The 8th-gen Intel NUC is a Palm-sized VR powerhouse
Graphics boost comes from an unlikely helping hand
If the giant glowing skull didn’t give you a clue, Intel’s latest compact, do-it-yourself NUC is purpose-built for gaming – and it’s all thanks to long-time rival AMD. The NUC8i7HVK is the first time Intel has integrated AMD Radeon graphics with its own CPUs, and the benchmark figures will leave you wondering what took so long. The Core i7-8809G ticks along at a heady 4.2GHz, so sling in your own RAM and storage and you’re good to go for 60fps gaming at 1080p, or smooth virtual reality experiences – all from a machine barely any bigger than a can of spam. It’s got the ports to cope with a load of l33t accessories, too, with Thunderbolt, USB-C, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort and six regular USB ports. No word on pricing just yet, but the new NUC should arrive in the next few months.