Intel’s Radeon-backed ‘Hades Canyon’ mini PC runs games at 1080p, Ultra graphics
Korean site Playwares recently published a review with benchmarks from Intel’s upcoming $999 “Hades Canyon” miniature PC. The review is no longer online, but that didn’t stop sleuths from grabbing everything they could before the article went offline, including the NUC’s hardware breakdown and gaming performance. The big deal is that the device sports a new “module” cramming together Intel’s processor with discrete AMD graphics into one chip.
For starters, here are the module’s specifications:
Module:
Core i7-8809G
CPU architecture:
Kaby Lake-G (14nm)
Cores:
4
Threads:
8
Base speed:
3.10GHz
Max speed:
4.20GHz
L3 Cache:
8MB
Power use:
100 watts (total package)
Integrated graphics:
Intel HD Graphics 630
Base speed:
350MHz
Boost speed:
1.10GHz
Discrete graphics:
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH Graphics
(RX Vega 24)
Compute units:
24
Cores:
1,536 stream processors
Base speed:
1,063MHz
Max speed:
1,190MHz
FP32 Performance (max):
3.7 TFLOPS
Discrete GPU dedicated memory:
4GB HBM2
Memory bandwidth:
204.8GB/s
Memory bus:
1024-bit
Memory clock:
1.6Gb/s
According to the benchmarks, AMD’s discrete GPU provides almost the same performance (3.7 TFLOPS) as Nvidia’s current GeForce GTX 1060 card (4.0 TFLOPS), only it’s part of a complete module with direct access to the CPU and dedicated memory.
But how well does Hades Canyon perform as a gaming “machine” despite its small form factor size? Take a look at the numbers in frames-per-second (the higher the better):
Game
Default
Average
Overclocked
Average
Rise of the Tomb Raider
1080P / Ultra / DX12
45.36
50.5
Total War: Warhammer
1080P / Ultra / DX12
27.3
30.1
The Division
1080P / Ultra / DX12
41.5
46.8
For Honor
Ultra
47.44 (1080P)
33.26 (1440P)
52.46 (1080P)
36.57 (1440P)
Assassin’s Creed Origins
1080P / Ultra
34
40
Rainbow Six Siege
1080P / Ultra
85.1
94.7
Metro 2033 Redux
Very High
53.81 (1080P)
32.78 (1440P)
57.59 (1080P)
36.62 (1440P)
Overwatch
1080P / Epic
65.15
81.41
Battlegrounds
1080P / Custom
65.15
69.53
Tekken 7
Ultra
60.75 (1080P)
51.13 (1440P)
60.97 (1080P)
57.31 (1440P)
Here we weeded out the synthetic tests – benchmarking games after disabling hardware and/or software to generate higher numbers – and a few minimum frame count entries. AMD’s discrete GPU appears to run just fine at 1,920 x 1080 with Ultra graphics settings, but gamers may want to consider cranking down the visual level a notch to squeeze out better 1080p performance.
On the processor side, Intel’s refreshed seventh-generation CPU cores (Intel says they’re 8th Gen H-Series) managed a 5268 single-core score in Geekbench, and a 17183 multi-core score. Overclocked, the module saw a single-core score of 5571 and a multi-core score of 18788.
Finally, here are the specifications for the reviewed Hades Canyon NUC:
Model
NUC8i7HVK
Module:
Core i7-8809G
Memory:
2x empty SODIMM slots
Up to 32GB DDR4 @ 2400MHz+
Storage:
1x empty M.2 22×40 slot
1x empty M.2 22×80 slot
Connectivity:
Wireless AC
Bluetooth 4.2
Ports (front):
1x SDXC card slot
1x HDMI 2.0a
1x USB-C 3.1 Gen2 (10Gbps)
2x USB-A 3.1 Gen1 (5Gbps, one charges)
1x Headphone jack
Ports (back):
2x Thunderbolt 3
1x HDMI 2.0a
4x USB-A 3.1 Gen1
2x Mini DisplayPort
2x Gigabit Ethernet
1x SPDIF audio optical jack
Audio:
7.1 multi-channel digital audio
Power supply:
230 watts
Dimensions:
8.70 x 5.59 x 1.53 inches
Intel’s NUC8i7HVK, along with the NUC8i7HNK packing the Core i7-8705G module, is expected to arrive this spring. You’ll need to purchase the memory, storage, and operating system separately.
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