inventories. As we've previously reported, the last NUC hardware is expected to leave Intel's warehouse by September 30.
[10]Tinker Tailor Soldier Pi? Asus's 'NUC-sized' SBC aims to out-Pi the Raspberry
[11]Intel pulls plug on mini-PC NUCs
[12]Opportunity NUCs for Asus to continue Intel's mini PC line
[13]You'll [BZZ] like Intel's [BZZ] NUC 13 Pro once the fan [BZZ] stops blowing
The good news for fans of Intel's quirky little, and sometimes no so little, PCs is you can expect to see these parts on warehouse shelves and at your local e-tailor for a while longer, potentially at a steep discount if the fire sale on Intel's Optane SSDs following their [14]cancellation last summer is anything to go by.
Intel, like some other chip giants, has faced financial headwinds over the past several quarters as demand for PC hardware has plummeted. Intel's fortunes appear to be [15]improving with the x86 titan posting a profit of $1.5 billion in Q2, up from a $2.8 billion loss the prior quarter.
Ironically, much of this recovery was attributed to better than expected PC demand for desktops. However this trend wasn't enough to save the NUC division from CEO Pat Gelsinger's ax. After all, Intel still needs to cut $3 billion from its annual spend this year, and the NUC division doesn't exactly have the best sales record. Last year we [16]learned the x86 giant only shipped 10 million NUC units over a decade, a fact that earned the division a place on our Intel-cost cutting Bingo card.
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Those still mourning the end of the NUC family should find solace in the fact that the NUC concept will live on under Asus' stewardship. Last week, the manufacturer's Tinker Board division [18]showed off a new single board computer available in a NUC form factor. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/13/intel_axes_nvidiapowered_nuc_x15/
[2] https://qdms.intel.com/Portal/SearchPCNDataBase.aspx
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/20/intel_nuc_12_enthusiast/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/18/intel_arc_gpu_comparison/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZNqkCNjLf8oFKjHHFkKrUwAAAUU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/19/intel_asus_nuc_deal/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZNqkCNjLf8oFKjHHFkKrUwAAAUU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZNqkCNjLf8oFKjHHFkKrUwAAAUU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/11/intel_nuc_shutdown/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/11/asus_nuc_tinker_3n/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/11/intel_nuc_shutdown/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/19/intel_asus_nuc_deal/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/08/intel_nuc_13_pro_review/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/29/intel_optane_memory_dead/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/28/intel_q2_results/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/05/intel_product_cuts/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZNqkCNjLf8oFKjHHFkKrUwAAAUU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/11/asus_nuc_tinker_3n/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I'm looking for a small, silent machine to put behind my giant flatscreen tv. What would you recommend?
Depends on what you plan on doing with it and what, if any, expansion abilities you may want.
If it's just to watch TV shows, anything capable of running KODI, from a Raspbery Pi 4 upwards will do or even go with [1]OSMC who will also sell you NUC-a-like pre-installed for the job if you don't to just download an image to install yourself to your chosen device.
After that, a quick search of the interwebs on fanless tiny PC indicates a wide range of kit of varying power and price depending on how deep your pockets are, how much you are prepared to compromise and whether it needs to be ruggedized for a marine environment in case you live near the beach and are expecting heavy swells. (I saw one specced as "marine environment" for over £2500!)
[1] https://osmc.tv/vero/
Depends how small but I've had great results with an Akasa Turing case on a NUC board for a true fanless build. A bit of creative tuning of the power limits can keep you from hideous temps or throttling and, while I built that one with a 10th gen, the 11th (in its standard case because I find the fan noise just fine) gen eeks out a decent jump in performance so even the i3 nicely handles all the 4k content I've thrown at it. The thunderbolt ports are terribly handy if you want to add a JBOD array.
I can also confirm that a pi 4 will handle almost any content (it does have a slight struggle with remuxed UHD blu ray) but the interface on Kodi isn't buttery smooth like it is on the NUC.
There's plenty of alternatives out there. I can't think of a use case where only a NUC will do except maybe an industrial use built with a space exactly designed for a NUC sized device with sockets in NUC designed spots. And if that's the case, they are doing it wrong since even NUCs have changed over the generations.