The pint-sized powerhouse shaped by Moore's Law
PRESENTED BY INTEL: The latest generation of Intel NUCs show the durability of Intel co-founder Gordon Moore's prediction that computers will get exponentially smaller and more powerful
The latest generation of Intel NUCs are a fitting tribute to the recent 50th anniversary of Moore's Law and embody the new breed of powerful yet tiny devices now available to your small-business clients.
Gordon Moore foresaw in 1965 the exponential pace at which computers would get smaller, cheaper and faster, predicting that the number of transistors in a chip would double every two years, but it is unlikely even Intel's co-founder could back then have envisioned the existence of the Intel NUC, the latest generation of which takes the capabilities of a complete desktop system and packs it into a 4x4in unit.
In Moore's formative years, computers were the size of a fridge or even a small room. Five decades on, Intel's latest devices – built with fifth-generation Intel Core processors – are pint-sized powerhouses that fit snugly into the palm of your hand, behind a monitor, or under a desk.
Today, the offices of your SMB clients are all too often cluttered with ugly tower machines that seem to fly in the face of Moore's enduring prediction.
The Intel NUC represents the perfect PC replacement to unclutter your clients' offices. Despite its diminutive dimensions, it is more than capable of matching the performance of standard desktops, notebooks or all-in-ones, with some models packing the latest Intel Core i7 processor.
Take the top-of-the-range NUC5i7RYH, the highest-performing NUC ever that comes equipped with a fifth-generation Intel Core i7-5557U processor with a raw power of 3.1 GHz.
The NUC's Moore-esque raison d'être is to drive intelligent computing in small spaces and the NUC5i7RYH – despite not being the smallest of the range – is so tiny your clients would hardly notice it tucked under their desks. Measuring just 115x111x48.7mm but packing Iris graphics 6100 and support for M.2 form factor SSDs and 2.5in drives, it's a mini PC with the power and features of a desktop tower.
It's not just the size that makes the NUC stand out. The latest generation of NUCs are as versatile as they are small and can support a wide range of use cases for businesses and consumers alike, including increasing productivity, video surveillance, digital signage, thin client and digital kiosks.
The NUC5i7RYH is also the best NUC for gaming and home entertainment, but for digital signage and thin-client requirements, the new Intel NUC kit NUC5i5MYHE and board NUC5i5MYBE are recommended. This NUC is powered by the Intel Core i5-5300U vPro processor, providing an ideal combination of performance and reliability for usages where downtime is not an option. Intel vPro technology is designed to help manage repairs remotely, slashing the time it takes to resolve hardware and software issues by 66 and 88 per cent, respectively.
If Moore's Law were applied to a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle, it would now be able to achieve speeds of 300,000 miles per hour and do two million miles per gallon for a total cost of four cents, Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich said at a recent event to mark its 50th anniversary. We wouldn't expect to see this any time soon, but the small size and power of the NUC is forcing a rethink of what is possible in the world of business computing.
To learn more about the Intel NUC, please visit www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/nuc/overview.html