What makes a NUC a NUC NUC is an acronym for Next Unit of Computing, and was created as Intel's attempt to fundamentally reinvent what a computer is. Most NUCs are a single PC's worth of components squeezed into a small, compact chassis. The new Intel NUC 13 Extreme, however, is not exactly that. Compared to the NUCs we have seen so far, it is relatively huge.

The NUC 13 Extreme is about the same size as a weakly built corporate PC (think of a run-of-the-mill HP office unit). In other words, it is definitely smaller than the average gaming PC, but it is a significant reduction in size from the small form factor Hades Canyon NUCs I have tried in the past. That Hades Canyon NUC was a really beautiful piece of kit, but not half as powerful as the NUC 13 Extreme.

The NUC 13 Extreme has very good provisioning for a small form factor PC. This is largely due to the cleverly wired case that provides ample space for a high-end graphics card, 750W PSU, and Compute Element.

The Compute Element inside the NUC 13 Extreme is the more NUC-like part of the NUC 13 Extreme: Intel Core i9 13900K CPU, custom motherboard, 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM RAM, Wi-Fi card, 1TB SSD, I/O by the Z690 chipset. All of this is on a single removable board, which is essentially what makes up the other NUCs, but in the NUC 13 Extreme, Intel has built in a whole RTX 3080 Ti for serious gaming performance.

This is what you get with the NUC 13 Extreme. This NUC offers slots for discrete graphics cards, with a maximum length of 313mm, triple slots, and a power demand of 450W. This means that almost any modern graphics card can be installed in the NUC 13 Extreme, even the RTX 4080 Founders Edition. It also features a 12VHPWR connector, which can be used to select a GPU.

Intel has installed an RTX 3080 Ti on the particular NUC I have for testing. This card is no slouch either. The card is a bit of a menace when it comes to 4K gaming, easily exceeding 144Hz refresh rates at 1440p and 4K frame rates that are more than playable. We like it.

We can't find many flaws in the NUC 13's design. The graphics card is mounted on the opposite side to keep your feet warm while gaming, but generally runs pretty cool. Being a very compartmentalized PC is definitely an advantage, as the graphics card doesn't suck air in, but it can get a bit hot when ambient temperatures rise, as there is no case fan to actually blow air onto the graphics card.

To keep the Compute Element relatively cool, there are also two 120mm fans that exhaust from one side alongside the PSU exhaust vents. However, this is where the NUC 13 Extreme has one drawback. The Core i9 13900K at its heart gets quite hot; the entire CPU package typically heats up to 92-98°C under load, sometimes up to 100°C.

These high temperatures also cause the CPU to perform poorly; not only does HWinfo note that the chip is experiencing thermal throttling, but the benchmark results also confirm the throttling. Compared to the Core i9 13900K results from the open test bench, which has no case fan but uses a large AiO cooler, the NUC 13 Extreme's multi-threaded scores are considerably off the pace. Similarly, the NUC's X264 fps is also lower.

This is reminiscent of the temperatures I encountered on a Corsair mini-PC, the Corsair One a200 (opens in new tab). This AMD-powered machine also had trouble managing CPU temperatures, often exceeding 90°C under load. The a200, however, was able to manage GPU temperatures well. This was also seen when testing the new Razer Blade 16 (opens in new tab): while the GPU stayed relatively cool, the CPU temperatures were sometimes off the charts. This confirms that the CPU is a real troublemaker in a confined space, and one should keep this in mind when building one's own small form factor PC.

Indeed, the NUC 13 doesn't sound like much of an operation. Not much compared to most high-end graphics cards running inside a tower case. Perhaps that helps explain the CPU temperatures. In fact, the noise level under load is much quieter than it is at idle in my fan-filled PC tower next door. However, this depends on which graphics card is installed in the NUC 13 Extreme; the triple-fan design of the Asus TUF keeps the volume to a minimum.

The NUC 13 Extreme has much to offer. Its surprisingly easily accessible compact chassis and support for very high-end GPUs are hard to beat.

And then there's the price: the Intel NUC 13 Extreme barebone kit (without graphics card, SSD, memory, and OS) will set you back about $1,698 (open in new tab). That means you're spending quite a bit before you spend money on other important components. You won't need to buy an RTX 3080 Ti to go with this anymore, but if you include the latest RTX 4080, the build will hit the $3,000 mark, and with 32GB of DDR5 and an SSD of that size, it's likely to be more than that.

This is not at all an absurd asking price for an RTX 4080 gaming PC, but it is not the mid-priced machine we are really looking for right now. And if you want this machine delivered fully assembled to your home, SimplyNUC sells a similar provisioned version of the NUC 13 Extreme with RTX 4070 Ti for $3,368 (opens in new tab), which is more expensive than other pre-built gaming PCs It is more expensive than the other two.

In that light, the Intel NUC 13 Extreme is a more niche option.

That said, a PC this small and this well designed is hard to come by without spending hours researching homebuilding. With this ease, I'm sure there will be some ardent fans out there, and if the Core i7 13700K and Core i5 13600K options work a little more sensibly in load situations, I'm sure I'll be one of them.

This little NUC gives us a glimpse of what PC gaming could be like if everything clicked. Neat, unassuming, and clever. Maybe that's the true meaning of NUC. See.

Now, if Intel can pack all the high-end hardware into this product and not run into a heat wall, I'll be even more on board with the NUC. I would be even more on board with this concept.