Intel NUC 12 Extreme Kit Mini PC Barebone, Core i7-12700 $869 + Delivery ($0 to Metro Areas/ MEL/BNE/SYD C&C) @ Scorptec

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Intel NUC 12 Extreme Kit Mini PC Barebone, Core i7-12700 $869 + Delivery ($0 to Metro Areas/ MEL/BNE/SYD C&C) @ Scorptec
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MayhemVC on 02/03/2025 - 15:23 scorptec.com.au (5180 clicks)
Last edited 03/03/2025 - 14:37 by 1 other user

I have been after one of these for ages but couldn't warrant the $1,500+ price tag.
I think these were over $2,500 at launch. Now available for considerably less!
I have matched mine up with an Intel Arc B580 LE GPU for a solid 1440p Gaming 'Mini' PC.

Surcharges: 0% Afterpay & ZipMoney, 1% card & PayPal payments.

I actually bought mine from Computer Alliance for $30 more ($899):
https://www.computeralliance.com.au/intel-nuc-12-core-i7-extreme-kit---rnuc12dcmi70001-(dragon-canyon)

Full specs can be found here:
https://www.asus.com/au/displays-desktops/nucs/nuc-kits/nuc-…

Computing Computer Intel Mini PC

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Comments

  • abs898 on 02/03/2025 - 15:24
    -3

    There was a lot of drama with this deal but apparently they did get some stock.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/814109

  • Orrelljet on 02/03/2025 - 15:37
    +3

    Is the cooling any better on this one, compared to the previous version? I had the 11th gen and they were constantly ramping.

    • MayhemVC on 02/03/2025 - 16:21

      I believe so.
      My understanding is that they largely sorted out cooling and cable management on this one.
      When closing the top of the case on the 11th Gen, there was a danger of chopping through the case fan wires.

    • Badger1066 on 02/03/2025 - 17:31
      +1

      You might get hit with a intel board that has a sub optimal application of thermal pads. Mine was hitting 100 degrees before getting replaced.

      I'm using my Kraken cased intel nuc extreme 12 and it ramps a lot.

  • Godgodgod on 02/03/2025 - 16:02
    +8

    I reckon the minis forum deal is better? Given a newer 16 core processor and cheaper .MINISFORUM Bd795i SE

    • MayhemVC on 02/03/2025 - 16:18

      Yeah I have been looking at a bunch of Mini PCs.
      I am incredibly lazy and the NUC required only RAM, an SSD and a GPU to have a complete system.

      The Minisforum BD795i SE is about $745 AUD and (from my understanding) is just the mobo and GPU.
      You still need RAM, SSD, GPU as for the NUC but also PSU, Case and Case Fans.
      So for the same price you'd need to get the PSU, Case and Case Fans for under $125.

      Plus the finished product is likely to be MUCH smaller than a typical ITX case (NUC is less than 8L).
      Admittedly the NUC does restrict your available GPU options, primarily due to GPU height and it's using DDR4 RAM.

      I think you'll get a great outcome with either, I went for the lower effort option.

      • Godgodgod on 02/03/2025 - 16:20
        +3

        I think minis forum was $649 or $639. But the deal below from BPC is no brainer as it includes ram and 1tb ssd

      • MayhemVC on 02/03/2025 - 16:24

        Correction: Minisforum BD795i SE has mobo and CPU, not GPU.

        • bleugh on 03/03/2025 - 08:13

          it has an ancient R610 GPU built in
          still plays Fortnite at 1080p and a lot of older games (free things off Epic store) with medium settings.
          even does a pass at 4k, though everything turned down a bit!

          and runs two 4k monitors just fine!
          I'm on the hunt for an old GPU to bung in, 'because' :-P

      • freefall101 on 02/03/2025 - 17:28
        +2

        Yeah, the case is the kicker. It's really hard to get anything sub-15L that fits a GPU. The NCORE 100 is a great case, but it's $550 and still more than twice the size of the NUC.

        The BD795i is only $640 at the moment (with coupon on Amazon) though, it's a hell of a deal, but then so is this. Personally I have DDR4, some SSDs and such kicking around, I'm very tempted to replace my 9th gen uSFF

    • cramblamwich on 02/03/2025 - 16:20
      +1

      depends entirely on what you want to use it for. will never understand when people compare systems with different specs without specifying a use case.

      • Godgodgod on 02/03/2025 - 16:29
        +1

        I reckon at the end of the day it's price performance and to me on paper it looks attractive. Also gives a little bit of freedom with standard power supply and mini itx case. Also the base integrated GPU on that would be much better than the one on Intel making it viable to go even smaller volume with SFX PSU.

    • MayhemVC on 02/03/2025 - 16:19
      +1

      Pretty sure that this is not the same product.

      • jk82 on 02/03/2025 - 16:40
        +1

        It’s a different case but it’s the same NUC card (+ CPU). Also it comes with SSD and RAM

  • sam180580 on 02/03/2025 - 16:15
    +1

    Hi,
    Any suggestion to make it a good gaming pc for kids, considering below too. Thanks
    https://www.bpctech.com.au/product/kp-nukei7-kraken-mini-nuk…

    • MayhemVC on 02/03/2025 - 16:29
      -2

      That would be a great option. You'll need a GPU as well as that for proper gaming.
      I went with the NUC (no RAM or SSD) but that one includes RAM and SSD so you just need the GPU.

    • Badger1066 on 02/03/2025 - 17:24
      +1

      Its not a good option for kids. I have the same PC, but it gets hot, its a pain to work with and you need to get cables for the wifi to work. If you like tinkering with the PC then its a great option.

      The back ssd slot gets up to 80 degrees in my PC, the PCH before getting its thermal pad replaced with thermal putty was hitting 100 degrees every single time I was gaming.

      There's better options than this.

      • sam180580 on 02/03/2025 - 22:12

        Thanks, can you suggest some.

    • Nom on 02/03/2025 - 21:31
      +2

      @sam180580

      good gaming pc for kids

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/893605 costs about a grand and already includes the video card.

  • P3aker on 02/03/2025 - 16:18

    https://amzn.asia/d/3PcpVwr

    Got one of these recently, been great for me but I’m using mine in my home lab

  • He-Mania on 02/03/2025 - 16:42

    I’ve had the gen 11 one since WFH started during the pandemic. Good device. CPU runs a bit too hot for my liking and I’m not ready to add new thermal past as getting to the processor is finicky. Worried I’ll break the wifi and Bluetooth antenna connectors.

    For this price it seems reasonable.

    I added a 3060 but wish I spent on the 3070

  • hishaken on 02/03/2025 - 17:01

    Could I use it to build nas?

    • rodericb on 02/03/2025 - 17:20
      +1

      You can get a very good two bay Synology or QNAP NAS for less money and the NAS will have NAS software included. You can get a decent four bay NAS for $869.

      • hishaken on 02/03/2025 - 19:50

        But 4 bay nas I cannot add pci-e graphic card on top right?
        I want to build a nas with home server and gaming station

        • PeelThis on 02/03/2025 - 23:26

          What are you goals with wanting to run a NAS? Is it just file storage or something else?
          IMO I seperate those out, let the NAS handle NAS things and gaming station handle gaming stuff so they don't interfere.

          For the NAS run HDDs with RAID, running some flavour of Linux and any
          packages/containers that you want to use, it will use a lot less power too if you plan on running it 24/7.
          Personally I like Synology's offering out of the box.

          For your gaming station it's going to be running Windows and use a bit more juice which is fine because your not going to keep it on all the time.
          I'm sure it's fine but I wouldn't trust Windows to run any RAID natively and also wouldn't want to run my media setup running through it at the same time I'm gaming.

          • hishaken on 02/03/2025 - 23:51

            @PeelThis: Great advice.
            How about a nas with graphic card pcie port in case I need to run media center or any transcoding?
            If I don't need to use graphic card for 24/7 storage purpose, it can still run low power and low noise without issue right?

            • PeelThis on 03/03/2025 - 00:12

              @hishaken: What are your transcoding needs?
              Are you planning on using Plex or something else?
              Most newer NAS support hardware transcoding, lookup your model you're interested in, no need to run a desktop GPU.

              Yes you could, desktop CPUs and desktops in general are just more power hungry at idle and again Windows and NAS just don't really go together unless by NAS you mean a windows share and running Plex server from your computer.

              • hishaken on 03/03/2025 - 04:01

                @PeelThis: Thanks peel. Could Synology run Plex?
                I don't need GPU for Plex right?
                Thinking about building nas as well as home entertainment media center.
                Would I use trueNas or Synology?

                • PeelThis on 03/03/2025 - 09:51

                  @hishaken: Yes it can, I do it on mine.
                  No GPU needed.
                  Again it sort of depends on your needs, IMO if it's some light file sharing and running Plex here and there then running it from a Windows gaming PC is fine.

                  If you want a large amount of storage in RAID and run a few other packages through something like Docker then a NAS is a good option and seperate it out from your PC.

                  I don't have any experience with trustNas but I do recommend Synology, especially their plus series that can run Docker.
                  My recommendation would be to get a two bay plus unit and get the biggest drives you can in it. Running 4 drives bumps up the power usage a tad and they are a bit more expensive.
                  trueNas would be a fun experiment to tinker with no doubt but if you don't have much experience with Linux and trueNas I wouldn't lean on it to store anything important, if the hardware comes out to around $500 or so I would just get the Synology or equivalant and be done with it.

                  • hishaken on 03/03/2025 - 13:08

                    @PeelThis: Great advice thanks mate.
                    Could Synology run Plex as well?
                    I am thinking 4 bay because of important files I want to store as well.
                    Fail safe.

                    Is it a good idea?

                • cramblamwich on 03/03/2025 - 16:36

                  @hishaken: @hishaken careful with Synology and Plex. If you don't have Plex hardware acceleration enabled, and you do a lot of video transcoding, Synology products are going to struggle. If you want to ensure you can play most things, make sure you're getting a Synology with a QuickSync-capable processor and pay for a Plex Pass to get access to the hardware acceleration features.

                  • hishaken on 03/03/2025 - 20:16

                    @cramblamwich: Do I have to stick with Intel to get Plex?
                    What is the best home entertainment system recommendations if I want to play 4k videos on top of our home nas?

                    • Nom on 03/03/2025 - 21:07

                      @hishaken: Plex only has specific hardware requirements if you need transcoding.

                      If you don't need transcoding, then the AMD option is absolutely fine - just disable transcoding, or use Kodi instead.

                      I suggest you go and learn how this all works before you commit to anything.

                    • cramblamwich on 03/03/2025 - 21:09
                      +1

                      @hishaken: If you're basing your media consumption around Plex and personal media, first worry about the server then worry about the home entertainment system, because you'll need to know what your server and home network is capable of and what kind of media formats you'll be consuming before you buy a TV or receiver. For example, older processors or Wi-Fi networks might not not be able to reliably serve 4K HDR content to your home entertainment system, and therefore you may have no need for a 4K TV or projector or a Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision AV receiver.

                      With regards to Plex and processors, again it kind of depends on what you want to do with your system. For example, if you have a lot of high bitrate 1080p video content, you might find Plex transcodes a lot of that content to a lower bitrate as it's being served to your client devices. It is often recommended to use Hardware Acceleration for transcoding - it's faster, more reliable and less resource intensive meaning less buffering and more responsiveness on your client devices. Hardware Acceleration is a premium feature on Plex. You can use a CPU or a GPU for hardware acceleration but it is most often recommended to use an Intel processor with integrated graphics and QuickSync. Honestly, even old 7th generation i3 processors or old Celeron and Xeon processors that have QuickSync will often perform just as well if not better than a dedicated graphics card for transcoding, so don't spend more than you have to on the processor if your server is going to be used exclusively for Plex. If you don't need transcoding at all, then you really don't need to worry about the processor - almost anything will do what you need because at that point Plex is basically just an index for your file server.

                      Have a look here for more info: https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware…

  • kml22 on 02/03/2025 - 17:08
    -5

    Intel chip these day are fantastic if you're looking for a computer and also a heater, excellent for winter.

  • Badger1066 on 02/03/2025 - 17:29
    +2

    I would not recommend buying the intel NUC 12 extreme.

    I have the BPC intel NUC, which as the same internals as this one, but the PCH would hit 100 degrees before getting thermal putty applied. The back ssd also gets very hot, it hits 80 degrees under load.

    I would only buy this if you love the small form factor, don't mind restricting your choice of graphics card, only use the 2 internal ssd slots and not the back one and like to tinker and would be willing to void warranties by applying thermal putty or thicker thermal pads to the pch.

  • aveeno bb on 02/03/2025 - 17:36

    I have one, running with a mini GTX 1070 as a second PC. It runs everything very well, even the AAA games at 1080p.

    Don't buy this if you want it to be a hardcore gaming PC. I initially had a blower type rtx 3080 and it was unbearably loud, and CPU fan constantly turning on. With a mid range gpu mainly for work and study with occasional gaming, this might make sense for some.

  • congo on 02/03/2025 - 18:21

    How does it compare to M4 Mac mini?
    I like the form factor of the Mac Mini but don't like Mac OS.

    • aveeno bb on 02/03/2025 - 19:26
      -1

      They are not something you can compare - completely different things.

      • aveeno bb on 03/03/2025 - 12:42

        I don't know why the neg. To elaborate a bit further, a fair comparison would be with an actual nuc that is similarly sized to an M4 Mac mini, integrated GPU, etc.

        NUC extremes, as commented by others, are more of a mini PC, comparable to an ITX setup. There is nothing from Apple that is comparable in that regard.

        • MaximusMilkshake on 04/03/2025 - 18:35

          Sorry that was me, accidently hit the - button instead of the + one, ozbargain won't let me change it unfortunately.

    • jk82 on 03/03/2025 - 09:18
      +1

      Depends on use case, if it's for gaming well Mac isn't great at that so that's a large factor. If it's for productivity though the mac would blow it out of the water, M4 has a much faster, more efficient and quieter APU not to mention it's a fraction of the size.

  • BROKENKEYBOARD on 02/03/2025 - 18:36

    I wouldn't recommend these for gaming. A build this this https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/yWyPv4 would be much bigger but it should be faster, upgradable and have much better cooling so far less likely to throttle.

  • woodwa on 02/03/2025 - 21:39
    -1

    Frameworks mini PC will blow this out of the water when it's officially released…

  • bruhminister on 03/03/2025 - 00:39

    The BPC Kraken still has wifi issue or has it been resolved in the newer builds? Do we need the cable from aliexpress?

    • bruhminister on 08/03/2025 - 16:49

      Resolved now. Got mine a few days pack. Has the cable running from the ax211 chip. You might have to download the intel wireless drivers on a usb, and then you're solid. Or just temporarily use a lan cable. Wifi 6 is working and speeds are stable. I'm on a 100/20mbps connection.

  • kdinosaur on 03/03/2025 - 03:01

    Please explain to me why would i need this one over a custom itx build? I can go with better specs for the same price. Let alone the upgrade space for the future.

    • MayhemVC on 03/03/2025 - 11:32

      It's MUCH smaller. You don't need it but if you are looking for a VERY small form factor PC you will have a hard time making one at this size.

  • shabaka on 03/03/2025 - 07:02

    I had the Razer version with 9th gen nuc in there (i9-9980hk?) and all nuc extreme are very noisy. I was pondering getting 12 gen nuc in there for upgrade, but scratched that idea and got that Victus 15L for $860 with a 4060 in it. was a great deal I reckon. it even has 2x 3.5 bays in it, so I could put a RAID in lol

  • kungfuman on 03/03/2025 - 09:24

    thats F$%^ing huge for a NUC!!

    • aveeno bb on 03/03/2025 - 10:05
      +2

      It's cuz it's designed to work with proper GPUs, not just slim ones. There are smaller versions.

    • kml22 on 03/03/2025 - 11:02
      +2

      They're not NUC, it's more like a Mini PC.

    • MayhemVC on 03/03/2025 - 11:35

      Yeah it's not really a Mini PC anymore, although it is considerably smaller than any ITX case I've seen. Also fits a desktop GPU. This was Intel's swansong for NUCs and have now handed them over to ASUS.

  • jaybees on 05/03/2025 - 12:15
    +1

    Bought one. Thanks OP. I'm going to turn it into a midrange gaming PC for my kid. Sure, there are probably slightly better options available, but I already have the so-dimms, ssd and RTX 3060 video card laying around for it. Also, its cool, seems well designed, and the perfect size for her needs (and maybe for in the future to replace my ten year old HTPC machine).

    • MayhemVC on 05/03/2025 - 19:18

      Nice work. Yeah I like the form factor and being able to fit a current/older midrange GPU in it is a real bonus.
      The GPU I chose (Intel Arc B580) is very quiet. It is much quieter than my XBox Series X when under load.
      You can certain get something similar for a bit less money but this has a certain cool factor about it.

      • roh008 on 07/03/2025 - 17:55

        but can it play games at 4k like the x-box X with that GPU?

        I'm literally looking at GPU prices and thinking I could get a PS5/Xbox plus some games… and I'm a multi decade PC bloke..apart from SF2 on the SNES.. those were the days

        • MayhemVC on 25/03/2025 - 21:26

          I haven't tried 4K gaming on it. It probably could under the same conditions (XeSS). The PS5 and XBox use a bunch of resolution scaling to achieve 4K and 60fps in a lot of games. You usually have the option of Performance (60fps) or Quality (4K) but I'm not sure if it can do both at the same time. Digital Foundry have a bunch of videos explaining how the consoles do 4K.

          I have an primary gaming PC with a 7600X and 7800XT in it. I play Cyberpunk at 1440p 120 fps at Ultra settings. It certainly looks and plays much better than it did on my XBox. It's harder to tell with this (Intel) setup because I am running Linux (Bazzite) and the drivers are still very much a work in progress.

  • bleugh on 26/03/2025 - 06:56

    If you REALLY want small gaming, Get the Minisforum BD795se. I did!….
    I also picked up an ancient 2060S from facebook marketplace

    My total outlay, $1200 for a 16 core / 32 thread 64 Gig machine with 1TB SSD….
    It runs fortnite at 4k with turned down settings and plays all the ones i've tried just fine…

    it runs just about everything at 1080 medium to max settings!

    If you don't have a dedicated GPU, it runs almost everything at 1080 with turned down settings

    (though if you're a real budget gaming nut, consider an AMD G series APU instead as they'll run modern games fairly well at 1080)

    AND, with PCIExpress 5, I can always save some $$ over time to bung in a better GPU down the road if I really wanted.
    saying that though, this thing is a monster for rendering, scores just under 60,000 PC mark without any optimising and is perfect for CAD…

    Why anyone would go with an intel machine nowadays I don't know

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