[HH] Watch out, Raspberry Pi: Intel unveils ultra-small Next Unit of Computing PC

[Tom Metro]

Some bits from the article:

Watch out, Raspberry Pi: Intel unveils ultra-small Next Unit of Computing PC
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/127903-watch-out-raspberry-pi-intel-unveils-ultra-small-next-unit-of-computing-pc

  ...Next Unit of Computing (NUC)...is a complete 10x10cm (4x4in) Sandy
  Bridge Core i3/i5 computer. On the back, there are Thunderbolt, HDMI,
  and USB 3.0 ports. On the motherboard itself there are two SO-DIMM
  (laptop) memory slots and two mini PCIe headers. On the flip side of
  the motherboard (pictured below-below), is a CPU socket that takes
  most mobile Core i3 and i5 processors, and a heatsink and fan
  assembly.

  ...I'm sure we can all agree that it would make an awesome set-top
  home theater PC (HTPC)...

Hmmm...the heatsink and fan aren't saying ideal HTPC to me.

I'm also betting an i3 is going to sink more power than an AMD Fusion.
(E-450[1] has a TDP of 18 W, but it looks like you can get an i3[2] with
integrated graphics (like the Fusion) that has a TDP of 17W, though most
run 35 W. The i3 also performs better.)

1.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-E-Series-E-450-Notebook-Processor.60138.0.html
2.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i3-2357M-Notebook-Processor.57423.0.html


  ...At 10x10cm, the NUC is actually one of the smallest complete PCs on
  the market. The only x86 competition comes from VIA, which has
  produced Nano-ITX (12cm), Pico-ITX (10cm), and Mobile-ITX (6cm)
  motherboards

I like the overgrown Altoids tin style packaging, but the Zotac ZBOX
NANO AD10 is only slightly larger at 5" x 5" x 1.77":
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=56-173-027

(Based on an AMD Fusion, and unfortunately I read it also has a fan.)


  At 8.5 × 5.5 cm, the Raspberry Pi is still a fair bit smaller than
  Intel's NUC (and at 2cm deep, it's probably thinner as well). The
  Raspberry Pi has more inputs and outputs, too, though the NUC's mini
  PCIe connectors mean that almost any functionality could be added.
  Processing power-wise, though, the NUC's Core i3 and i5 processors
  will utterly obliterate the Rasp Pi's 700MHz ARM SoC -- but of course
  it will consume a lot more power, too.
  [...]
  Price-wise...It almost certainly won't be as cheap as the $25
  Raspberry Pi, but a price point around $100 would be realistic.

Sure, without CPU and RAM.


  Judging by the heatsink and fan assembly, the NUC will probably come
  with a CPU pre-installed -- and hopefully some RAM, too.

Then it won't be a $100 price point...at least not from Intel.

The bottom line is that other than both devices having a small physical
size, they really have little in common on just about any other dimension.

That aside, it's great to see more manufacturers getting into products
in this size. The best possible side effect from Intel doing it would be
to establish some new form factor standards for the industry. Then we
can get commodity motherboards and enclosures from China.


Kurt Keville wrote:
> It looks like this has 2 things we need; USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, and
> maybe PCI-e...

Depends on what you plan to use it for. As a set top box, a Raspberry Pi
doesn't need any of those. As an embedded PC, a NUC could be quite
flexible with a PCI-e.


> ...and ironically, we may be able to get better support for
> the Intel GPU since they are scrambling to get part of that market back...

An engineer at neurostechnology.com said that they switched to hardware
with integrated Intel graphics for their set-top-box product because it
offered the best performance per watt at the time. But that was a few
years back, predating the AMD Fusion. (Their earlier model used an AMD
Semperon and integrated NVIDIA graphics.)

Their site has since gone stale (wiki hasn't been updated in a year), so
not likely that information has any current relevance.

 -Tom