The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast has genuinely surprised me as one of my favourite computers this year. Priced at $2,299 (plus about $500 for components that aren’t included, like RAM and storage), this is the first pre-built PC that has made me actively question my choice to build my own computer.
This is for a few reasons. It’s tiny, it’s powerful and it’s one of the first computers featuring Intel’s new dedicated Arc GPU graphics, positioning Intel against Nvidia and AMD in the video card market. It also comes with a three year warranty.
Arc reactor
Unsurprisingly, the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is one of the most powerful computers we’ve ever reviewed at Gizmodo Australia. The model we reviewed included an i7-12700H processor and Intel’s new Arc A770M GPU (which was released in October), powered by a 330W power supply (that chunky rectangle on the left in the above image).
It also included 16GB GDDR6 RAM and 512GB NVMe storage, which are both upgradeable, but these components do not come standard with the computer (you’ll need to buy these components separately). This bumps the price up by about $500, depending on your shopping list.
Let’s start with our benchmark testing. On Geekbench, the NUC 12 scored 82,859 points on the OpenCL Compute test (for overall computer performance), 1,712 points on the single-core test and 11,596 on the multi-core test. Very, very impressive numbers.
Over in Cinebench, we got similar numbers. On the single-core test, the NUC 12 scored 1,756 points and first place. This is 49 points above our previous winner, the ASUS Space Edition Zenbook (which actually packed a 12th Gen Intel core i9 processor), so bravo Intel. On the multi-core test, the NUC 12 scored 15,536 points at fourth place. Very respectable, again.
But how about some gaming testing? Well, I played quite a few games on this thing, including Fortnite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), Forza Horizon 5 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and the computer consistently produced framerates similar to my own build (which is an Nvidia RTX 3060 and AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with 32GB DDR4 RAM).
On Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), here’s how the computer performed at a 2K resolution. Perfectly fine, although I’d recommend sticking to a 1080p for gaming on this computer.
As such, the following results are both on a 1080p display. Here’s Forza Horizon 5:
And here’s Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.
Overall, these results are terrific. Running games with your graphics set to a high preset (with perhaps some minor tweaks here and there), the NUC 12 makes for a terrific 1080p gaming device. Heck, in some games, it also makes a terrific 2K gaming device, although you might need to bring your graphics settings down a bit.
Additionally, fan noise wasn’t terribly loud. With my headphones on, I barely noticed any sound coming from the machine while gaming.
It should be said though that, because it runs on an Intel Arc A770M, a new graphics card that hasn’t been previously supported (because the line is entirely new), older games may not run on it. Just a word of warning.
Dream machine
One of the things I dislike the most about gaming builds is the fact that most cases are quite bulky. Internally, PC parts in custom-built machines don’t take up too much space (although powerful GPUs are the size of house bricks), so there’s a lot of free space in the case.
The Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is built with efficiency in mind, inside and outside. Dimensions-wise, the chassis is 230 mm tall x 180 mm long x 60 mm wide, with a power supply unit about half the size of the computer. It comes with an upright stand, but it can also be used laying down (although I’d urge you to think about overheating if you’ve positioned it this way). The case is made of plastic on the outside, with metal on the inside.
This makes it about the size of a modem, or perhaps a little bit bigger. I love this size. Were I living in a smaller apartment, this is the kind of computer that I’d want to get: it has killer performance and one of the best size-to-performance ratios I’ve ever seen.
Should I buy the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast?
One of the most compelling arguments I can put forward for the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is the size to performance ratio: it’s really good. Compared to a custom PC and, although you might spend slightly less on a ground-up DIY machine, you get the added benefit of this thing’s size.
Intel has won me over with this computer. I’m optimistic for the Arc series of GPUs, which have shown impressive results against Nvidia counterparts, but were I not in the mood to build my own computer, I would likely buy something like the NUC 12.
This is one excellent computer, but squint your eyes and you’d mistake it for a modem.
Where to buy the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast
Be aware that the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast is available in a “kit” form, where you’ll need to add-on RAM, a storage drive and an operating system separately.
Mwave ($2,299) | Computer Alliance ($2,299) | Scorptec ($2,299)