Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK Review: Pint-Sized Gaming Powerhouse

Name: Intel NUC NUC8i7HVK
Brand: Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Thursday, March 29, 2018, 01:00 PM EDT

Performance Summary: The Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK is not only the fastest NUC ever to grace Intel’s line-up of ultra small form factor systems, but it’s a fast machine in general, even compared to some mainstream, full-sized desktops. The combination of a true quad-core / eight-thread 8th Generation Core processor and Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics offer plenty of performance for typical desktop and multimedia workloads and make this machine a perfectly capable 1080p gamer. CPU performance typically falls somewhere in-between a Core i5-8400 and Core i7-7700K. GPU performance, however, clearly surpasses any other on-processor, integrated solution and is slightly faster than a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti-class discrete GPU.

Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK Small Form Factor System -- Find Them At Amazon

The street price for a barebones Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK with a 100W unlocked Core i7-8809G and Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics is expected to be about $999. The slightly more tame NUC8i7HNK with a 65W locked Core i7-8705G processor and Radeon RX Vega M GL graphics should land for somewhere around $799. Configurations with memory and storage included will obviously be priced higher. At those prices, these mini-machines command a premium. Cobbling together the parts for a similar performing desktop system (CPU, GPU, motherboard, case, and power supply) will currently set you back about $550 - $700. That desktop rig would be significantly larger, however, it would use more power and likely wouldn’t offer the same mix of external I/O without some expansion. We know that may sound strange, but getting six display outputs, Thunderbolt 3, 2x2 802.11ac WiFi, etc. isn’t very common on mainstream desktop motherboard.

All told, we really dig the Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK. It’s a premium product, packed with bleeding edge hardware, that’s unique to the category and offers strong all-around performance. If you’re considering an ultra-small form factor machine of this kind, that Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK rocks.


Strong Performance Bleeding Edge Hardware Ultra Small Form Factor Configurable And Cool Lighting Effects Tons Of I/O	Price Premium Only High-End Model Unlocked

Tags: Intel, SFF, NUC, vega, (NASDAQ:INTC), 8th-gen, hades canyon, nuc8i7hvk

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com