CPU Performance
Despite being based on the previous Kaby Lake architecture instead of the newer Coffee Lake, the i7-8809G is the first high-powered mobile processor we've seen in Intel's 8th Generation Core product family.
As a comparison point, we are taking a look at an 8th Generation Coffee Lake desktop processor, the i5-8400, as well as the new AMD Raven Ridge R5 2400G APU. On the mobile side, we are comparing the i7-8809G to our leading performer from the 15W-class 8th Generation CPUs, the Dell XPS 13 9370, as well as a slightly older ASUS G752J full-size 17" gaming laptop with a Skylake i7-6820HK processor.
The full testbed configuration for the desktop system is listed below.
| Test System Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-8400 |
| Motherboard | ASUS STRIX Z370-E Gaming |
| Memory | 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200 (running at DDR-2400 on all configurations) |
| Storage | Corsair Neutron XTi 480 SSD |
| Sound Card | On-board |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 1050 Ti DUAL ASUS RX 560 STRIX |
| Graphics Drivers |
NVIDIA 391.35 AMD 18.3.4 |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM1000x |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro x64 RS3 |
Cinebench R15
Cinema4D rendering performance, as measured by Cinebench R15 shows very positive initial results for the i7-8809G-equipped Hades Canyon NUC. The single-threaded score is the highest among the group, besting even the desktop i5-8400 processor.
Multi-threaded rendering shows the i7-8809G losing only to the i5-8400 processor, which is equipped with an additional two cores and four threads. The Kaby Lake-G part manages to even outperform the desktop R5 2400G in all-core rendering by almost 9%.
Geekbench 4.2.0
While the i7-8809G still maintains the lead in single-threaded performance in Geekbench 4.2.0, both desktop processors, the i5-8400 and R5 24500G, manage to outperform the NUC by over 10%.
Handbrake 1.0.7
H.264 transcoding in Handbrake shows the i7-8809G outperforming all of the other test systems besides the 6-core i5-8400, including a 6% lead over the R5 2400G.
In Intel Quick Sync encoding, the UHD 630 graphics in the NUC fall short of the same GPU found in the i5-8400 by 32%.
Blender 2.79b
Similar to Handbrake, the BMW benchmark in Blender shows the i7-8809G falling short to only the i5-8400, including a massive 25% lead over the Kaby Lake Refresh Dell XPS 13 9370 with the i7-8550U.
Overall, the i7-8809G processor found in the Hades Canyon NUC provides a surprising performance benefit. Despite being a processor solution initially designed for mobile solutions, the extra 35W TDP allocation and thermal solution in this NUC form factor produce impressive results.
In this configuration, the i7-8809G remains competitive with Intel's current 65W mid-range desktop offerings like the i5-8400 while maintaining a 2-core defect.
Additionally, in processor-based tasks, the NUC is able to handily outperform a high-end gaming laptop from just a few years ago—the ASUS G752J. This is a good sign for the capabilities of upcoming Kaby Lake-G notebooks, as well as future potential 8th Generation notebooks.
30% more than a 1050ti, with
30% more than a 1050ti, with comparable performance to a 6 core cpu? Impressive.
Shit, throw a 2/4 i3 w/ a 1050ti equivalent into it, and price at $499 or less and I will buy 2.
Why would you choose this
Why would you choose this over a mini itx build?
Are there any mini ITX builds
Are there any mini ITX builds that even approach this in size? These NUCs are a little smaller than a hardback book and oftentimes lighter as well, no mini ITX case I’ve personally seen even approaches the NUC in terms of size. The smallest mini ITX I can find is the S4 Mini but I might be wrong about that, with the S4 Mini though the size difference between it and the NUC is bigger than the size difference between mini ITX and Full Towers.
Here’s a quick comparison I did for my own purposes but I guess it doesn’t hurt to share it:
http://comparesizes.com/comparison/NUC2/1522348845958
I just hope the inclusion of HBM and the GPU doesn’t mean this thing is suddenly selling for twice as much like most graphics cards, if it actually sells for it’s MSRP and stays there, I’ll be buying another NUC it seems. I’d love to see more powerful mini computers, something that’s around the same size as a hardcover book or even a paperback will fit in most containers that people travel with, nobody so far has stuffed a full fat PC with all the trimmings ala NVME, Thunderbolt and lower mid range GPU in a thing this size. I’d love to be wrong on this account though and discover a bunch of book sized mini PC’s but I’m not holding out much hope for that.
I’d be down for one at
I’d be down for one at $4-500, but the $1k price point of these seems a bit steep.
At $4-500, this would be
At $4-500, this would be cheaper than a full size, full power machine of the same performance, and you’re always going to pay at least a bit more for SFF, so that price isn’t likely.
I just don’t understand what
I just don’t understand what the usage case is for this product and you give it a gold award? Why does this product even exist?
These things are some of
These things are some of Intel’s best selling products, in fact it’s the only part of Intel’s business related to microprocessors that has grown exponentially and it’s done it very quickly.
These things pack more than enough power to be put into increasingly cramped office environments, internet cafes and for people that do certain types of field work.
NUC stands for “Next Unit of Compute”. In a few years I’d be surprised to see anything bigger than these things for the average person that might still buy a desktop, this product exists because it makes a buttload of money and that buttload of money is increasing whilst the money from everything else is declining.
Even if this computer is
Even if this computer is useless for you, it is perfect for other people. I use the previous Skull Canyon as my office computer at work and nothing else on the market can replace it.
For my work I need a fast CPU with at least 4 cores and as many as possible USB ports and Ethernet ports. On my desk, besides 2 monitors, there are a lot of electronic prototypes, power supplies etc., there is no place for a larger computer or for a laptop. Nevertheless the computer must stay on the desk, because I very frequently connect or disconnect USB or Ethernet cables to it. I also need Thunderbolt or at least USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s) for an external SSD. I do not use internal SSD’s, because I must move every day the SSD between my office computer and my home computer, and from time to time to the laptop used for business trips.
So Skull Canyon and Hades Canyon are exactly what I need. Every other computer on the market is either too large, or it has a too slow processor, or it has too few USB ports, or it has no Thunderbolt or USB 3.1 Gen 2 or no DisplayPort.
So even if you are not aware of this, many people need computers very different from what you use.
LAN parties for days ……
LAN parties for days …… LAN parties for days 😡
How was the fan noise when
How was the fan noise when gaming? Did it get hot?
Ok I want to Know the
Ok I want to Know the Shader/TMU/ROP counts on the AMD semi-custom discrete die that’s on the EMIB/MCM. And I’d really like to Know the the Shaders to ROPs ratios and the Sheaders to TMUs ratios also.
We Now have access to Vega graphics that only has access to 4GB of HBM2 over a single HBM2 Stack’s alotment HBM2 and at 1024 traces(That’s Divided into 8 indipendent 128 bit channels according to the JEDEC HBM2 standard). So can there be some testing of Vega’s HBCC IP where Vega’s HBCC makes use of the HBM2 as HBC(High Bandwidth cache).
I’d like to see some Games tested using Texture mods that total larger than 4GB in texture size to test out Vega’s HBCC IP.
Some websites need to purchase these NUC SKUs outright for testing outside of any review manual NUC(loaner sample)restrictions for testing the Vega graphics, including the HBCC/HBC(HBM2) IP, on Vega.
Why is there only PPC(Pixel per clock information on some websites) and no ROP counts to be found for this Intel/Vega SKU. I’m seeing shader counts and TMU counts from some January 2018 articles but really WTF is up with the usual GPU specifications on these MCM based Radeon Vega semi-custom SKUs!
What does GPUz say about Shaders/TMUs/ROPs and let’s look at Shader to TMU ratios and Shader to ROP ratios on these Intel/Vega SKUs with Vega/MCM graphics and how that compares with Vega 56’s and Vega 64’s Shader to TMU and Shader to ROP ratios.
The JEDEC HBM2 standars also has a 64 bit psudeo channel mode where each of the 8, 128 bit HBM2 channels is split into 2 64 bit psudeo channels are any GPU makers taking advantage of that part of the JEDEC HBM2 standard currently in their GPU’s drivers or the GPU’s memory controller.
Do the physics and graphics
Do the physics and graphics test run at the same time? I ask because I’m curious to see what they’ve done to address the package having to deal with the combined CPU+GPU thermals.
When you have time could you do something to evaluate that possible issue? Maybe test with some games known for use a lot of CPU? Thank you!
Neat.
I winced at the price
Neat.
I winced at the price at first, but seeing the ample connectivity and performance, I guess the price is reasonable.
Why do you make no mention of temperatures and sound levels though? Dissipating 140W at that size has to be challenging.
Haha, having read
Haha, having read Notebookcheck’s review, I have to say, you should have really clarified just how large the power brick is.
When form factor is half the selling point, a power brick that’s as large as the device it powers is noteworthy.
Ok, it’s good but for this
Ok, it’s good but for this money , I will prefer Chuwi HiGame!
Intel’s Hades Canyon NUC is a
Intel’s Hades Canyon NUC is a powerhouse for the games and really useful for the game lovers as my brother has bought one for him when I was busy in my https://www.goldenbustours.com/niagara-falls-bus-tour-packages/ and always like to play games on this.