Intel NUC 12 “Serpent Canyon” Packs an Arc A770M GPU and i7-12700H Processor

One of the biggest dividends of the Arc discrete graphics lineup for Intel is getting to use its own GPUs in its NUC desktops. The next-generation NUC 12 “Serpent Canyon” desktop sees the 11th Gen Core “Tiger Lake” quad-core + RTX 2060 “Turing” combination replaced by advanced 12th Gen Core “Alder Lake” 6P+8E processor, and the Arc “Alchemist” A770M discrete GPU. Intel’s choice of mobile versions of “Alchemist” and “Alder Lake” may have to do with not just lower TDP, but possibly also an implementation of the Intel Deep Link feature.

The A770M maxes out the ACM-G11 silicon, packing 32 Xe Cores (512 execution units, or 4,096 unified shaders), and has 16 GB of 256-bit GDDR6 memory. When paired with the 14-core “Alder Lake-H” processor, the duo could make for a formidable performance-gaming and creator machine. “Serpent Canyon” also sees the integration of Thunderbolt 4, SDXC UHS-II, Wi-Fi 6E, and 2.5 GbE interfaces, along with a number of USB 3.2 ports. Although its marketing images are leaked to the web on Chinese social media, there’s no release date for the thing yet, but it could be just around the corner.