Intel Ghost Canyon NUC9i9QNX Review: NUC 9 Extreme Realizes the SFF Dream
by Ganesh T S on April 16, 2020 8:05 AM ESTMiscellaneous Aspects: Storage Performance
The preceding sections analyzed the performance of two Intel NUC9i9QNX configurations for a variety of workloads, ranging from office usage to professional and industrial workstation applications. We also looked at gaming performance and the suitability of the PC for home-theater use. One of the aspects that we touched on and off across all sections was the evaluation of the storage subsystem. A little bit of additional analysis is in order. In particular, we operated the Intel SSD 905p Optane drive in two modes - directly attached to the CPU's PCIe lanes, and attachment through the PCH.
| Intel NUC9i9QNX Storage-Specific Benchmarks |
Directly attaching the Optane drive to the CPU's PCIe lanes yields 40%+ benefit for workstations based on SPECworkstation 3's wpcStorage workload. PCMark 10's storage bench shows a 50%+ increase in storage bandwidth and a 35%+ decrease in average access time for consumer workloads. The storage bandwidth for the secondary drive attached to the PCH also suffers when the primary drive contends with it for access to the CPU through the DMI link, as shown in the PCMark 10 storage bandwidth graph for the secondary drive above.
On the networking side, we are yet to set up our 802.11 ax / Wi-Fi 6 testbed for small form-factor PCs, and hence, there are no bandwidth numbers to report yet. However, it must be noted that the NUC 9 Extreme Kits, like the Frost Canyon NUC we recently reviewed, come with 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6 support, and its theoretical maximum bandwidth of 2400 Mbps betters the 867 Mbps offered by the Wireless-AC 8265 in the Hades Canyon NUC and the 1733 Mbps offered by the Wireless-AC 9560 in the Bean Canyon NUC. The AX200 WLAN component takes advantage of the MAC built into the CM246 chipset, but uses a dedicated PCIe x1 link to interface (unlike the AX201 / CNVi combination in the Frost Canyon NUC). The AX200 has a 2x2 simultaneous dual-operation in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and also comes with support for 160 MHz-wide channels.
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AdditionalPylons - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
The statement about noise is in the second last paragraph on page 3, here: https://www.servethehome.com/intel-nuc9vxqnx-nuc-r...but now that I read it again I realise it was probably without GPU, which naturally adds power draw and noise.
Ganesh, would it be possible for you to measure the noise with and without the GPU?
Spunjji - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I was interested in this aspect, too. The thermal module on the CPU doesn't look very promising, but the TDP is fairly low...leonlee - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
Thanks for putting this article together. Regarding optimizing for power delivery, what sort of approaches are in the works now? I imagine the low hanging fruit might be encouraging case manufacturers to integrate PSU wiring for space efficiency or aesthetics.cyrusfox - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
Biggest take away I see is at half the lanes, you still have 97% of the GPU performance in terms of frame rates. Thanks for the testing.For those looking for pictures, I would recommend Storage reviews write up - https://www.storagereview.com/review/intel-nuc-9-p...
If you want this in video form, where they specifically talked about noise from the NUC(It is surprisingly quiet even at load), I would say go check out Gamers Nexus video review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCoLJeUbZTc
Thank you Anandtech for getting out your review!
Operandi - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
Over priced Intel Junk. I know its trendy to dump on Intel but man this is just poorly designed overpriced garbage and thats too bad because the industry needs new ideas and form factors.Instead of the tiny blower heatsink being built into the compute element the cooling aspect should be part of the case. A front mounted 80 or 92mm fan that channels the air across a short heatpipe equipped heatsink, something like what is done in 1 and 2U servers. There could even be different tiers of chassis that would support larger cooling solutions that would support more powerful compute elements and larger GPUs. A design like this would create a new ecosystem with a wide variety or products for different uses and provide a way for partners to differentiate themselves.
AMD; work with some partners and build this.
Deicidium369 - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
The "partners" would rather work on something that would, you know, sell.Korguz - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
man you are such an intel fanboy the way you bash AMD. looks like you gave up on the other thread you kept posing in cause the others put too much proof, and you had nothing else left to pro intel BS about.Deicidium369 - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
Jimmy, go clean the basement. And you are such an AMD Fanboi.FACT - Intel sells 10:1 vs AMD - so do you go for 90% of the market or 10% of the market
I would BET that I have more and more current AMD systems than you do.
Korguz - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
your " facts " are BS, just like was pointed out on the toms forums" I would BET that I have more and more current AMD systems than you do." and that is supposed to impress me ? or prove something ? who cares your post, regardless of what computers you claim to have, reek with anti AMD and are pro intel.
Korguz - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
thats why you havent replied to any of the comments on the other thread about the 4900hs review, because your facts are BS, and you know it