The 8th-gen Intel NUC is a Palm-sized VR powerhouse

If the giant glowing skull didn’t give you a clue, Intel’s latest compact, do-it-yourself NUC is purpose-built for gaming – and it’s all thanks to long-time rival AMD. The NUC8i7HVK is the first time Intel has integrated AMD Radeon graphics with its own CPUs, and the benchmark figures will leave you wondering what took so long. The Core i7-8809G ticks along at a heady 4.2GHz, so sling in your own RAM and storage and you’re good to go for 60fps gaming at 1080p, or smooth virtual reality experiences – all from a machine barely any bigger than a can of spam. It’s got the ports to cope with a load of l33t accessories, too, with Thunderbolt, USB-C, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort and six regular USB ports. No word on pricing just yet, but the new NUC should arrive in the next few months.

Tom Morgan-Freelander Deputy Editor

About

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews.  When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.

Areas of expertise

Smartphones/tablets/computing, cameras, home cinema, automotive, virtual reality, gaming