Intel NUC13 Extreme Raptor Canyon Review: Sizzling SFF Performance Powerhouse

GPU Performance: Synthetic Benchmarks

Discrete GPUs in desktops are typically evaluated for gaming workloads. In certain systems, they are used exclusively for GPU compute or workstation duties. We have already look at the SPECviewperf 2020 v3 results for a look at the Raptor Canyon NUC from a CAD / CAM perspective. Before looking at gaming workloads, we take a look at the performance of the systems in different synthetic / standardized workloads. Prior to that, a look at the capabilities of the RTX 3080 Ti in the Raptor Canyon NUC is warranted.

The RTX 3080 Ti is a 8nm Ampere GPU from NVIDIA released in June 2021. It is equipped with 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM, and supports all the latest features including hardware ray-tracing. It interfaces with the host processor using a PCIe 4.0 x16 link.

GFXBench

The DirectX 12-based GFXBench tests from Kishonti are cross-platform, and available all the way down to smartphones. As such, they are not very taxing for discrete GPUs and modern integrated GPUs. We processed the offscreen versions of the 'Aztec Ruins' benchmark.

The Raptor Canyon NUC configuration shows twice the graphics performance of the previous-generation Extreme NUCs in the Aztec Ruins workload.

UL 3DMark

Five different workload sets were processed in 3DMark - Fire Strike, Time Spy, Night Raid, Wild Life, and Port Royal.

3DMark Fire Strike

The Fire Strike benchmark has three workloads. The base version is meant for high-performance gaming PCs. It uses DirectX 11 (feature level 11) to render frames at 1920 x 1080. The Extreme version targets 1440p gaming requirements, while the Ultra version targets 4K gaming system, and renders at 3840 x 2160. The graph below presents the overall score for the Fire Strike Extreme and Fire Strike Ultra benchmark across all the systems that are being compared.

The doubled graphics performance numbers are backed up by 3DMark Fire Strike also.

3DMark Time Spy

The Time Spy workload has two levels with different complexities. Both use DirectX 12 (feature level 11). However, the plain version targets high-performance gaming PCs with a 2560 x 1440 render resolution, while the Extreme version renders at 3840 x 2160 resolution. The graphs below present both numbers for all the systems that are being compared in this review. We see the 2x advantage of the Raptor Canyon NUC in both Time Spy workloads.

3DMark Wild Life

The Wild Life workload was initially introduced as a cross-platform GPU benchmark in 2020. It renders at a 2560 x 1440 resolution using Vulkan 1.1 APIs on Windows. It is a relatively short-running test, reflective of mobile GPU usage. In mid-2021, UL released the Wild Life Extreme workload that was a more demanding version that renders at 3840 x 2160 and runs for a much longer duration reflective of typical desktop gaming usage.

3DMark Night Raid

The Night Raid workload is a DirectX 12 benchmark test. It is less demanding than Time Spy, and is optimized for integrated graphics. The graph below presents the overall score in this workload for different system configurations.

3DMark Port Royal

UL introduced the Port Royal ray-tracing benchmark as a DLC for 3DMark in early 2019. The scores serve as an indicator of how the system handles ray-tracing effects in real-time.

Across all the 3DMark benchmarks, we observe that the Raptor Canyon NUC has a 2x performance advantage. Does that translate to actual gaming performance? The next section addresses that question.