This is the next evolution of mini PCs

Intel’s always had a knack of creating small, handy mini PCs under its Next Unit of Computing initiative and today the company unveiled the newest model of their NUC platform powered by their 5th generation silicon. The latest NUCs are powered by the company’s latest Core i3 and Core i5 processors and promises to become more than just an HTPC.

Intel has always dabbled in HTPCs and small-form factor desktops – but their previous efforts didn’t have enough grunt to be truly considered as general purpose, all around machines. That’s changed with the inclusion of the 5th generation of Intel’s Core i processors, specifically the Core i3 and i5 processors that’s in the refreshed machines.

Aside from the obvious space savings of getting such a small PC, there’s a number of other benefits from NUC. For one thing, it consumes less power than normal PCs. We’re talking about 38 – 40 watts under full load – we’ve owned lightbulbs that consume more power than that. It’s also a great device for streaming video to your TV, and can act as a NAS that can download movies and videos off of the net without needing to keep your PC on all the time. Intel’s new silicon is also capable of light to moderate gaming – it’s not going to be able to run games like Watchdogs or Battlefield 4 on high, obviously but games like DoTA 2, LoL and other free-to-play games can be played on moderate graphic settings without too much trouble.

It’s also capable of light photo and video editing as well. Again, it’s designed as a more of a general purpose PC and not a gaming PC. While you can probably build something that’s close or over the performance of the NUC and the SKUs PC Express is offering (more on that in a minute) you’re paying for the minituarization of the parts, low power consumption and overall form factor of the device.

Intel has powered with PC Express in the Philippines to offer a full bundle for the new NUCs, under PC Express’ Cobalt line of mini PCs. The entry level model (Cobalt Entry) features an Intel Celeron powered NUC equipped with 4GB of RAM and 500GB of storage, 15-inch display, keyboard and mouse for Php 19,995. The mid-tier version (Cobalt Mainstream) ups the ante by including a Core i3 processor, 18.5-inch display, 500GB of storage and 4GB of RAM along with a keyboard and mouse for Php 28,995. The highest end version (Cobalt Pro) has an Intel Core i5 processor, 21.5-inch monitor, 1TB of storage, 4GB of RAM and a keyboard and mouse for Php 38,995. All three versions come with Windows 8 and offered at 12 months 0% installment.