Intel is preparing its new NUC 2019-2020 product line, which will include Coffee Lake-H Refresh and Comet Lake-U processors. These NUCs will be within the Ghost Canyon X and Frost Canyon line of NUCs with designs up to 45W.
Details on the NUC Intel Coffee Lake-H Refresh “Ghost Canyon X” and Comet Lake-U “Frost Canyon”
Starting with the Coffee Lake-H Refresh line, it looks like Intel is using its line of BGA processors to power the next NUC. The new NUCs will support the ninth generation core line, and the top model will be equipped with a Core i9 processor. The Canyon X NUC Ghost will be equipped with a 45W TDP design, which is essentially the processor’s own TDP.
The processors will be named Core 9000 H-Series and will include three variants, Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5. The top model, a Core i9-9xxxH processor, would have 8 cores/16 threads. Clock frequencies are not defined at the moment, but we know that Intel would use its iGPU of UHD graphics for visualization and that there would be support for a single PCI-e x16 slot. The I/Os would include three HDMI 2.0a, 2 Thunderbolt 3, 8 USB ports, 2 M.2 ports (PCIe Gen 3 x4) and Optane memory support.
There would also be a Core i7 model with 6 cores and 12 threads and a Core i5 model with 4 cores and 8 threads. However, it’s surprising that Intel uses a multithreaded Core i7 chip in the Coffee Lake-H Refresh series when the ninth-generation desktop Core i7 doesn’t support multithreading.
The NUCs Ghost Canyon X and Frost Canyon ninth generation are listed below:
- NUC9i9QNX Ghost Canyon X (Coffee Lake-HR) Core i9-9***H with 8 cores/16 threads (45W)
- NUC9i7QNX Ghost Canyon X (Coffee Lake-HR) Core i7-9***H with 6 cores/12 threads (45W)
- NUC9i5QNX Ghost Canyon X (Coffee Lake-HR) Core i5-9***H with 4 cores/8 threads (45W)
On the other hand, we have the Frost Canyon NUCs with Comet Lake-U, which arrive slightly earlier, at the end of the third quarter of 2019.
- NUC9i7FNH Frost Canyon (Comet Lake-U) Core i7-9***H With X-Cores / X-Threads (25W)
- NUC9i5FNH Frost Canyon (Comet Lake-U) Core i5-9***H With 4 cores / 8 cables (25W)
- NUC9i3FNH Frost Canyon (Comet Lake-U) Core i3-9***H With 2 Cores / 4 Cables (25W)
In addition to the NUCs, Intel is also preparing new desktop models with the current ninth generation processors, which will have no graphics core. These include the Core i9-9900KF, Core i7-9700KF, Core i5-9600KF, and Core i5-9400F.