Intel Ghost Canyon NUC9i9QNX Review: NUC 9 Extreme Realizes the SFF Dream
by Ganesh T S on April 16, 2020 8:05 AM ESTGPU Performance for Workstations - SPECviewperf 13
The SPECviewperf benchmark from SPEC provides an idea of the capabilities of the GPU in a workstation from the perspective of different CAD, content creation, and visual data analysis tools. It makes more sense to process these benchmarks on workstations with professional GPUs, but, consumer GPUs are often the choice for machines that need to handle both gaming and professional workloads.
SPECviewperf 13 includes nine different workloads representative of graphics content and behavior of actual applications. They make use of the OpenGL 4.0 and DirectX 12 APIs under Windows. SPECviewperf 13's workloads (termed viewsets) can officially be run only at two desktop resolutions (1920 x 1080, and 3840 x 2160), and need the display scaling to be set to 100% (DPI of 96). The available viewsets are listed below.
- 3ds Max (3dsmax-06)
- CATIA (catia-05)
- Creo (creo-02)
- Energy (energy-02)
- Maya (maya-05)
- Medical (medical-02)
- Showcase (showcase-02)
- Siemens NX (snx-03)
- Solidworks (sw-04)
The 3ds Max and Showcase viewsets are available only when processing at 1920 x 1080. The rest are available at both resolutions.
We processed SPECviewperf 13 at both resolutions on the Intel NUC9i9QNX (Ghost Canyon). The benchmark measures the frame rate at which the GPU renders the scenes in a viewset. Each viewset is composed of different scenes and rendering modes, and the composite score for the viewset is a weighted geometric mean of the FPS measured for the different scenes. In this section, we take a look at how its composite scores stack up against other systems targeting this market segment.
3ds Max (3dsmax-06)
The 3dsmax-06 viewset comprises of 11 different scenes. They have been created from traces of the graphics workload generated by Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 using the default Nitrous DX11 driver. Additional details are available here.
The x16 configuration for the RTX 2070 delivers significantly better results compared to the x8 configuration.
CATIA (catia-05)
The catia-05 viewset comprises of 14 different tests created from traces of the graphics workload generated by the CATIA V6 R2012 application from Dassault Systemes. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: CATIA Viewset Composite Scores | |||
The RTX 2070 in the NUC9i9QNX doesn't emerge as a leader in this workload, but its performance is almost as good as the top candidate in the x16 configuration.
Creo (creo-02)
The creo-02 viewset comprises of 16 different tests created from traces of the graphics workload generated by the Creo 3 and Creo 4 applications from PTC. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: Creo Viewset Composite Scores | |||
The significant difference between the x16 mode and x8 mode continues here, with the former putting the NUC9i9QNX within touching distance of the top performers.
Energy (energy-02)
The energy-02 viewset comprises of 6 different tests based on techniques used by the OpendTect seismic visualization application. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: Energy Viewset Composite Scores | |||
The NUC9i9QNX performs well in this workload, emerging as the top candidate. Strangely, the 1080p configuration seems limited by an unknown factor, with the x8 configuration performing better than the x16. At 4K, however, normal service is resumed.
Maya (maya-05)
The maya-05 viewset comprises of 10 different tests based on traces of the graphics workload generated by Autodesk Maya 2017. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: Maya Viewset Composite Scores | |||
The x16 configuration of the RTX 2070 emerges as the clear topper for the Maya workload.
Medical (medical-02)
The medical-02 viewset comprises of 8 different tests derived from 4 distinct datasets. Each test uses the ImageVis3D volume visualization program's Tuvok rendering core for 2D projections of 3D volumetric grids. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: Medical Viewset Composite Scores | |||
The NUC9i9QNX emerges second in this workload, next to the Core i7-7700HQ / GTX 1080 combination in the Zotac EK71080.
Showcase (showcase-02)
The showcase-02 viewset comprises of 4 tests created from traces of the Autodesk Showcase 2013 application rendering a racecar model with 8 million vertices using different modes. Additional details are available here.
The x16 RTX 2070 configuration is the clear winner in this workload.
Siemens NX (snx-03)
The snx-03 viewset comprises of 10 tests created with traces from the graphics workload generated by the NX 8.0 application from Siemens PLM. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: Siemens NX Viewset Composite Scores | |||
The performance of various systems in this workload is poor (as evident from the SPECworkstation ratings for the corresponding workload). There is not much to separate the various configurations in this workload, as evident from the scores in the graphs above.
Solidworks (sw-04)
The sw-04 viewset comprises of 11 tests created from traces of Dassault Systemes’ SolidWorks 2013 SP1 application. Additional details are available here.
| SPECviewperf 13: Solidworks Viewset Composite Scores | |||
Overall, the RTX 2070 in the NUC9i9QNX delivers excellent performance for GPU-intensive workstation workloads. In all cases, the x16 mode provides much better performance compared to the original x8 configuration of our review sample.
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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