Intel showed off its newest Next Unit of Computing (NUC) at the IDF in San Francisco. This SSF PC uses a 4-inch square motherboard, it was originally designed for the kiosk and signage markets but it could soon also be available to consumers.
The chip giant plans to ship the system in October for $399, and a more expensive model with Thunderbolt will also be offered. Sounds like a lot but about half of the cost comes from the Intel Core i3-3217U processor which has been soldered to the underside of the board. This dual-core Ivy Bridge processor is clocked at 1.8GHz and has a 17W TDP. You can view more photos at Legit Reviews.
The Intel NUC might be just 4" by 4" in size, but it has a fairly robust set of input/output connectors. The NUC mainboard that we were shown for the retail market has three USB 2 ports (one at the front, two at the rear), two HDMI ports and an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet socket, and of course the power port. The Intel NUC uses an external 65W power adapter/brick just like a laptop. You might notice that audio ports are missing, but the audio is being sent out the HDMI ports, just be sure you have a monitor with speakers!
