Intel Serpent Canyon NUC combines Core i7 with ARC A770M power in a 2.5L chassis

Intel has unveiled a new enthusiastic NUC that is powered by an Intel processor and Intel GPU. Officially, it’s called the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Mini PC, but the codename “Serpent Canyon” might be easier to Google.

Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Mini PC and Kit (codenamed “Serpent Canyon”)

Combine an Intel Core i7-12700H with an Intel Arc A770M GPU. The processor has a base TDP of 45 W (maximum turbo power 115 W), 6 high-performance cores and 8 efficient cores (20 threads in total) with a maximum turbo frequency for the P-cores of 4.7 GHz and 24 MB of L3 cache.

The Arc A770M has 32 Xe cores and 32 Ray Tracing units and is paired with 16GB of VRAM (GDDR6). It is the best mobile GPU available from Intel right now. Thanks to Intel Deep Link Technology (the first time we see it on desktop), the CPU and GPU can share dynamic power, even if they are discrete hardware components (they still share the same cooling configuration).

Intel Core i7-12700H and Arc A770M

The Serpent Canyon NUC comes in two forms, one of which is preconfigured with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 1TB PCIe 4 SSD. Or you can get the version of the kit that comes without RAM, storage or operating system so you can configure it to your liking.

You can have up to 64GB of RAM (dual channel) and there are three M.2 NVMe slots (two PCIe 4.0, one 3.0). You can charge it to be a real monster (an expensive, but powerful monster).

Let’s take a quick look at connectivity. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI 2.1 (up to 4K60), two DisplayPort 2.0, six USB-A, and a full-size SD card reader. For networking, Intel 2.5 Gbps Ethernet (i225-LM) and Wi-Fi 6E (Killer AX1690i) are available, as well as Bluetooth 5.2.

All of this fits inside a compact 2.5-liter chassis, which can be used horizontally or vertically (using the included stand).

The mini PC and Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Kit will be available later this month for $ 1,180 to $ 1,350, depending on configuration.

Fully equipped desktop systems based on this hardware will soon be available from resellers and system integrators.