"This NUC’s use of 45-watt CPUs means it’s not quite up to full-size desktop performance levels, but it was darn close in our benchmarks and even indistinguishable in some. There’s almost nothing that holds this little PC back besides price. It’s not a cheap PC, by any measure, but its price premium over a prebuilt traditional desktop is respectably modest (perhaps around a few hundred dollars), and it’s less than an equivalent high-end gaming laptop."
PCmag
"If you’re a gamer or a creative type with space at a premium, this form factor is sure to excite you. If space is your primary concern and price is no object, this is for you. But you’re also betting on a new platform in the Compute Element. If Intel continues to support it, this could be an enduring new PC form factor, and one that is fairly simple to upgrade or even build."
Tom's Hardware
"When decked out with the best in hardware, Ghost Canyon packs an incredible punch for its size. Intel has always poured love into its high-performing mini PCs, and the NUC9i9QNX’s excellence reflects that. But after all my hours of benchmarking, I’m not drawn to the Computer Element because of its performance. I find it appealing because of how it blurs lines between form factors, simplifies the process of building and upgrading a PC, and enables cramming top-notch hardware into small spaces."
PCWorld
"And that’s really the beauty of this NUC kit; it’s the best of both worlds. Unlike a pure pre-built machine, you get to customize this PC while not worrying about cable management or other time-consuming aspects of building your own rig. You can pick the components that really matter and get to gaming a lot faster. Intel really came through with its NUC 9 Extreme Kit, and if you don’t like the case it comes in, you can buy the compute unit separate and put it in a different case. Just bring your own components."
Gizmodo
"The NUC 9 Extreme Kit has a lot going for it, but its performance is not without consequence. Packing a lot of hardware into a small space can make cooling tricky, and the NUC 9 stumbles on this problem. Fan noise is the real issue. The NUC 9 has several small fans, including those in the power supply and the Compute Unit itself. These fans sometimes must spin quickly, which inevitably makes a racket. Worse, the NUC 9’s mesh side panels do nothing to isolate sound."
Digital Trends
"Following on the trail of Skull Canyon and Hades Canyon, Intel's Ghost Canyon NUC (NUC9i9QNX) is the latest and greatest performance-oriented mini-PC to come out of the company. A love letter of sorts to enthusiasts who want it all in a mini-PC, it's improved on Intel's earlier designs in a number of ways, making it perhaps the best high-performance NUC yet."
AnandTech
