Intel Previews NUC 13 Extreme With Space for a Triple Slot GPU

We’ve been aware of Intel’s upcoming NUC 13 Extreme—codenamed Raptor Canyon—since July this year, with the compute element module having leaked back in August. Now Intel has previewed the NUC 13 Extreme at TwitchCon and we have a better idea what the biggest NUC to date will look like. The chassis has a volume of no less than 13.9 litres, which is bigger than many Mini-ITX cases. The main reason for this is that the NUC 13 Extreme has enough space for a triple slot GPU, although if you’re hoping to put a GeForce RTX 4090 inside, then you’re out of luck, as it seems to be limited to the length of an RTX 3080 or thereabout. The compute modul appears to have changed somewhat from the early leak, or it’s possible it just wasn’t a very good render.

As we’ve known, Intel will be kitting out the NUC 13 Extreme with a range of CPU options and it was confirmed during the stream that it’ll handle a "full" Core i9K without specifying which model. The Intel rep mentioned a highly optimised heatsink, which appears to be something along the lines of a modified GPU cooler with a blower cooler. This is because the compute module is largely the same shape and size as a graphics card. The chassis itself looks like a bit of a nightmare to deal with, as it has a lot of removable parts to allow access to the innards of the NUC 13 Extreme. The compute module has to be installed at an angle, or it won’t fit inside the chassis, whereas the graphics card looks relatively easy to install. You can find the full video in the link below and it starts just past the four hour mark.