78 PCWorld MAY 2020REVIEWS INTEL GHOST CANYON NUC9I9QNX
off-the-shelf expansion cards. You can install
up to two, as the NUC 9 Extreme’s chassis has
a x16 and a x4 slot, but you’re limited to cards
no longer than 8 inches or wider than 2 slots.
Be aware that if you populate both expansion
slots, the x16 card will run at x8
speeds.
The final bit is a third M.2
SSD, if you choose to install one
on the baseboard next to the
PCIe expansion cards. Note that
this particular spot supports
NVMe drives only. If you add an
SSD here, any card installed in
the x16 slot steps down to x8
speeds.
All of these key upgrades
require a single component
change. You remove the part,seat its replacement,
perhaps reattach a screw or
a few cables, and you’re
done. Maneuvering items
within the confined space
often takes longer than the
installation process itself.
The other components
and accessories, like the
baseboard, power supply,
and power cables, come
preinstalled in the chassis
and are not currently
swappable.
In effect, Ghost Canyon
functions as a hybrid, with one foot in the
customizable world of DIY PC builds, and the
other still in the realm of mini PCs, where
proprietary design allows maximum use of
scant space. If building a regular mini-ITX,A top-down view of our NUC9i9QNX. Its RTX 2070 is toward the
bottom of the photo, with the Compute Element above it.A close-up look at the baseboard in the NUC 9 Extreme. In this
photo, the M.2 slot has an Intel Optane 905p SSD installed.