Intel Publishes the Specifications of the Skylake NUCs

Intel has published the final specifications for the Skylake i3 and i5 NUCs. The final list of specifications look very much like the list we predicted a bit earlier. Here are the final specifications:

Skylake NUC

Skylake NUC

  • Intel Core i3-6100U and Core i5-6260U processors
  • 2 DDR4-2133 SO-DIMM slots, max. 32 GB RAM
  • Intel HD Graphics 520 (for i3 models) and Iris Graphics 540 (for i5 models) (even if Intel website says 520 for i5 model, I believe that is not correct)
  • HDMI 1.4b
  • Mini DisplayPort 1.2
  • 4x USB 3.0 ports (normal, not type C), one of the front ports is fast charging capable
  • M.2 SSD slot
  • Support for 2.5″ SATA drive (the models with the higher case)
  • Intel gigabit Ethernet adapter
  • Intel Wireless-AC 8260 802.11ac WiFi adapter with Bluetooth 4.1 support (soldered down)
  • Headphone/mic jack, consumer IR sensor and SDXC card reader

Compared to Previous Generation (Broadwell NUC)

When we look at the differences between the Broadwell NUC of last year and the new Skylake NUC we can spot the following:

  • Skylake CPUs instead of Broadwell CPUs (meaning approximately 20% more horsepower and 8-bit 4k-capable HEVC HW decoding)
  • DDR4 memory instead of DDR3
  • Full-size HDMI 1.4b port instead of Mini HDMI 1.4a
  • Wireless adapter has been updated to Wireless-AC 8260 that has also Bluetooth 4.1 support instead of 4.0 only
  • SDXC card reader

In the looks department the two devices look very much the same – obviously there’s a slot for the SD card and the HDMI connector has changed, but other than that it will be hard to tell them apart.

When it comes to the Skylake NUC release date, according to the latest rumors the i3 version will be available in first shops around Christmas and the i5 version will follow during the next months.

You may also want to check out the product brief on Intel’s site.

38 Responses

  1. Robert says:

    I’m quite excited about the Iris 540 GPU on the i5!

    Seems like I’ll be able to play StarCraft II on medium/high settings with it. Perfect.

    Now why must we wait so long?

    • Dreal says:

      Exactly my thoughts 100%!!! I’ve been researching online to see how well the older HD 6000 plays SC2 @1080p.

      I don’t need a power house but would like to play mainstream games & some classics like WC3, Guild Wars & C&C occasionally :D

      Read this article:
      http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/three-generations-intel-hd-graphics-tested/
      HD 530 manages to maintain 24fps in WoW @1080p high detail, beating HD 6000 significantly.
      Not to mention that HD 530 has half the EU of HD 6000!
      Since HD 540 has double the EU of HD 530, PLUS 64MB eDRAM, I’m very excited to see how well it will perform XD

      If only I can say “SHUDDUP N TAKE MUH MONEH” now, instead of next year >_<

      • Robert says:

        I reckon you will be able to run StarCraft II with High Settings – and that is all I really want! Not much difference between High & Ultra setting in SC2 in any case.

        Was thinking of getting a micro ATX desktop again, but once you’ve used a NUC, there is simply no going back ever to a big ol’ bulky desktop.

        Come on, Intel, I want my Skylake NUC i5 now!

  2. mini2mini says:

    Intel touts the NUCs with third party top plate support.

    There are some lids which extend some functionality, but i’ve yet to see a heatsink lid for cooling the NUC better. (yeah i know of the fanless third party nucs, but they dont support the hight end i5 cpu)

    The NUC has a pretty bad cooling solution, and CPU and GPU can’t be both active at max before it throttles way down. (see anandtech’s reviews) And the i5 and i7 models sound like Jet engines when they are under load.

    I was thinking when i i’ll get the i5 Skylake NUC, i’ll remove the top lid, the plastic of the housing above the CPU underneath, and try my hand at a copper heatsink lid.

    The heatsink of the NUC looks like this:
    http://www.pcper.com/news/Cases-and-Cooling/Impactics-Launches-Passive-D1NU-NUC-Chassis-Europe

    It’s a 3-screw heatsink, so i did wonder if i could buy a much bigger heatsink already premade somewhere for this socket. Anybody know where to get one before i have to spend a couple of weeks making my own copper heatsink?

    • Olli says:

      The i5 model is actually not too loud under load although this is subjective of course. The i7 is another story though.

      The i5 has TDP of 15 watts whereas the i7 has 28 watts.

  3. Pawel says:

    Too bad M.2 still locked @ 1600 MB/s. Thanks for the (bad) news, I’ve just bought i7 broadwell. Anyone knows thermal reviews od Plato X case from Akasa?

  4. Can any tell me the diff betw each model number, why ni myhe or myhb the ones that have edp and hight speed vonnector on skylake ? do we need to wait ?

    for nuc 5 i counted at least the following:
    myhe mybe ryh ryk ppyh cpyh

    what are the differences appart the 2.5″ drive ??

    • Olli says:

      NUC5PPYH as example :
      5th generation NUC, Pentium processor, High case with space for 2.5 inch drive.

      NUC6i3SYK:
      6th generation NUC, i3 processor, Kompact case with no space for a 2.5 inch drive.

      Models ending with B are just the mainboard, no case. Ie. in the NUC6i5SYK and NUC6i5SYH there is the same mainboard inside: NUC6i5SYB.

  5. and what about myhe mybe ?

    • Pawel says:

      Myhe (mybe in a case) is targetted at corporations. It has NO wi-fi soldiered and some other features for corporations – I would pay more for not having wi-fi/bt soldiered in ryk/ryh versions…
      Myhe also is the only nuc that can drive 5K monitors (via 2xDP 1.2) – 5120×2880@60Hz.
      So far i5-myhe is my favourite choice of nuc for office (no wi-fi!), for home nothing beats PPYH with its support for h.265 playback within TDP of 6.5W.

      • Robert says:

        But the PPYH is just a little bit cheaper than the i3 model, which blows it away.

        • Pawel says:

          Not in UHD h.265 playback! I mean NX1 files which are around ~ 80mbit/s.
          That’s the power of Intel. Every NUC is for different task and – imho – no NUC is for real gaming.

          • Robert says:

            I just finished StarCraft 2 : Legacy of the Void on my NUC DN2820, using low graphics settings. :)

            Ok, must admit, the last level, Salvation, becomes a bit choppy when the Golden Armada attacks, but my DN2820 could still handle it.

            And the hardware acceleration with Windows 10 (if you use Films & TV app) is superior to anything you might have used before.

  6. Abdulrahman says:

    @Pawel can PPYH handle playing Blu-rays discs? Can it pass-through (bit-stream) DTS-HD? Is it fast? Is it fanless?

  7. Pawel says:

    I don’t have home theatre system. I can try playing back some of my BR dics from my library. Is Clapton’s latest Crossroads fine with you? Any choice of software player you want me to try?

  8. Tim says:

    Are we ever going to see a NUC with Thunderbolt 3? It seems like the perfect solution for graphical issues. There would no longer be a need to worry about beefing up the units own onboard graphics, just get an external graphics card and go.

  9. I have ordered 2 of each i5 modells today. ETA says 30.11. So let’s see.

  10. Mike says:

    Any idea if these will support SGX? Their CPUs should have that feature but SGX also need BIOS and OS support.

  11. Robert says:

    There is a placeholder for the NUC6i3 on Amazon now. Looks like it will only ship in Jan 2016. :(

    • Olli says:

      Didn’t find that placeholder page. Would you like to send the link? Thanks!

      • Robert says:

        Link has been removed.

        Do not tell me it’s going to take even longer for a release date! :(

        • nucblognet says:

          The German online store where I have ordered the i3 NUC told me today that their supplier has estimated delivery between weeks 50 and 52. Not sure if that’s just a guesstimate though.

  12. MattMe says:

    I think it’s a real shame they’re not including HDMI 2.0a on the Skylake NUCs. They’re powerful enough to make use of it now.

  13. Zoess says:

    some classics like WC3, Guild Wars & C&C occasionally :D

    Read this article:
    https://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-buy-the-Zealot-portable-Outdoor-speaker

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