The Intel NUC8i7HVK (Hades Canyon) Review: Kaby Lake-G Benchmarked
by Ganesh T S on March 29, 2018 1:00 PM ESTNetworking and Storage Performance
Networking and storage are two major aspects which influence our experience with any computing system. This section presents results from our evaluation of these aspects in the Intel NUC8i7HVK (Hades Canyon). On the storage side, one option would be repetition of our strenuous SSD review tests on the drive(s) in the PC. Fortunately, to avoid that overkill, PCMark 8 has a storage bench where certain common workloads such as loading games and document processing are replayed on the target drive. Results are presented in two forms, one being a benchmark number and the other, a bandwidth figure. We ran the PCMark 8 storage bench on selected PCs and the results are presented below. Since our review configuration came with two different drives in the M.2 slots, we processed the storage benchmark on both of them. The 800p performs as good as the OCZ RD400 despite its PCIe 3.0 x2 connection (compared to the RD400's PCIe 3.0 x4). However, it is not as good as the Samsung 960 PRO in the Skull Canyon NUC (though it must be remembered that the Skull Canyon number below has not been updated for the Meltdown / Spectre patch's effects, while the Optane drive is being benched in a fully patched system).
The travails of the 3D TLC-based 545s are evident in the storage bandwidth number above.
On the networking side, we restricted ourselves to the evaluation of the WLAN component. Our standard test router is the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk configured with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. The router is placed approximately 20 ft. away, separated by a drywall (as in a typical US building). A wired client is connected to the R7000 and serves as one endpoint for iperf evaluation. The PC under test is made to connect to either the 5 GHz (preferred) or 2.4 GHz SSID and iperf tests are conducted for both TCP and UDP transfers. It is ensured that the PC under test is the only wireless client for the Netgear R7000. We evaluate total throughput for up to 32 simultaneous TCP connections using iperf and present the highest number in the graph below. It must be noted that all PCs other than the ZBOX EN1080K, EK71080, and the NUC8i7HVK were tested in an older lab environment with a different orientation for the client and the router.
In the UDP case, we try to transfer data at the highest rate possible for which we get less than 1% packet loss.
Despite its 2x2 nature, the performance of the WLAN card is only slightly better than the 1x1 AC3165 in the ZOX MAGNUS EK71080. The absence of external antennae could be a possible reason.
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zodiacfml - Friday, March 30, 2018 - link
I just like it for its integrated GPU which is a sign of good things to come.In the future, I just want to see more power from this setup. We'd see motherboards with a 6 or 8 pin connector for providing power to a more powerful GPU. Large coolers will be relevant again.
For AMD, I'd like to see them make a similar setup but with the HBM memory accessible for both the CPU and GPU.
What would Jesus Do? - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - link
Test comment test!!!santiagodraco - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - link
Can't play back UHD Blu-Ray? Wow. Intel you just lost a significant portion of the potential market for this pos. Why would anyone in their right minds buy this over say an Nvidia Shield, or hell a Shield + an Xbox X + a PS4 Pro... for the same money or less.Time to fire some folks in management.
santiagodraco - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - link
Not to mention the price once you add an SSD and memory. My god, what are they thinking? This thing is an utter joke! You could build a far far better system without much more of a footprint than this hunk of junk, for less. Just mind boggling. I thought that after the fiasco with the original Skull Canyon that Intel would have learned something... but instead they went backwards. I can hear them now "Let's make it less capable and cost 1/3 to 2x more than the previous version....people will love it!"Hifihedgehog - Monday, April 2, 2018 - link
The hilarious thing is AMD’s Raven Ridge, which has Video Core Next (unlike its other Vega brethren), can properly decode UHD Blu-ray content and VP9 with fixed function decoding. Excluding gaming, AMD did end up giving Intel the second-rate goods after all. I am using a 2400G in a Streacom FC8 and VCN’s decoding quality is such a revelation that I now strictly use MadVR for UHD Blu-ray and HDR->SDR conversion.medi03 - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - link
And the reason not include 1060 / 1050 in the benchmarks is?bill44 - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - link
What a mess.Who can recommend a HTPC I can purchase or build that supports the following:
Stereo 3D - BD 3D ISO frame packed support (without issues) over HDMI 2.x (before you reply, please red Intel's official reply from this thread https://communities.intel.com/thread/112109?start=...
HDMI 2.x output that supports 176.4KHz, 88.2KHz as well was the usual 44KHz & 192KHz without resampling. As far as I know, NVidia can't do it. Reviews of GPUs do not include AUDIO specification or AUDIO testing anymore, only GAME GAME GAME!
Apart from picture/movie/streaming, I would like to use my HTPC to play Hi-Res music back without resampling.
UHD-BD playback - requires protected video/audio path, SGX, firmware & software support etc.
That's it. Just 3 requirements. Intel iGPU is out, NVidia is out, maybe AMD?
bill44 - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - link
Just one more thing: Displayport 1.2 only? I thought AMD supports 1.3/1.4.Hifihedgehog - Monday, April 2, 2018 - link
The 2400G actually works for HDMI 2.0 with current gen hardware. I just built an HTPC in a Streacom FC8 and Raven Ridge, which exclusively has Video Core Next (not even discrete Vega has this), has the best hardware video decoding I have ever used, bar none. See here for compatibility information :smallformfactor (dot) net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2-0-compatibility-1st-gen-am4-motherboard-test-request-megathread.6709/
Hifihedgehog - Monday, April 2, 2018 - link
PS: Raven Ridge Vega’s VCN has fixed function VP9 decoding without restrictions. Prior revisions of Vega, including the revision on the Intel CPU+dGPU multi-die packages, use the old UVD system which, while considered by most videophiles to be the best hardware decoding option in terms of decoding quality compared to NVIDIA and AMD (see here: forums (dot) anandtech (dot) com/threads/does-anyone-review-video-decoding-quality-any-more.2410025/#post-36936833 ; despite being from 2014, this old post still pretty much applies), still lacks fixed function VP9 hardware support.