The latest batch of game consoles have not exactly been easy to find in stock. That has only recently changed, and only really for the Xbox Series S and Nintendo Switch OLED, both of which can often be found in stock at various retailers. But right now, for the first time, you can grab an Xbox Series S on sale for $249.99, a full $50 off the MSRP. The deal is live at Woot, and it's only available today for as long as supplies last. If you could use one, now's the time to grab it. This is the best Xbox Series S deal we've seen yet.
Xbox Series S: Save $50
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Xbox Series S
17% off $299.90
Woot is owned by Amazon, and Amazon Prime members get free shipping on the deal (you can sign up here). Otherwise, shipping is $6, which still puts it comfortably in "the best Xbox Series S deal we've ever seen" territory.
The Xbox Series S is the digital-only model of the latest-generation console from Microsoft. It can run all the same games the Series X can run, but it does so at a lower resolution, making it a good choice for people who don't plan on upgrading to a 4K TV anytime soon. It also makes a good second console for anyone who might not have access to their main TV all the time (thanks, roommates/kids/etc.).
Being a digital-only console, the Series S lacks a disc drive, which means you can only play downloadable games on it. This is fine for many people, especially if you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, which gets you access to a huge library of Xbox games, including all first-party titles on day one. That means you can play games like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5, along with tons of indies and third-party titles like The Sims 4 and Back 4 Blood (and other games, potentially even ones without the number four in the title).
This is by far the best deal we've seen yet on a new-gen console. In fact, it's one of the only deals we've seen yet. So if you want it, grab it. It's not likely to stick around for long.
Samsung has announced two updates to its premium Galaxy Book line: the Galaxy Book 2 Pro and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360. The devices will start at $1,049.99 and $1,249.99 respectively; they hit shelves on April 1st with preorders beginning on March 18th. A budget-oriented Galaxy Book 2 360, a convertible version of the regular Galaxy Book, will also ship April 1st with a starting price of $899.99.
Both Pro models come in 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch sizes, while the regular Book 2 360 is only a 13.3. As you can probably guess from the names, the Galaxy Book 2 Pro is a clamshell while the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 is a 2-in-1 convertible with a touchscreen and S Pen support.
These devices look and feel pretty similar to the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 models we reviewed last year. Like its predecessor, the smallest Galaxy Book 2 Pro is just 1.92 pounds and 0.44 inches thick. It’s still one of the absolute lightest clamshell laptops you can buy, and picking it up really messes with your mind. But it also makes remarkably few compromises for that portability. In particular, the 15-incher manages to squeeze an HDMI port into that tiny chassis. Many laptops of this size are now exclusively USB-C. (The 360 model is, as you’d anticipate, a bit heavier.)
The primary chassis update is that all the new models feature 1080p webcams. There are also some new software features meant to enhance the video-call experience, including some new background and face-effect features, as well as an Auto Framing tool that keeps you centered as you move around. This is a fairly predictable investment as more workers continue to embrace remote and hybrid setups.
The displays (all FHD AMOLED) are also brighter than they were on last year’s models. I wasn’t floored by the brightness on either of the 2021 Galaxy Book Pros, so I’m happy to see this change. I did catch some glare from the bright lights in Samsung’s demo area, though I didn’t have trouble seeing anything on the screens. Unfortunately, all of these devices still have the cursed 16:9 aspect ratio, which many other premium lines have moved away from this year.
The Pro convertible is also available in a new burgundy color, in addition to graphite and silver. It’s very pretty in person and feels smooth, though the graphite offering is still my favorite.
These devices can be configured with up to a 12th-Gen Core i7, 32GB of RAM (the Book 2 360 maxes out at 16GB), and 1TB of storage (the Book 2 360 goes up to 512GB). Samsung says they’ll be certified through Intel’s Evo program (which means that Intel vouches that a device’s performance, battery life, and other important features are up to snuff).
The Pro models meet Microsoft’s “secured-core PC” requirements, which means that they include various hardware-based security components like TPM 2.0 and virtualization-based security, as well as features consumers might care more, about like biometric authentication. (Both of these devices have fingerprint sensors in their power buttons.)
And both Pro models support a few Samsung-specific connectivity features, which has always been a major draw for Galaxy Books among Samsung enthusiasts. These include Single Sign-on, Smart Switch (which makes it easier to transfer data, photos, settings, etc. between PCs), and support for the SmartThings smart home dashboard.
An interesting addition is Multi Control, which allows you to use a Galaxy Tab S8 as a secondary screen alongside a Galaxy Book 2 Pro. I got to try this out with a 15-inch Book 2 Pro 360, and it was functional; I could successfully move the cursor back and forth between the two Galaxy devices, dragging windows and such. I did experience some significant lag when navigating on the Tab S8 — the cursor seemed like it was having trouble keeping up with my gestures, though it did eventually follow them. This is something I hope Samsung irons out as the release date approaches.
Stay tuned for our full reviews of these devices, where we’ll have more impressions of the new webcams and software features.
The report was first made by DSCC analyst Ross Young. According to Young, Apple is in discussions with suppliers about this category, and while a product is still several years away, its interest is in a 20-inch foldable of some sort.
On the other hand, we are now showing Apple in our roadmap for foldable notebooks. We hear there is interest at the largest size yet, around 20.x”. This size could create a new category for Apple and would result in a true dual use product, a notebook with a full-size keyboard when folded and for use as a monitor when not folded and used with an external keyboard. It may also allow for UHD/4K resolution or even higher at that size. The time frame is likely later than 2025 though, it could be 2026 or 2027.
Now, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman also corroborates with this report saying Apple has indeed been exploring a dual-screen, foldable MacBook/iPad hybrid. He writes:
“The company could go with a foldable 20-inch screen attached to a physical keyboard or just have one side of the display serving as a virtual keyboard. I’m told Apple has indeed been exploring a dual-screen, foldable MacBook/iPad hybrid that would take the second approach. It would trade in the physical keyboard and trackpad for a fully touch-screen base”
If that’s the case, Apple could release a disruptive product like this around 2026, which is about the period it could same launch its long-anticipated Apple Car and AR glasses project. What a year 2026 could be, right?
Do you think Apple should launch a dual-screen, foldable MacBook/iPad? How do you think it would work? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Article From & Read More ( Gurman: Apple’s mysterious 20″ foldable could be MacBook/iPad hybrid with touchscreen keyboard - 9to5Mac )
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Article From & Read More ( Pokémon Presents Announces Gen IX Pokémon Scarlet & Violet | Pokémon GO Hub - Pokémon GO Hub )
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The Pokemon Company has announced Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, new Pokemon games that formally introduce players to a brand new region and serve to kick off a brand new generation of Pokemon games. The games were announced at the end of today's Pokemon Presents. Few details about the game were provided, other than that it will take place in a new region and will feature new starter Pokemon (seen below). The new games will be released in late 2022.
The Pokemon Company has reserved Pokemon Day, the anniversary of Pokemon Red and Green's initial launch in Japan, as the day to make major Pokemon announcements. Pokemon Sun and Moon were announced on Pokemon Day 2016, while Pokemon Sword and Shield were announced on Pokemon Day 2019. Both Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokemon Legends: Arceus were announced on Pokemon Day 2021.
While fans have argued over what constitutes a new "generation" of Pokemon games, the generally held description is that a new generation is kicked off when a Pokemon game introduces a brand new region. While Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduced players to the Hisui region, that region is technically just a version of the Sinnoh region from a previous era instead of a brand new Pokemon game.
It seems that the new Pokemon games are a return to the "classic" style of Pokemon game most recently seen in Pokemon Sword and Shield, with turn-based battles on a separate screen from the overworld map that players explore. This style of Pokemon game has been refined from Pokemon Red and Blue all the way to Pokemon Sword and Shield with various improvements added like Pokemon appearing in the overworld map and a more free-moving experience with large Wild Areas. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl featured a more retro-version of the Pokemon game formula with its return to chibi-style graphics reminiscent of the original pixel artwork and the use of a grid map design. Pokemon Legends: Arceus broke the mold entirely with a more open-world system that emphasized stealth and exploration over repetitive battling.
So, James' Steam Deck review suggests the new handheld PC is pretty good. Good news for Valve, bad news for my wallet. I've apparently got a month before I need to commit to buying one, however, according to details laid out by Valve of when emails will go out to those who were first in-line with pre-orders.
"All people who are in the Q1 reservation window on the Steam Deck store page will receive an order email by the end of March. (Q1 is Quarter 1, or January through March)," says a brief post on the Steam site.
"The first batch of emails has already gone out this morning," it continues. I haven't received mine, yet.
The next batch of emails will go out on Monday, March 7th, with more being sent out Mondays throughout the rest of March - March 14th, 21st, and the remainder on the 28th.
After that, they'll move on to those in the Q2 reservation window in April and continue "in a similar fashion," says the post. That's my reservation window! "We’re working through our production schedules, and will have news soon for folks in the After-Q2 bucket."
The Steam Deck was originally meant to ship late last year but was delayed - which is hardly a surprise given the worldwide chip shortage effecting the manufacturing of basically all electronics. You can find out when your reservation window is by signing into the Steam store in your browser, heading to the Steam Deck product page, and scrolling down to the options for the three different editions. Which Deck you chose should have text on it telling you your reservation window.
Players suspect it has to do with a recent calibration update called version 1.02.1. Those who have the update can get online. those who don’t, can’t, but they’re also not sure how to get the latest version to install. It seems to be affecting players on both old Xbox Ones and current-gen Xbox Series X/Ss. The only official mention of any issue on the Bandai Namco support page says that “Online issues on the Xbox platform” are currently under investigation.
Bandai Namco and Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite shattering records for past Dark Souls games on Twitch and Steam, Elden Ring has recently seen its review average on Valve’s storefront plummet over performance issues. Still, that hasn’t stopped it from having one of the biggest PC launches ever. There are currently nearly 800,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. I started it up last night on PS5 and found myself immediately intrigued and overwhelmed. I’m looking forward to diving back in over the rest of the weekend.
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Since it uses your phone's data connection instead of a cellular connection, Google Messages can accommodate longer messages with many more characters, share longer video clips, and has additional features including encryption. It also allows users to receive read receipts, and see when someone is writing a response to them. In other words, many of the things that Apple's Messages app can do, RCS can do as well.
Grab the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
When Samsung announced that U.S. variants of the Galaxy S22 series were being pre-installed with the Google Messages app, this seemed like a huge win for Google. But on Reddit, a large number of Galaxy S22 buyers complained that they were having problems with the app.
One Redditor who goes by the name "ratmazter" wrote, "I had the same issue with my S22 that arrived Monday. I updated Carrier Services, cleared cache, rebooted, the whole shabang. Several hours later RCS Chat finally connected. However, like you mentioned, it's showing powered by my carrier AT&T and not Jibe. Therein lies my problem - it doesn't Chat with users that don't have AT&T."
"I'm gonna try to uninstall this Samsung skinned version and install the Google Messages APK from xda's site," he continued. "Just not liking the Samsung skin at all. I think AT&T hijacked this in collusion with Samsung and again, making it a bad app experience for users."
Give Google your phone number by following the directions below to help end your Google Messages nightmare
The problem is that T-Mobile and AT&T subscribers with the Galaxy S22 series will be using the backend for the Google Messages app provided by their carrier. But there seems to be a delay in getting users' data moved over to AT&T and T-Mobile's servers from Google's servers. As a result, we are seeing plenty of complaints from users.
To help speed up the process, Google put up a support page that tells you to enter your phone number at https://messages.google.com/disable-chat. Once you do that, open the Messages app on your Galaxy S22 series phone and open the Messages settings, go to Chat features, and toggle on Enable chat features. Once that is done, your phone will automatically be signed up with the backend belonging to AT&T or T-Mobile depending on which one you use.
Let us know if this works on your Galaxy S22 phone by dropping a comment in the box below.. If you are a Verizon customer, all of this can be ignored since Verizon is using Google's backend for the Galaxy S22 series Google Messages app.
Article From & Read More ( How to fix the problems with the Google Messages app on the Galaxy S22 line - PhoneArena )
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Polish company 11 bit Studios has announced that over the next seven days it will be donating all profits from its anti-war survival game This War of Mine to the Ukrainian Red Cross.
For the next week, "all profits from This War of Mine, all its DLCs, on all stores and all platforms will go to a special fund. A week from now, this money will be donated to the Ukrainian Red Cross to directly support victims of war in Ukraine."
In a statement, the studio said:
Let this message resonate with everything you know about this war and how war kills people, devastates their lives and homes. Let us - players and developers together - do everything we can to support victims of war in Ukraine.
California-based indie publisher and developer Crytivo, which runs an online store for digital games, has announced a similar initiative:
In support of Ukraine, we will donate all profits from our store from this month (February) and next month (March) to the Ukrainian Red Cross to support victims. We will also be providing our employees in Ukraine paid leave until they can either get to safety or the situation improves enough to allow them to work in a safe environment.
Gameloft, which has offices in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Lviv, has also posted a statement:
Witcher studio CD Projekt Red has added its voice, too:
Article From & Read More ( 'This War Of Mine' Studio Will Donate Profits From The Game To The Ukrainian Red Cross - Nintendo Life )
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Looking for a deal on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra? Although the release of Samsung's newest phone is just hours away, there are still a few last-minute preorder deals you can get.
There’s a lot to like about this new handset. The biggest addition to the S22’s arsenal is the built-in S-Pen, borrowed from the Samsung Galaxy Note line. You’ll be able to take notes directly on your screen with 70% less latency, and it feels just as good as using pen and paper. Plus, if you’re already a big S-Pen fan, you’ll appreciate the improved handwriting-to-text conversions and the ability to quickly save your notes in Microsoft Office docs and emails.
But the S-Pen isn’t all the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has to offer, of course. With improved lenses, this has quickly become the best camera phone Samsung offers. It captures images impressively well in low-light conditions, bringing out details that would otherwise be lost. You can even take amazing pictures when you’re far away from your subject thanks to the S22’s 10x optical zoom.
The battery life isn’t the best at just over 10 hours, and the S22 Ultra has less RAM than the previous Galaxy S21 Ultra. Even so, it’s an amazing device — and it gets a high recommendation from us.
Still not set on the S22 Ultra? Our list of the best phones will help you find your perfect phone.
Article From & Read More ( Killer Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra deal — buy one, get $1000 off another at Verizon now - Tom's Guide )
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Intel kick-started a form-factor revolution in the early 2010s with the introduction of the ultra-compact NUCs. The systems were meant to be an alternative to the tower desktops used in many applications where the size, shape, and the system capabilities were mostly unwarranted. The success of the NUCs enabled Intel to start reimagining the build of systems used in a wider range of settings.
More recently, the introduction of the Skull Canyon NUC in 2016 was Intel's first effort to make a gaming-focused SFF PC. And desktop-focused Compute Elements (essentially, a motherboard in a PCIe card form-factor) launched in early 2020 meant that full-blown gaming desktops could credibly come under the NUC banner. In the second half of 2020, the Ghost Canyon NUC9 – the first NUC Extreme – made a splash in the market with support for a user-replaceable discrete GPU. Ghost Canyon was extremely impressive, but the restrictions on the dGPU size and high-end pricing were dampeners. Intel made some amends with the NUC11 Extreme (Beast Canyon), using a special Tiger Lake SKU with a 65W TDP and comparatively competitive pricing.
The introduction of Alder Lake and its desktop-first focus has enabled Intel to prepare a new flagship in the NUC Extreme lineup barely 6 months after the launch of the Beast Canyon NUC. The new Dragon Canyon platform was briefly teased at the 2022 CES, with the promise of a Q1 launch. Intel is keeping up its word with the launch of a number of NUC12 Compute Elements and NUC12 Extreme Kit SKUs. Today, we are having a detailed look at what the NUC12 Extreme brings to the table, particularly in comparison to the NUC11 Extreme. The recent introduction of Windows 11 means that our benchmarks comparison set is currently limited - today's preview does not deal with any systems other than the NUC12 Extreme and NUC11 Extreme. A subsequent follow-up review will deal with gaming benchmarks (using dGPUs) and more comparison points with other SFF PCs in the market.
Intel's lineup of gaming-focused NUCs started with the Performance series (Skull Canyon NUC6i7KYK and Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK), before moving up the ladder to the Extreme series (Ghost Canyon NUC9i9QNX). At the 2021 Computex, the Beast Canyon NUC took over the flagship mantle and brought about some important updates over the Ghost Canyon NUC:
Support for 65W desktop-class CPUs in the Compute Element (compared to the 45W mobile workstation-focused CPU in the Ghost Canyon's Compute Elements)
Increased chassis dimensions to accommodate larger discrete GPUs
10nm Tiger Lake CPU with new micro-architectural improvements for performance and power-efficiency
Support for a richer set of I/Os (including PCIe Gen 4)
The teaser for the Dragon Canyon NUC at the 2022 CES brought in even more impressive features to the same form-factor - aspects that we are now able to confirm with a sample in hand:
Support for 65W user-replaceable (socketed) desktop-class CPUs in the Compute Element (compared to the soldered CPU in the Beast Canyon's Compute Element)
Alder Lake CPU manufactured in Intel 7 with new micro-architectural improvements for performance and power-efficiency, including hybrid performance and efficiency cores
Support for faster I/Os (including PCIe Gen 5, PCIe 4.0 x8 equivalent bandwidth between the CPU and the PCH, and 10GbE wired networking support)
Support for dual LAN ports (10GbE + 2.5GbE) in select SKUs, and better ports variety in the front - a Type-C and a Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 2 port instead of two Type-A ones in the Beast Canyon
A minor retrogression is the absence of support for PCIe lane bifurcation in the baseboard - while Beast Canyon's PCIe x16 dGPU slot could potentially be used in a x8 / x4 / x4 configuration, the Dragon Canyon's Edge Cove baseboard has no such support. The chassis still retains the M.2 22110 compartment on the underside, but there is no PCIe slot behind it.
Intel supplied us with an engineering sample of the high-end SKU in the Dragon Canyon line - the NUC12DCMi9 sporting the NUC12 Extreme Compute Element (NUC11EDBi9). This Compute Element is housed in a 357mm x 189mm x 120mm chassis - essentially the same one used in the NUC11 Extreme (Beast Canyon). Traditionally, NUCs have been associated with the ultra-compact form-factor (100mm x 100mm in a 0.63L or 0.42L chassis). The introduction of the Skull Canyon and subsequent Hades Canyon NUCs created yet another class of 0.7L to 1.2L NUCs, and the 2020 Ghost Canyon took it up to approximately 5L. The need to accommodate the cooling solution of a more powerful Compute Element, along with the ability to accept large dGPUs contribute to the 8L volume of the Beast Canyon and Dragon Canyon NUC chassis. This is still within the realm of SFF PCs - an adult can still single-handedly carry the unit around. Other important SFF aspects such as the in-built PSU are also carried over from the Beast Canyon NUC.
Intel's NUC lineup has traditionally included board and kit variants, allowing its partners to provide value additions (such as a passive chassis or additional I/O ports in the end system). Kits (other than the ones that come with a pre-installed OS) require the end-user to add storage, DRAM, and install an OS to complete the system. Intel plans to sell two varieties of the Dragon Canyon NUC Kit - the NUC12DCMi9 and the NUC12DCMi7. However, OEMs and end-users can also build their own NUC12 system based on the following components:
Compute Element (NUC12EDBi9 or NUC12EDBi7 for the consumer market, and the vPro-capable NUC12EDBv9 or NUC12EDBv7 for the professional market)
Baseboard (or backplane)
Chassis
PSU
DRAM (up to 2x DDR4-3200 SODIMMs)
Non-volatile storage
Discrete GPU (optional)
An off-the-shelf Dragon Canyon NUC12DCM kit leaves only the DRAM, non-volatile storage, and discrete GPU to the choice of the end-user. Even though the Compute Element sports a LGA1700 socket, the two Compute Elements being sold in t he market come with the processor pre-installed (either Core i9-12900 or Core i7-12700). Prior to the platform analysis and overview of our review configuration, let's take a look at the pre-decided components in the above list.
NUC12 Compute Element
The NUC12DCMi9 we are reviewing today comes with the NUC12DEBi9 NUC12 Extreme Compute Element. It comes with a socketed processor - the Core i9-12900. This belongs to the Alder Lake (12th Generation) family, and has a 8C + 8c / 24T configuration with a 65W TDP. It can turbo up to 4.7 GHz. This Compute Element belongs to the series that started with the NUC9 generation, re-imagining the traditional motherboard in a discrete PCIe x16 card form-factor.
The Compute Element comes with a cooling shroud containing a single fan and three M.2 heat-sinks with thermal pads pre-attached. While two of those heat-sinks are in the side with the fan, the other is on the rear, behind the processor. The rear slot supports only M.2 2280 SSDs, and is connected directly to the processor. The two slots directly under the cooling shroud are PCH-connected ones. On the extreme right, we have the two SODIMM slots that can operate at speeds of up to DDR-3200 for DIMMs up to 64GB in total. These are vertical slots (compared to the horizontal ones in the NUC9 Compute Elements), and free up valuable space that gets taken up by the M.2 slots. It must be noted that the socketed processor requires slightly larger board estate - resulting in the movement of one of the three M.2 slots in the Driver Bay (Beast Canyon) Compute Element to the rear in the Dragon Canyon. The gallery below provides additional photographs of the Compute Element and the cooling shroud.
The NUC12DCMi9 comes with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 2.5G Ethernet port, a 10G Ethernet port, a HDMI 2.0b display output, and six USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports in the rear. There are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one Type-A and one Type-C), a 3.5mm stereo headset jack, and a SDXC slot with UHS-II support in the front. The front I/Os are enabled by a daughterboard that connects to the headers in the Compute Element. The Compute Element has its own power connection to the PSU.
Eden Cove Baseboard
The baseboard used in the Dragon Canyon (code name Eden Cove) is an evolutionary update to the Monster Cove board used in the Ghost Canyon.
The PCIe lanes are now Gen 5, but they drop the x8 / x4 / x4 bifurcation capabilities designed into the previous generation.
Chassis and PSU
The NUC12DCMi9 chassis has the same 'ease' of installation as the previous generation Extreme NUC. The dimensions allow the installation of dual slot GPUs up to 12" in length. The included 650W 80+ Gold internal PSU also supplies a 8-pin and a 2x6+2-pin connector for the GPU. The chassis can be disassembled by removing the four screws to dislodge the rear cover, and popping out the side panels.
The top panel with the three fans rests on a hinge. The embossed directions in the frame helpfully guide the user to open it up. This is essential to get access to the Compute Element and remove its shroud to install the RAM and storage.
Despite the plastic framing in the front panel, the metal-based construction in other areas gives the chassis a premium look and sturdy feel. The Beast Canyon NUC chassis also features customizable RGB underglow lighting, as well as a replaceable RGB front logo. While cable management is not an issue by itself, disassembling the NUC and reassembling is challenging because of the limited space between the PSU and the Compute Element. The myriad connections between the Compute Element and the daughterboard / front panel can't be easily kept separate from the PSU cables. Fortunately, most users only need to worry about the dGPU installation. The scope for trouble here again comes not from a cable management perspective - rather, the USB 3.2 Gen 2 header connection cables to the daughterboard tend to get loose and make the front port operate at USB 2.0 speeds. These issues existed in earlier NUC Extreme Kits also, but the absence of an update to the chassis design means that these issues remain unaddressed.
The front USB ports are recessed, and given their Type-A nature, figuring out the correct orientation to plug in the peripherals is a bit of a hit or miss. Certain keyboard / mice receivers can end up being completely inside the recess, making it challenging to remove them when the other USB slot is also occupied. The placement of the PSU AC receptacle on the top end of the chassis means that the heavy AC power cord could potentially create cable management issues. In both these aspects, the Ghost Canyon NUC chassis had a much better design.
The configuration of our review sample of the NUC12DCMi9 was completed with the following components:
2x Mushkin Redline 4S320NNNF32G for 64GB of DRAM
1x Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 1TB M.2 2280 SSD
The presence of a desktop-class CPU in the system means that the Beast Canyon NUC should easily be able to support powerful GPUs - an aspect we will discuss in a future article. Today, we look at the Dragon Canyon NUC with the minimum required additional components. In the next section, we take a look at the full specifications of our configured review sample, followed by a detailed platform analysis along with some notes on our setup experience.
The review sample of the NUC12DCMi9 came package in a fancy casing, signifying its premium nature. Since the review configuration was a DIY configuration, the package contents only included the main unit, power cord, and a USB key containing the drivers for the system. The retail packaging is bound to be quite different, as these pre-production samples are packaged to make unboxing videos attractive.
The NUC12DCMi9 sports the Intel VisualBIOS with a modern interface. It has plenty of enthusiast options to fine tune the performance. The video below presents the entire gamut of available options.
The specifications of our Intel NUC12DCMi9 review configuration are summarized in the table below.
The block diagram of the NUC12DCMi9 in relation to the bandwidth sharing between the various ports in the system is provided below. The components in white with a black background are those present on the baseboard / daughterboard, while the rest are present in the Compute Element.
Unlike the Beast Canyon NUC in which the two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports in the Compute Element are enabled directly from the CPU, the Dragon Canyon NUC puts both behind a single PCIe 4 link from the PCH. The saving grace is the x8 DMI link, but the two Thunderbolt 4 can't get full bandwidth simultaneously. The DisplayPort signals muxed into them come from the display controller in the CPU. All of the I/Os are off the Alder Point PCH. Despite the alleviation of the DMI bandwidth issue, the focus on the PCH for most of the I/Os is reflective of a typical desktop PC. Hopefully future desktop platforms can adopt some of the I/O features of Tiger Lake and bring in native Thunderbolt support on the CPU die itself.
In today's review, we compare the NUC12DCMi9 (Dragon Canyon) and the NUC11BTMi9 (Beast Canyon) - both configured without a discrete GPU. In the table below, we have an overview of the two system configurations.
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770
(1TB; M.2 Type 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe; SanDisk BiCS 5 112L 3D TLC; SanDisk In-House Controller)
Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0
(500 GB; M.2 Type 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe; Kioxia 96L 3D TLC)
(Phison E16 Controller)
Wi-Fi
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210
Price (in USD, when built)
$1400 (barebones)
$1755 (as configured / No OS / No dGPU)
$1350 (barebones)
$1606 (as configured / No OS / No dGPU)
The next few sections will deal with comparative benchmark numbers from our new test suite for mini-PCs based on Windows 11.
Our updated test suite for Windows 11-based SFF systems carries over some of the standard benchmarks we have been using over the last several years, including UL's PCMark and BAPCo's SYSmark. Starting this year, we are also including BAPCo's CrossMark multi-platform benchmarking tool.
UL Benchmark: PCMark 10
PCMark is a full-system benchmark which highlights CPU performance, but also includes the GPU, memory, and storage as factors in the outcome depending on the test being performed.
UL PCMark 10 Benchmarks
(Performance Scores - Higher is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Digital Content Creation
6478
5734
Gaming
2189
2029
Productivity
7103
6722
Essentials
11056
10182
Overall
4505
4143
All workloads see a significant upgrade in scores as we move from Tiger Lake to Alder Lake in two machines with essentially identical thermal designs.
BAPCo SYSmark 25
BAPCo's SYSmark 25 replays traditional business workloads in a tightly controlled environment for consistent reproducibility. Energy measurement is also done to determine efficiency of the PC under test.
BAPCo SYSmark 25 Benchmarks
(Performance Scores - Higher is Better)
(Energy Consumption in Wh - Lower is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Productivity
1927 (32.76 Wh)
1681 (26.22 Wh)
Creativity
2222 (31.44 Wh)
2006 (25.54 Wh)
Responsiveness
1476
1273
Overall
1972 (64.20 Wh)
1743 (51.76 Wh)
The Dragon Canyon NUC delivers significantly better performance at the cost of increased energy consumption - a 13% increase in scores for a 24% increase in energy consumption.
BAPCo CrossMark 1.0.1.86
BAPCo's CrossMark aims to simplify benchmark processing while still delivering scores that roughly tally with SYSmark. The main advantage is the cross-platform nature of the tool - allowing it to be run on smartphones and tablets as well.
BAPCo CrossMark 1.0.1.86 Benchmark
(Performance Scores - Higher is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Productivity
1890
1733
Creativity
2164
1718
Responsiveness
1908
1702
Overall
2006
1722
The improvements seen in SYSmark 25 translate to CrossMark also, as expected.
Rendering: Cinebench R23
The Cinebench rendering benchmark can operate in two modes - single-threaded and multi-threaded.
Cinebench R23 Benchmarks
(Performance Scores - Higher is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Single Thread
1833.69
1456.62
Multiple Threads
17951.68
11583.86
The upgrade in the single-threaded performance is quite welcome, given that both processors carry similar TDPs and clocks. On the multi-threaded front, the presence of 24 threads gives the Dragon Canyon a distinct advantage over the 16 threads in the Beast Canyon NUC.
Transcoding: Handbrake 1.5.1
Handbrake is one of the most user-friendly open source transcoding front-ends in the market. It allows users to opt for either software-based higher quality processing or hardware-based fast processing in their transcoding jobs. Our new test suite uses the 'Tears of Steel' 4K AVC video as input and transcodes it with a quality setting of 19 to create a 720p AVC stream and a 1080p HEVC stream.
Handbrake 1.5.1 Transcoding Benchmarks
(Transcoding FPS - Higher is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Software (x264)
(4K AVC to 720p AVC)
101.29
76.70
Hardware (qsv_h264)
(4K AVC to 720p AVC)
121.17
100.30
Software (x265_10bit)
(4K AVC to 1080p HEVC)
28.79
22.14
Hardware (qsv_h265_10bit)
(4K AVC to 1080p HEVC)
107.77
93.98
Hardware transcoding for HEVC is a lot faster than software (when compared to AVC in the same modes). Between Tiger Lake and Alder Lake, we see improvements in the transcoding rates across the board in the latter.
Archiving: 7-Zip 21.7
The 7-Zip benchmark is carried over from our previous test suite with an update to the latest version of the open source compression / decompression software.
7-Zip 21.7 Benchmarks
(LZMA:x5:MT2 Algorithm Processing Rate in MBps - Higher is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Compression
71.41
55.86
Decompression
1177.77
854.12
The higher number of threads in Alder Lake provides it with a distinct advantage in this multi-threading friendly benchmark.
Web Browsing: JetStream and Speedometer
Web browser-based workloads have emerged as a major component of the typical home and business PC usage scenarios. We are carrying over the browser-focused benchmarks from the WebKit developers used in our notebook reviews. Hosted at BrowserBench, JetStream 2.0 benchmarks JavaScript and WebAssembly performance, while Speedometer measures web application responsiveness. We also process MotionMark, but the confidence level of the results vary as much as ±35%.
Intel NUC12DCMi9 (Dragon Canyon) Browser Bench
Speedometer 2.0
JetStream 2.0
MotionMark 1.2
Microsoft Edge
(92.0.902.55)
279 ± 4
267.32
1221.43 ± 4.18%
Google Chrome
(92.0.4515.107)
289 ± 3.3
264.5
1101.27 ± 1.55%
Mozilla Firefox
(90.0.2.7872)
183 ± 3.2
153.96
989.06 ± 7.85%
Intel NUC11BTMi9 (Beast Canyon) Browser Bench
Speedometer 2.0
JetStream 2.0
MotionMark 1.2
Microsoft Edge
(92.0.902.55)
181 ± 2.2
201.313
900.46 ± 14.16%
Google Chrome
(92.0.4515.107)
212.1 ± 2.1
201.097
1115.74 ± 5.54%
Mozilla Firefox
(90.0.2.7872)
164 ± 2.2
123.612
1072.12 ± 3.44%
Other than MotionMark, we see a significant uptick in performance for all browsers across all benchmarks when moving from Tiger Lake to Alder Lake.
Application Startup: GIMP 2.10.30
A new addition to our SFF test suite is AppTimer - a benchmark that loads up a program and determines how long it takes for it to accept user inputs. We use GIMP 2.10.30 with a 50MB multi-layered xcf file as input. What we test here is the first run as well as the cached run - normally on the first time a user loads the GIMP package from a fresh install, the system has to configure a few dozen files that remain optimized on subsequent opening. For our test we delete those configured optimized files in order to force a ‘fresh load’ every second time the software is run. As it turns out, GIMP does optimizations for every CPU thread in the system, which requires that higher thread-count processors take a lot longer to run. So the test runs quick on systems with fewer threads, however fast cores are also needed.
AppTimer: GIMP 2.10.30 Startup
(Time in Seconds - Lower is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
First Run
7.43
7.76
Decompression
4.01
3.87
Despite more cores in Dragon Canyon, their fast nature helps in achieving parity for first load times. However, the Beast Canyon enjoys a slight edge in the cache start.
Integrated GPUs have become quite capable over the last few generations, particularly for 720p and 1080p gaming. In this section, we present a comparison of the performance of the integrated GPUs in the Dragon Canyon and Beast Canyon NUCs.
GFXBench
The DirectX 12-based GFXBench tests from Kishonti are cross-platform, and available all the way down to smartphones, so it is not too difficult for modern integrated GPUs. We processed the offscreen versions of the 'Aztec Ruins' benchmark.
There is no significant difference in the iGPU performance for the 'Aztec Ruins' DX12 benchmark between the Dragon Canyon NUC and the Beast Canyon NUC.
UL 3DMark
Four different workload sets were processed in 3DMark - Fire Strike, Time Spy, Night Raid, and Wild Life.
UL 3DMark Benchmarks
(Performance Scores - Higher is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Fire Strike Extreme
1211
1104
Fire Strike Ultra
596
547
Time Spy Performance
809
802
Time Spy Extreme
392
370
Night Raid Performance
12441
10975
Wild Life Performance
6406
5868
Wild Life Extreme
1792
1667
There is little to choose between the two processors when it comes to gaming. In any case, most users of the Dragon Canyon NUCs would probably utilize a discrete GPU to add gaming prowess to the system.
Desktop PCs are often used for media playback and double up as HTPCs in certain cases. While the fan noise / bulk prevent the NUC Extreme line from being used as dedicated HTPCs, the video decoding capabilities are very important - particularly if the end user finds it acceptable to add a discrete GPU for post-processing.
The Intel UHD Graphics 770 exposes hardware decoding capabilities for almost all commonly used codecs - MPEG2, VC1, WMV9, H264, HEVC, VP9, and AV1. For HEVC, the GPU also supports decode of 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 10-bit and 12-bit streams.
Moving on to the power consumption aspect, we ran the AIDA64 System Stability Test with various stress components, as well as the artificial power virus test involving Prime95 and Furmark for determining load power. The maximum sustained power consumption at the wall was recorded.
At-Wall Power Consumption
(Lower is Better)
Intel NUC12DCMi9
(Dragon Canyon)
Intel NUC11BTMi9
(Beast Canyon)
Load (Max. / Sustained)
336W / 127W
167W / 120W
Idle
36W
28W
The sustained power consumption is largely in the same ballpark for both NUCs. However, the instantaneous spikes are quite high for the Dragon Canyon, particularly when fresh workload segments start.
Looking Forward...
The Dragon Canyon NUC brings socketed desktop processors to the NUC lineup for the first time. It also brings native 10Gb Ethernet to the lineup. Alder Lake brings hybrid processors with performance and efficiency cores, and that delivers significant benefits. While these improvements are impressive from the viewpoint of a SFF machine, the power consumption puts a slight dampener.
In terms of internals, the Dragon Canyon's updates are also tempered by over-reliance on the PCH for almost all of the I/Os of the PC. In comparison, the Beast Canyon NUC had a better spread with the Thunderbolt 4 ports directly off the CPU. Given that the Alder Lake platform supports USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, a couple of the 20Gbps ports would have also been welcome on the Compute Element.
On the baseboard side, we would like to see support for PCIe lane bifurcation making a comeback. The chassis itself has not essentially changed - just the alteration of a Type-A port in the front to Type-C. This means that many of the drawbacks that existed in Beast Canyon (such as the user-unfriendly nature of the recessed ports) continue to exist in the Dragon Canyon.
Intel has put in significant effort to pack the capabilities of the Dragon Canyon NUC in a 8L platform. However, a bit of relaxation on the volume front would have been welcome - particularly from the viewpoint of making the installation of the Compute Element into the chassis easier. Hopefully, these issues will get fixed in a future iteration of the NUC Extreme.
This article provided a preview of the capabilities of the Dragon Canyon NUC. In an upcoming piece, we will look into the gaming chops of the machine with a discrete GPU installed.
Article From & Read More ( The Intel NUC12 Extreme Dragon Canyon Preview: Desktop Alder Lake Impresses in SFF Avatar - AnandTech )
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