Intel NUC6CAYH (Arches Canyon) Apollo Lake UCFF PC Review
by Ganesh T S on January 12, 2018 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- NUC
- UCFF
- Apollo Lake
- Arches Canyon
Final Words
The Intel NUC6CAYH provided us with the opportunity to evaluate a high-end member of the Apollo Lake SoC family. The Celeron J3455 is a quad-core processor with a 10W TDP. It easily enabled the NUC6CAH to come out on top in all of our benchmarks when compared against other Atom-class systems.
The HDMI 2.0 port (backed by a LSPCon) with 4Kp60 support is very welcome. However consumers need to keep in mind that the benefits from the HDCP 2.2 feature on that port are minimal at best. One of the popular streaming services that we tried (Netflix 4K) ended up not working as expected, with only the 1080p version of the 4K titles getting played. That said, the system has no issues playing all types of local 4K video streams using Kodi. VP9 Profile 2 is not supported, but, given the lack of HDR support, it is not a big deal. The presence of an infrared receiver also enables usage of a remote control if the system is used as a HTPC.
The presence of a VGA port also helps the NUC6CAYH target cost-sensitive markets that are yet to feel the need to move away from a VGA monitor to a HDMI or DisplayPort one. The SDXC slot is bound to have good performance, since it is enabled by a PCIe bridge (Realtek RTS5229). On the flip side, the unit only supports 8GB of RAM. Trying to install 2x 8GB SODIMMs makes the system ignore half the memory.
Coming to the pricing aspect, the NUC6CAYH is available for $130. This is par for the course when it comes to barebones systems using Atom-class CPUs. Intel recently announced that June Canyon (the follow up to Arches Canyon) had started entering the channel in late December. It uses a Gemini Lake SoC and promises better performance compared to Apollo Lake. This should exert further downward pressure on the Arches Canyon models, and that will only be good for consumers.
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Hulk - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
Would it be possible to note the processor in the comparison systems in parenthesis for those of us who don't remember which system has which processor? Also it would be nice to have a fast processor in the metric (7700k or something like that) to get a gauge on how these low power processors compare.MattMe - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
I agree with your points. Perhaps a U series would be a better comparison than a K series though?ganeshts - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
I will keep that in mind for the next review.mode_13h - Monday, January 15, 2018 - link
The i3 from the BAPCo SYSmark seemed a good basis for comparison. Or maybe just the next more expensive NUC, in case someone is trying to decide whether to spend the extra money.Mr Perfect - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
As an aside, does NUC packaging still come with the little light activated speaker that plays the Intel chime when you open the box? The first gen ones did, and I hid the speaker modules around the office so random things would chime when the light hit them. Good times...ganeshts - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
Not in the new ones, unfortunately :)bi0logic - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
won't this nuc be replaced by the June Canyon NUC(Gemini Lake) version any day now?intel says the NUC6CAYH launch was Q4 '16
https://ark.intel.com/products/95062/Intel-NUC-Kit...
ganeshts - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
That is literally the last paragraph in my concluding section :)In any case, Intel plans to keep Arches Canyon in production till end of Q2 2018 as per official roadmaps.
mode_13h - Monday, January 15, 2018 - link
Still, I appreciate these benchmarks, since it should help show how much Gemini Lake (Goldmont +) actually improved.ilt24 - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
Am I missing something? The $470 price with No OS seems quite high if the NUC starts at $130 and your just adding a pair of 4GB Memory modules and a 500GB SSD.