Intel Hades Canyon NUC

67% of the reviews on Amazon.co.uk give this product a positive rating.

89% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Impressive CPU and GPU performance in a small box ; Plenty of ports ; Easy access to internals

Expensive compared to pre-built desktops ; $999 kit is purely DI; you’ll have to install RAM and storage ; Large power adapter hurts portability

Finally, Intel has a NUC that'll satisfy tinkerers and gamers alike. It's the sort of machine you could move around easily, especially if you prefer to game with a large desktop monitor instead of a small laptop display.

Fast and simple hardware setup ; Great performance for common tasks ; Small size, VESA-mountable ; Barely audible fan noise

No native USB 3.0 ; Pricey once you factor in all the components

The NUC's small size, reasonable price and solid performance make it an ideal PC for tinkerers on a budget. Just be prepared to roll up your sleeves in setting it up.

Strong processor benchmarks ; Excellent game performance ; Incredible connectivity ; Stays cool and quiet under load

Not the best value ; Hard drive, RAM, and OS sold separately

Intel’s Hades Canyon NUC is early, definitive proof that the company’s partnership with AMD will be fruitful. We’re amazed to see a system so small handle all the titles in our test suite at 1080p and maximum detail. Pricing, and the NUC’s niche...

Packs AMD Radeon RX Vega M graphics ; Can drive up to six displays ; Some parts can be replaced ; Nerdy light-up skull

More expensive than any NUC so far ; Driver support remains an open question

Compact and quiet-running. Excellent overall CPU and GPU performance. AMD Vega graphics are VR-ready. Bristling with connectivity for its size. Dual M.2 slots. VESA-mountable chassis.

Steep price, once you factor in all components. Large external power adapter. No 2.5-inch bay.

Bottom Line: Intel Core i7 processing and AMD Vega graphics power meet in the Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK, a super-slim bare-bones desktop that packs punchy, VR-ready performance and extraordinary connectivity.

Solid CPU and GPU performance ; Support for gameplay-enhancing features, like FreeSync ; Myriad ports, including two Thunderbolt 3 x4 ; Can run external graphics over Thunderbolt 3 ; Runs quiet

Redesigned chassis makes access to internal components slightly more cumbersome

The NUC8i7HVK is capable of much more than I initially tested. Intel also touts this machine as an overclockable gaming virtual reality machine. One idea that got bandied about was rolling your own VR backpack system: Pair it with a battery pack and...

Uniquely diminutive footprint ; Full-size computing power ; Lots of I/O ports ; IR receiver

Bare-bones system: Some components not included ; Limited upgrade potential ; Itty-bitty design carries a price premium

If you're looking for the smallest of teeny-tiny PCs for your home theater or small business, Intel's latest Next Unit of Computing shines. But it remains a niche product with some limitations. Look...

The NUC8i7HVK is a unique product in the market. Never has any vendor managed to cram in this amount of graphics and computing prowess in such a form factor. Intel has managed to do it, and it is mainly due to the out-of-box thinking that led to the...

We have already carried some graphs and tables with power consumption numbers for various scenarios in the preceding sections. The two graphs below compare idle and full load power consumption numbers across different low power desktops that we have...