Intel NUC 12 Barebone, 12th Gen Core i7-1260P (12 Cores & 4.7GHz) Low Power, Intel Iris Xe Graphics 8K, Gaming Mini Pc with Vesa Mounting Bracket(No RAM, No SSD, NO OS, Added Components Needed)

I've used NUCs in my business and for personal use since they were introduced. I love their form factor, their feature set, and their price. This latest NUC (Intel NUC 12 Pro) is the best by far. Its speed is an improvement. It must run quite cool as I rarely hear the quiet fan kick in. The ports are everything I need in a mostly wireless office. I'm only a couple of weeks into using this new NUC but so far I'm impressed. Tucking it away on the back of my monitor is always a plus.

Don't be fooled by this. Is it small? yes, Is it powerful? well I've replaced every desktop in our offices with these nucs. and the Gen 12's are by far the fastest, and quitest PC around. I have been using them for 4 years now with no complaints. even better, you can mount them to a wall behind a T.V. or on the back of your monitor. Also, with the NUC 12 Pro. 4 displays.

Impressed with the quality of the NUC 12th Gen and that it came with high-quality Kingston RAM and NVMe.This is a great, compact machine that powers all of our daily needs. The multiple ports are very helpful and allow a full, multi-screen setup at our workstation. Plus the NUC is very quiet, which is a great feature for the office.

Great product and customer service, seller stands behind product and will make sure you are fully satisfied satisfied

I wanted a PC for app development and testing that I could easily hide on my desk, and this is perfect. The size is somewhere between an Apple TV and a Mac mini, and it runs great. The CPU performs well and I'm rarely waiting for any processes to run. The fan can get going for more intense tasks, but it's overall pretty quiet for an Intel machine.

The media could not be loaded.  Want a small desktop PC? You’ll struggle to find one smaller than Intel’s NUC 12 Pro . This diminutive computer is smaller than a paperback fantasy novel yet packs the performance to handle video editing, coding, or a few dozen out-of-control browser tabs. Miniaturization doesn’t come cheap, though, making the NUC 12 Pro a tough sell for budget buyers.Here are the specs of the desktop we tested:* Processor: Intel Core i7-1260P* Graphics: Intel Iris Xe* RAM: 16GB DDR4* Storage: 512GB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD* Wireless connectivity: 3x USB 3.2 Type-A, 2x Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, 1x Ethernet* Wired connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2* Weight: 2.2 pounds* Size: 4.6 x 4.4 x 1.5 inchesThe Intel NUC 12 Pro’s internals are based on Intel’s laptop hardware. It offers Intel’s mobile Core P-Series processors and uses compact DDR4 memory. Despite this, its connectivity and storage support is robust for its compact size and similar to most budget tower desktops.Desktop computers don’t get much smaller than the Intel NUC 12 Pro. It measures about 4.5 inches wide and deep, and only 1.5 inches thick. This is much smaller than most small desktop computers. Apple’s Mac Mini, by comparison, is nearly three inches larger in width and depth. (They’re about equal in thickness). A desktop this small is a niche. Most people simply don’t need a system this compact. When size matters, however, the NUC 12 Pro can’t be beat.The NUC 12 Pro’s dimensions make it easy to place on, under, or inside a desk. The full NUC 12 Pro retail package (which is the model I tested) comes with a VESA mount for attachment to displays, display stands, and other accessories that support VESA mounting. This is most useful for business customers looking to permanently place the NUC 12 Pro out of sight but may come in handy for a super-sleek home office setup.Its size and external power supply make the NUC 12 Pro portable. It’s not a laptop replacement, of course; a monitor, keyboard, and mouse are required. However, the NUC 12 Pro could be a good choice if you’re frequently away from home and want the comfort of a desktop in your hotel or rental. A NUC 12 Pro with a keyboard, mouse, and portable monitor can easily fit in luggage.Good processor performance in a small package!Small computers often sacrifice performance, but the Intel NUC 12 Pro bucks that trend. It delivers results in line with premium portable laptops and can defeat some budget mid-tower desktops.The NUC 12 Pro I tested had Intel’s Core i7-1260P processor, which is the most powerful available in the Intel NUC 12 Pro. It has four performance cores and eight efficient cores for a total of 12 cores and 16 processor threads.Processor performance doesn’t disappoint. The Intel NUC 12 Pro achieved a Geekbench 5 single-core score of 1688 and a multi-core score of 9676. This places the NUC 12 Pro near, or above, the performance of premium laptops like the Dell XPS 13 Plus and Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED. The NUC 12 Pro also holds up well against a mid-range Dell XPS Desktop, which hit a single-core score of 1595 and a multi-core score of 10353.The NUC 12 Pro also did well in Cinebench R23, where it reached a multi-core score of 10545. This easily defeats the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which scored 7015 in its standard performance profile. The Dell XPS Desktop is much quicker with a score of 16554, but the NUC 12 Pro trades blows in other budget and mid-range desktops like the Acer Aspire TC-1760, which scored 10836.Storage performance is also strong. The Intel NUC 12 Pro achieves an impressive storage read speed of 4866 megabytes per second in CrystalDiskMark, easily beating other premium laptops tested this year. That’s good news if you often work with, open, or transfer large files.It’s packed with connectivity!Intel packs the NUC 12 Pro with a broad range of future-proof and practical connectivity options despite its small size. This includes three USB-A 3.2 ports, great for wired peripherals like keyboards, mice, and webcams, alongside two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C 4 ports.The Thunderbolt ports include DisplayPort Alternate Mode, meaning both can work as video connections when connected to a monitor with a Thunderbolt or USB-C port. Alternatively, you can connect to other displays through a USB-C to DisplayPort or USB-C to HDMI adapter.That may not be necessary, however, as the NUC 12 Pro also includes two HDMI 2.0 ports. A 3.5mm headphone jack, located up front, rounds out wired connection options.Wireless connectivity includes the Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 standards. Most people likely don’t own a Wi-Fi 6E router or Bluetooth 5.2 devices, as they’re relatively new. Still, it’s great to see these standards included as they prepare the desktop for future upgrades to your Wi-Fi network and wireless devices.Graphics performance is the Intel NUC 12 Pro’s big weakness and could be the deciding factor for many potential buyers. Every Intel NUC 12 Pro relies on Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics.To be fair, the NUC 12 Pro performs well for a system relying on integrated graphics. It achieved a 3DMark Night Raid score of 17145. That beats the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which scored 14069. 3DMark Fire Strike turned in a score of 4440 which, once again, is a good result for the hardware. That’s much better than the Acer Aspire TC-1760, which only scored 1895.Yet these results fall far short of desktops with an entry-level graphics card, and they’re not adequate to play modestly demanding games. The MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, which is over a decade old, can dip below 30 frames per second (fps) at 1080p resolution and High detail settings. Shadow of the Tomb Raider performed like a slideshow at 1080p and Highest settings, averaging just 18 fps.Those who want better graphics performance, whether for games or productivity, can plug in external graphics via one of the NUC 12 Pro’s Thunderbolt 4 ports. This should deliver good results if paired with a mid-range graphics card like the AMD Radeon RX 6600XT or Nvidia RTX 3060. Setting up a dock can be a hassle, though, and adds technical complexity when making a GPU selection. Many high-end graphics cards work poorly in this situation.Upgrades are possible, but not for everyone!The Intel NUC 12 Pro, like most NUC computers, is remarkably easy to repair and upgrade for its size. Just remove four screws at the base, pop off the plastic lid with a soft tool, and you’re inside. Components that aren’t soldered to the board can be replaced, like the RAM, storage, and wireless adapter.Yet there’s no way around the NUC 12 Pro’s dimensions. It’s small and unconventional, which can make it intimidating for owners inexperienced with repairing computers. The components feel quite durable, so they should prove forgiving to minor mistakes, but owners have to know what they’re doing. The NUC’s size means some components that would fit in a typical tower desktop won’t fit here. One example? Many top-tier SSDs now ship with heatsinks that might not fit in the NUC 12 Pro.Also, as mentioned, the processor can’t be upgraded. The same is true of the desktop’s integrated graphics (though you can add an external graphics dock). This will, in the long run, limit the desktop’s useful life.The Intel NUC 12 Pro is defined by size. It delivers excellent processor and storage performance—for its size. It packs amazing connectivity—for its size. And it’s surprisingly easy to open and repair—for its size. So, the question is this: do you want (or need) the smallest desktop computer possible?If you do, the Intel NUC 12 Pro is king. It’s significantly smaller than Apple’s Mac Mini, yet has more connectivity options. It also compares well against Lenovo’s ThinkCentre M-Series, HP’s Z Mini, and Dell’s Precision Compact. Competitors are larger, a bit more expensive (for a given amount of RAM and storage), and have fewer ports.If you don’t, the Intel NUC 12 Pro isn’t for you. Its processor performance is solid but nothing you can’t find in a less expensive tower PC. A tower PC can also offer a discrete graphics card, boosting graphics performance far beyond what the NUC 12 Pro can handle.The Intel NUC 12 Pro is a niche desktop for a niche audience, and it fills that niche extremely well.