{"id":1755,"date":"2023-03-22T06:48:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T11:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itparadise.net\/2021\/01\/12\/this-is-beast-canyon-the-evolution-of-intels-modular-mini-gaming-pc\/"},"modified":"2023-03-30T09:49:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T14:49:40","slug":"this-is-beast-canyon-the-evolution-of-intels-modular-mini-gaming-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/?p=1755","title":{"rendered":"This is Beast Canyon, the evolution of Intel\u2019s modular mini gaming PC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p--has-dropcap p-large-text\" id=\"QxEiue\">Building your own gaming PC is a labor of love. It\u2019s not something that needs to be \u201ceasier,\u201d exactly. But from the moment I set a screwdriver to Intel\u2019s new NUC 11 Extreme, aka \u201cBeast Canyon,\u201d I couldn\u2019t help marveling at how brilliant a eight-liter gaming machine can be.<\/p>\n<p id=\"4iBJwj\">Beast Canyon is Intel\u2019s fourth attempt to design a more compact gaming PC than most gamers could dream of building on their own, and paradoxically, it\u2019s Intel\u2019s biggest chassis yet. Like last year\u2019s Ghost Canyon, it\u2019s attempting to change the way mini-PCs are built with its Compute Element cartridges, which contains a miniaturized motherboard, CPU, memory, storage, and ports you can swap all at once. That way, you can theoretically upgrade your entire system just like you\u2019d upgrade a graphics card, right down to plugging it into a PCI-Express slot. (As I\u2019ll explain, the truth may be a little more complicated.)<\/p>\n<p>        <img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/22747184\/shollister_210727_4681_0005.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/22747186\/shollister_210727_4681_0008.jpg\"><figcaption><em>Each NUC Element contains the entire brains of a PC, including a preinstalled CPU and vapor chamber. The newer model (left) has more drive slots and a much larger radiator for cooling.<\/em><\/figcaption><p class=\"c-read-more__intro\">\n    Related\n  <\/p>\n<h4>NUC 8, \u201cHades Canyon\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>NUC 9 Extreme, \u201cGhost Canyon\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>NUC 11 Enthusiast, \u201cPhantom Canyon\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p id=\"VyfdU5\">Where Ghost was a 5-liter rounded rectangular prism that barely fit an 8-inch-long graphics card, the 8-liter Beast lives up to its name with room for 12 inches of GPU power and an included 650-watt 80+ Gold power supply. It was enough to let me <em>easily <\/em>fit and sufficiently power one of the most powerful GPUs on the market, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founder\u2019s Edition, and it instantly takes this box\u2019s gaming cred far beyond Intel\u2019s previous attempts.<\/p>\n<p id=\"UhyWWx\">That extra room and power is important, because the upgrade options for a smaller 5-liter box like the Ghost haven\u2019t been looking that hot. While some of Nvidia and AMD\u2019s most powerful cards in prior years have shrunken down to fit tiny cases, the latest batch of RTX 3000 and AMD 6000 series GPUs have gone the opposite direction, with most OEMs opting for oversized cards even compared to Nvidia\u2019s own Founder\u2019s Editions. Last I checked, the most powerful card that will fit the Ghost is EVGA\u2019s RTX 3060 Ti, but the Beast can hold practically every dual-slot graphics card up to a 350W TDP, which just so happens to be where the RTX 3080 Ti tops out anyways. <\/p>\n<p>        <img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/22747195\/shollister_210727_4681_0020.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/22747196\/shollister_210727_4681_0022.jpg\"><figcaption><em>The Beast Canyon with an RTX 3080 Ti, vs. an RTX 3060, the largest card that would fit into its predecessor.<\/em><\/figcaption><p id=\"4kMyog\">That might make this 8-liter box one of the smallest competent 4K gaming PCs you can buy \u2014 in benchmarks with a pre-production sample of the Core i9-11900KB, I saw the Beast post numbers within a stone\u2019s throw of those my colleague Tom Warren saw when he reviewed the 3080 Ti with his full-size desktop. I can\u2019t call today\u2019s article a full review without lots of testing on a full production board, but based on the numbers I\u2019m seeing in demanding games like <em>Watch Dogs: Legion<\/em> (which fell just short), most other titles should average over 60 frames per second at 4K with maximum settings sans raytracing. <\/p>\n<p id=\"a8VNlf\">And while you could probably build a more satisfying, less plasticky and skull-laden rig with boutique cases like the 8.2-liter Louqe Ghost S1 and 7.2-liter Dan A4, most prebuilt mini gaming rigs are far larger, like the 12-liter Corsair One. Perhaps more importantly, I doubt any of them are as effortless to work inside. (I love my 12.7-liter Ncase M1, but even it\u2019s a squeeze sometimes.)<\/p>\n<p>      <button data-ui=\"grid\"><br \/>\n         Grid View<br \/>\n      <\/button><\/p>\n<p>      <button class=\"c-image-gallery__viewer-prev\" data-ui=\"prev-image\" aria-label=\"Previous image\"><\/p>\n<p>      <\/button><br \/>\n      <button class=\"c-image-gallery__viewer-next\" data-ui=\"next-image\" aria-label=\"Next image\"><\/p>\n<p>      <\/button><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Intel\u2019s NUC 11 Extreme, aka Beast Canyon. You can turn off the lighting, or print out a different pattern instead of a skull if you prefer.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>The new 8-liter NUC may be small, but it\u2019s a lot larger than last year\u2019s 5-liter model.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>The old one was taller, though.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Here\u2019s what Beast Canyon looks like inside, after the first four screws. You can just slide off the side panels and flip open the top for easy access.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>The new NUC comes with a fan shroud for ventilation. Last year\u2019s NUC just had a simple plastic flap to separate its CPU fan from your GPU.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>That shroud doesn\u2019t line up with the old Compute Element, but it\u2019s probably for the best.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Here\u2019s the new Compute Element for comparison. Same size, different headers, but there\u2019s a pigtail of breakout cables that do most of the same things.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Here\u2019s a look inside the new Compute Element, with its wide radiator and extra M.2 SSD slots.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>The old Compute Element had a much smaller radiator, lay-flat memory modules, and a lot of wasted space.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Much more cooling for the CPU, less for the SSDs.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>One fewer Ethernet port on the new Compute Module, but you get 2.5Gbps instead of Gigabit and Thunderbolt 4 instead of 3.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               Front ports include full-size USB, 3.5mm headset, and a full-size UHS-II SD card slot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>The screws are mounted atop the Compute Module this time for easy access.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>You can easily open up the module to add storage without removing it from your case.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>This time, it\u2019s a fully modular 650W 80+ Gold SFX power supply instead of a 500W Flex ATX one.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Three pre-installed 92mm fans with cable guards, all hooked up to headers so you\u2019ve only a single cable down to the Compute Element.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>The fans have built in cable channels for the Wi-Fi antennas so they don\u2019t dangle like in the original.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Quite a design and spot for the tiny folded rear Wi-Fi antenna to live.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>On the other side of the case, the power supply has full airflow, and there\u2019s a dedicated window for the Compute Element\u2019s release lever.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>On the bottom, an extra-long 110mm PCIe NVMe Gen 4 drive slot, and a button to turn off the LED lighting.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Fitting an RTX 3080 Ti GPU.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>               <em>Here\u2019s how much extra space you have with a 3060 instead. Note you have both this right-angle 8-pin PCIe power cable, and a pair of 6\/8-pin ones, too.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>      <button class=\"c-image-gallery__thumbs-prev\" data-ui=\"prev-page\" aria-label=\"Previous thumbnails\"><\/p>\n<p>      <\/button><br \/>\n      <button class=\"c-image-gallery__thumbs-next\" data-ui=\"next-page\" aria-label=\"Next thumbnails\"><\/p>\n<p>      <\/button><\/p>\n<p id=\"hxH9CS\">It\u2019s not just the fact that Intel\u2019s modular Compute Element cards let you theoretically swap a bunch of components at once. The internal layout also just <em>makes sense. <\/em>Instead of having to pivot-pivot-pivot your GPU in and out of the system (or physically remove part of the internal frame, like Intel\u2019s Ghost) you can flip up the entire top of the Beast, triple-fan-array and all, to easily swing a full-size graphics card in and out of the machine. The whole top pivots on a hinge. <\/p>\n<p id=\"UosrsU\">The Beast also has perfect-length power cables for its fully modular SFX power supply, special wire channels for its Wi-Fi antennas and fan cables to go just they need to be, and screws with their own retaining clips (though not spring-loaded screws, like the Ghost). It\u2019s not the prettiest build, inside or out, but there\u2019s loads of utility. Also, you can turn off the LED lighting with a dedicated hardware button on the bottom.<\/p>\n<p id=\"5TGOe7\">Like previous Intel NUCs, there\u2019s above-average connectivity and expandability, too. Ports include eight full-size USB 3.1 plus additional headers inside the case, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, an UHS-II SD card slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. I just wish one of those USB-C ports was on the <em>front<\/em> of the case for easier access. <\/p>\n<p id=\"6ymm2y\">Oh, and there\u2019s room for up 64GB of DDR4 memory and <em>four<\/em> full-length M.2 slots for your stick SSD storage \u2014 three M.2 2280 slots inside the Compute Module and a rare 110mm long M.2 slot with Intel Optane support on the bottom of the case. Two of them can do PCIe NVMe Gen 4 storage, the other two offer your choice of Gen 3 NVMe or SATA 3. Also, the entire NUC chassis is five PCIe slots wide instead of four, giving you room for an additional single-slot card \u2014 or the included CPU fan shroud for better ventilation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"Q4nLKo\"><strong>Processors and pricing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"SiKl2y\">It\u2019s important to note Intel doesn\u2019t sell fully built computers \u2014 the NUC 11 Extreme is sold in barebones kits where you (or a reseller) have to purchase and add your own memory, storage, operating system, and graphics card separately. Everything else comes with, including the case, power supply, module with preinstalled CPU and ports, cooling, etc. <\/p>\n<p id=\"CldajM\">Intel will sell two kits, where the only difference is the processor: your choice of a 11th Gen 8-core, 16-thread Core i7-11700B, or an 11th Gen 8-core, 16-thread Core i9-11900KB with 4MB of additional cache, 100MHz higher turbo clockspeed, and presumably an unlocked multiplier for potential overclocking since that\u2019s what \u201cK\u201d always means.<\/p>\n<p id=\"01RI62\">Intel says the Core i7 kit should cost somewhere around $1150, and the Core i9 kit somewhere around $1,350, when they ship in Q3. Intel partner SimplyNUC is also offering turnkey versions starting at $1,399 and $1,599 respectively.<\/p>\n<p id=\"GMTiiE\">Intel will also sell the Compute Element modules separately, in the range of\u00a0$780-$980.<\/p>\n<p id=\"JubGUQ\">Despite all this goodness, I\u2019m not sold on Intel\u2019s Beast, and it comes down to three things: 1) I\u2019m a cheapskate who knows I can generally get more for my money if I don\u2019t lock myself to a single brand, 2) finding <em>any<\/em> graphics card is an exercise in frustration right now, much less a dual-slot, and 3) I still don\u2019t trust Intel, or anyone, to keep pumping out modules for as long as I\u2019d like to upgrade such a computer.  <\/p>\n<p id=\"Abv2Vc\">To be fair, Intel\u2019s doing better than most in that regard. While Alienware broke its upgradable promise entirely with the Area-51m, Intel says the 11th Gen Compute Element <em>will <\/em>work in last year\u2019s Ghost Canyon \u2014 kinda. <\/p>\n<p id=\"NQwM7S\">The new module \u201cwill be able to technically plug into the NUC 9 Extreme Kit, but Intel will not be providing interactive support for that usage model,\u201d a rep tells me, adding that \u201cThere were some design decisions necessary that remove certain features such as front panel audio and PCIe Gen4 is also not a certain guarantee.\u201d It\u2019s also not guaranteeing any support for Cooler Master\u2019s NC100 and the Razer Tomahawk, both of which used an NUC Compute Element as their brains. <\/p>\n<p id=\"PVznnP\">In case you\u2019re wondering, the Compute Element from my Beast Canyon wouldn\u2019t even power on in the Ghost Canyon, something Intel proactively warned us about, and says will be fixed in production. It fits fine physically, though. <\/p>\n<p>        <img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/22747183\/shollister_210727_4681_0004.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/22747182\/shollister_210727_4681_0003.jpg\"><figcaption><em>The new Compute Element vs. the old. Note the different fan placement and combined I\/O header with pigtails.<\/em><\/figcaption><p class=\"c-end-para\" id=\"M4FM5J\">In a more perfect world, maybe Intel, AMD, and other PC giants would join forces to turn this kind of PC into a new industry standard, a replacement for the 20-year-old Mini-ITX motherboard layout that dominates small-form-factor PCs today. That\u2019s what I\u2019d like to see. And maybe a larger, better window to show off my graphics card, instead of mesh with an odd array of square cutouts underneath.<\/p>\n<p id=\"NKjGUL\"><em>Photography by Sean Hollister<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"M6CE52\"><em>Correction: The screws on the Ghost Canyon case were spring loaded, but the ones on the Beast Canyon are not (save those on the Compute Element itself). They are automatically retained when you remove them, though.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building your own gaming PC is a labor of love. It\u2019s not something that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[79,78,77,81,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2024,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755\/revisions\/2024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}