Intel Teases NUC12 Extreme Dragon Canyon: Socketed Alder Lake and 10GbE in Q1 2022
by Ganesh T S on January 7, 2022 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
- Systems
- Intel
- NUC
- Compute Element
- CES 2022
- NUC12
- Dragon Canyon
Intel provided a teaser of their upcoming NUC12 Extreme product at CES 2022. Complete specifications have been promised closer to launch, but the components layout in their virtual presentation points to a follow-up very similar to the Beast Canyon NUC in terms of form-factor and sizing.
The key update from the Beast Canyon seems to be the use of a socketed processor, which should allow for a wider range of processor choices for the end user. The vapor chamber / CPU blower continues to be the cooling system for the components in the Compute Element 'add-in card'. The allowed TDP range for the supported processors is something that would be interesting to note while building systems based on the Dragon Canyon platform. Other aspects such as the use of DDR4 SODIMMs and a separate front panel connector board seem to be similar to the Beast Canyon NUC platform introduced last year.
From the I/O perspective, we have Thunderbolt 4 (as expected with Alder Lake) and Wi-Fi 6E. Networking enthusiasts should be quite happy with Intel's promise of delivering 10GbE LAN in the product. The absence of USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 appears to be a slight dampener in what otherwise seems to be an exciting SFF platform expected to launch in the next few months.
Source: Intel on YouTube
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Flying Aardvark - Friday, January 7, 2022 - link
It is backwards compatible with USB 3.2 (2x2). See my other comment with citation. Intel isn't going to release TB4 and not have an inferior standard supported along with it.thestryker - Saturday, January 8, 2022 - link
You'd end up with a 10gbps fallback if the device doesn't support 2x2 as 3.2 gen 2 is mandatory.Flying Aardvark - Friday, January 7, 2022 - link
USB4 is just Thunderbolt 3 rebranded. Cable Matters' FAQ claims that TB4 does indeed support USB 3.2 G2x2. Which is what I was under the impression as well.https://www.cablematters.com/blog/Thunderbolt/thun...
thestryker - Friday, January 7, 2022 - link
This isn't accurate as the 2x2 part is optional example: the M1 Macs can't do 2x2 it defaults to the 10gbps standard for non TB devices.If you look at the chart for "Support of data transfer modes" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB4
Without Intel confirming 2x2 support it's a lot safer to just bet on it not being there.
ballsystemlord - Friday, January 7, 2022 - link
USB4 does move data at *up to* 40Gbps like USB3.2 Gen 2x2 does naively. So you may have been thinking of that.Flying Aardvark - Friday, January 7, 2022 - link
USB 3.2 G2x2 (I refer to it just as USB 3.2), is 20Gbps max.erinadreno - Saturday, January 8, 2022 - link
I'm current using the 11700B version of beadt canyon. That cooler is atrocious, not even capable of handling 75w sustained load with no GPU installed. They should've extend the card to ~20cm to fit two fans like in hades canyon.erinadreno - Saturday, January 8, 2022 - link
*Beast canyondamianrobertjones - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
Can the compute unit fit into the Nuc 9 extreme case??