Intel is getting ready to launch its most powerful NUC system to date, the NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' featuring an all-Intel CPU and discrete GPU combo with Arc graphics.
Intel's Arc GPU Powered, NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' Revealed: Rocks 12th Gen Core i7-12700H CPU, Flagship A770M Discrete GPU
Technically, there have been more powerful NUCs in the market such as the NUC 12 Extreme which rocks desktop-grade Alder Lake CPUs and full-length discrete graphics cards but that unit comes in a larger chassis. The NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' is a much smaller design that accommodates a 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU and the latest Arc A7 Series GPUs. The details of this new NUC have been shared over at Baidu Forums as discovered by Videocardz.
So coming to the specifications, the NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' Mini PC will rock up to an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU which features 6 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores. The chip has a total of 14 cores, 20 threads, and 24 MB of cache which can clock up to 4.70 GHz and has a TDP of 45W (MTP rated at 115W). The CPU is designed for laptops and makes a decent choice for smaller-sized NUC PCs.
On the GPU side, we are getting the Intel Arc A770M GPU. The Intel Arc 7 lineup is going to utilize the flagship ACM-G10 GPU and we already know about the mobility variants which include the Arc A770M and the Arc A730M. Similarly, the Arc A770M 16 GB is one of the top-end variants for mobile PCs that are equipped with the full ACM-G10 configuration, utilizing 32 Xe-Cores for 4096 ALUs, and 32 ray tracing units. This GPU has a graphics clock of 1650 MHz and a TDP between 120 to 150W. It's going to replace the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 that was featured in previous SFF NUC designs so the performance is going to be somewhere in the mainstream segment when compared with the standard desktop lineup.
Intel Arc A-Series Mobility GPU Lineup:
| Graphics Card Variant | GPU Die | Execution Units | Shading Units (Cores) | Memory Capacity | Memory Speed | Memory Bus | TGP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arc A770M | Arc ACM-G10 | 512 EUs | 4096 | 16 GB GDDR6 | 16 Gbps | 256-bit | 120-150W |
| Arc A730M | Arc ACM-G10 | 384 EUs | 3072 | 12 GB GDDR6 | 14 Gbps | 192-bit | 80-120W |
| Arc A570M | Arc ACM-G12 | 256 EUs | 2048 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 14 Gbps | 128-bit | 80-100W |
| Arc A550M | Arc ACM-G10 | 256 EUs | 2048 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 14 Gbps | 128-bit | 60-80W |
| Arc A530M | Arc ACM-G12 | 192 EUs | 1536 | TBD | TBD | TBD | 50-75W |
| Arc A370M | Arc ACM-G11 | 128 EUs | 1024 | 4 GB GDDR6 | 14 Gbps | 64-bit | 35-50W |
| Arc A350M | Arc ACM-G11 | 96 EUs | 768 | 4 GB GDDR6 | 14 Gbps | 64-bit | 25-35W |
In addition to the CPU and GPU, the Intel NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' Mini PC will house various I/O ports such as SDXC card slot (UHS-II), Dual Thunderbolt 4, 3.5mm Audio Jack, HDMI 2.1, Dual DP 2.0 outputs, a 2.5GbE LAN port, six USB 3.2 Gen 2 (two on front, four on back) and a DC Power-In port.
The Intel NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' is going to be one toasty system so it comes with several vents on the sides and an exhaust vent on the back of the chassis. The top cover of the system can be removed making it easy for DIY users to mod the chassis to their preferences. There's no release date or pricing mentioned but it should be available in the coming months along with the Arc GPU lineup. Considering that the predecessor, the NUC 11 'Phantom Canyon' with Tiger Lake and RTX 2060 GPU was sold for around $1200 US, we can expect a similar price point for the new NUC 12.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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