Intel Ghost Canyon NUC9i9QNX Review: NUC 9 Extreme Realizes the SFF Dream
by Ganesh T S on April 16, 2020 8:05 AM ESTHTPC Credentials - Display Outputs Capabilities
The
| NUC9i9QNB Display Outputs | ||
| HDMI | 2x Thunderbolt 3 | |
| Version | 2.0a | DisplayPort 1.2 |
| Max. Video Output | 3840x2160 @ 60Hz | 4096x2160 @ 60Hz |
| HDCP | Yes (2.2) | |
| HDR | Yes | No |
| HD Audio Bitstreaming | Yes | |
The BIOS of the NUC9i9QNX also allows for switchable graphics. The ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 2070 MINI 8GB GDDR6 in our review configuration supports a maximum of four displays using three additional display outputs (the DisplayPort output supports multi-stream transport and can drive additional displays down the chain). The end implication is the ability of the system to simultaneously drive a total of 7 independent displays. The table below lists the display outputs of the RTX 2070 card in our review sample.
| ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 2070 MINI Display Outputs | |||
| DVI-D | HDMI | DisplayPort | |
| Version | Dual-Link | 2.0b | 1.4 |
| Max. Video Output | 2560x1600 @ 60Hz | 3840x2160 @ 60Hz | 7680x4320 @ 60Hz |
| HDCP | Yes (2.2) | ||
| HDR | No | Yes | |
| HD Audio Bitstreaming | No | Yes | |
Supporting the display of high-resolution protected video content is a requirement for even a casual HTPC user. In addition, HTPC enthusiasts also want their systems to support refresh rates that either match or be an integral multiple of the frame rate of the video being displayed. Most displays / AVRs are able to transmit the supported refresh rates to the PC using the EDID metadata. In some cases, the desired refresh rate might be missing in the list of supported modes.
Display Refresh Rates - NUC9i9QNB
Our evaluation of the NUC9i9QNX
The gallery below presents screenshots from the other refresh rates that were tested. The system has no trouble maintaining a fairly accurate refresh rate throughout the duration of the video playback.
Display Refresh Rates - ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 2070 MINI
Our initial HTPC evaluation was followed up by using the
The gallery below presents screenshots from the other refresh rates that were tested. Similar to the Intel HDMI output case, the system has no trouble maintaining a fairly accurate refresh rate throughout the duration of the video playback.
UHD Blu-ray Playback Support
UHD Blu-ray playback is currently supported when using the HDMI port driven by select Intel GPUs. It also needs SGX support. The NUC9i9QNX ticks all required items, as shown by the CyberLink Ultra HD Blu-ray Advisor tool in the screenshot below.
Using CyberLink's latest PowerDVD 20, we were able to successfully play back a UHD Blu-ray, as shown above.
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buckiller - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
Power pig. Hades Canyon was great, but this is hot trash, relative to expectations set by last-gen and perf/power capabilities that are possible today.> The Ghost Canyon NUC9i9QNX is a SFF enthusiast's dream come true.
Ooph. Hardly.
Dolda2000 - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
I have to admit that I still don't really see the point of this system. It seems that its main gimmick is the fact that what is essentially the motherboard plugs into a PCIe riser card. That's fine and useful and all, but PCIe riser boards and cables are nothing new, and I don't really see what this does that hasn't already been doable for quite some time. You can replace the compute element? Sure, but being able to replace motherboards is nothing new to most form factors. Please do enlighten me if I'm missing something.Dragonstongue - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
the series adds the ability for end-users to add a standard PCIe video card to the system system.to the system's system ... or just to the system..
as for folks complain about the price, CPU alone is ~580 USD .. RTX 2070 mini ~539
so there is over $1k right there
I personally wouldn't be buying NUC "overall" based on should be Ryzen A and B absolutely not given seems Intel is "up to their same old BS tricks" via "preventing" folks from offering AMD based options available...
Destoya - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
$580 CPU, you have to be kidding. Nobody, including OEMs, pays the tray MSRP intel has listed.If you want to look at it in terms of value, it has the same performance as a Ryzen 3600 ($175)...
Deicidium369 - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
First off, there are no OEMs, it is single source Intel. I love Intel NUCs - not sure what the use case for this model is.Namisecond - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
I don't think Intel manufactures those CPU cards (soldered BGA CPUs). They're probably integrated by a 3rd party OEM like Foxxcon. It's one thing to have engineering samples, but for Intel to step into the motherboard manufacturing game requires a lot of capital resources...unless the NUC parts are actually going to be made at Intel's engineering labs...If it's a production run in the 10Ks...that just might be feasible.Deicidium369 - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
And like I said there are no OEMs available for you to buy from - single source - Intel. I thought I saw something a few years ago about possibly PNY - I know they do the Nvidia branded graphics cards.BlazingDragon - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
The article is misleading... and very Intel biased, IMHO.The ~$1500 USD price is for the i9 barebones kit only... just compute element [w/CPU], daughter board and PSU - i.e. not including a GPU, DRAM memory or SSD - that's why it's so outlandish...
Good ITX m/board & Ryzen 3900x CPU, plus really nice case and PSU is << $900 USD.
Deicidium369 - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
So a review of a product from Intel is very Intel biased.... That has to be a huge conspira-plotBlazingDragon - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
A review of anything can be positive or negative on that thing... and is unbiased if it seems balanced and fair in that criticism [be it positive or negative].If said article seems to over exaggerate the positives, and/or misrepresent them, and miss out or under call some of the negatives, then yes, it's biased... and IMHO, that's exactly what this article does...