Intel has finally announced their 11th Generation NUCs. For the first time, all three product lines are announced at the same time. The NUC series is very popular to be used in homelabs or for running VMware ESXi. They are small, silent, transportable, and have very low power consumption.
- Enthusiast (Phantom Canyon) - Successor to the 8th Gen Hades Canyon
- Pro (Tiger Canyon) - Successor to the 8th Gen Provo Canyon
- Performance (Panther Canyon) - Successor to the 10th Gen Frost Canyon
In this article, I'm going to take a look at the 3 different product lines and how they compare to each other and previous NUCs.
| CPU Gen | 11th Gen "Tiger Lake" | ||
| Product Line | Enthusiast | Pro | Performance |
| Family | Phantom Canyon | Tiger Canyon | Panther Canyon |
| Model Prefix | NUC11PH | NUC11TN | NUC11PA |
| Processors | i7 only | i3, i5, i5 vPro, i7, i7 vPro | i3, i5, i7 |
| Best CPU | 4x 2.8 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) | 4x 3.0 GHz (4.8 GHz Turbo) | 4x 2.8 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) |
| GPU | GeForce RTX 2060 | Iris X (Up to 80 EUs) | Iris X (Up to 1.3 GHz) |
| Max Memory | 64 GB DDR4-3200 | 64 GB DDR4-3200 | 64 GB DDR4-3200 |
| Chassis | 221 x 142 x 42 | 117 x 112 x (54 / 37) | 117 x 112 x (56 / 51 / 38) |
| Network | 2.5Gb (i225-LM) | 2.5Gb (i225-LM) | 2.5Gb (i225-V) |
| Expansion Bay | N/A | 2nd 2.5Gb NIC (i225-LM) | N/A |
| Storage | M.2 22x110 PCIe x4 Gen3 M.2 22x80 PCIe x4 Gen3 | M.2 22x80 PCIe x4 Gen4 M.2 22x42 (Expansion) SATA3 2.5" | M.2 22x80 PCIe x4 Gen4 SATA3 2.5" |
| Thunderbolt | 2x Thunderbolt 4 | 1x Thunderbolt 3 1x Thunderbolt 4 | 2x Thunderbolt 3 |
| USB | 6x USB 3.1 Gen2 | 1x USB 4.0 3x USB 3.2 Gen2 | 3x USB 3.1 Gen2 |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C - 35°C | 0°C - 40°C | 0°C - 35°C |
| 24/7 Operation | NO | YES | NO |
| "Q" Chassis | NO | NO | YES |
| vPro | NO | YES | NO |
| Product Brief | Product Brief | Product Brief | |
NUC 11 Enthusiast / Phantom Canyon / NUC11PHKi7C
The Phantom Canyon is Intel's direct successor to the Hades Canyon. The Enthusiast line, which can be recognized by a Skull on its chassis, is known for outstanding graphics performance. Compared to the normal "square" NUCs, it has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card.
If you want to run graphics-intensive operations, this might be your model of choice to be used in homelabs or as VMware ESXi host. If you are only interested in CPU performance or need multi-nic support, the "Pro" line is definitely the better choice.
Features
- One Model available (NUC11PHKi7C)
- Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU (4 Core / 2.8 GHz - 4.7 GHz)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Discrete Graphics with 6 GB GDDR6
- Single 2.5Gbit Network Adapter (The predecessor "Hades Canyon" had two 1Gbit adapters)
- Two M.2 x4 Gen3 Slots (22x80/110 and 22x80)
- Up to 64 GB Memory (DDR4-3200 SODIMM)
- Two Thunderbolt 4 Ports
- Six USB 3.1 Gen2 ports
- Intel Optane H10 or H20 ready
NUC 11 Pro / Tiger Canyon / NUC11TN[HK]v[75] / NUC11TN[HK]i[753]
The Tiger Canyon is Intel's 11th Generation "Pro" line that targets professional users or companies. They are available with standard and vPro CPUs and all models are fully supported to be operated 24/7. With the help of an expansion bay, you can add a second 2.5Gbit ethernet module. Compared to previous generations, or the Panther Canyon, this system does not have the option to add 2.5" HDDs.
If you are looking for a NUC to be used in a homelab or for running VMware ESXi, this is your system.
Features
- Various Models available (i3/i5/i7 or i5/i7 with vPro)
- Up to Intel Core i7-1185G7 CPU (4 Core / 3.0 GHz - 4.8 GHz)
- 2.5Gbit Network Adapter
- Second 2.5Gbit Network Adapter using an expansion bay (L-Model)
- M.2 x4 Gen4 Slot (22x80)
- M.2 x1 22x42 Slot (Used to connect an expansion module or SSD)
- 2.5" SATA3 drive bay (Tall model)
- Up to 64 GB Memory (DDR4-3200 SODIMM)
- Two Thunderbolt Ports (TB3 with USB4 and TB4 with USB4)
- Three USB 3.2 Gen2 ports
- Qualified for 24/7 Operation
- Display emulation (Headless Mode)
NUC 11 Performance / Panther Canyon / NUC11PA[QHI]i[753]
The Panther Canyon is Intel's low-end line in the 11th Generation. This is the system you want to buy as your standard pc, home theaters, or home office. The new Q-chassis has a 15W wireless fast charging lid that allows you to charge your smartphone. It is available with i3, i5, or i7 CPU. Like in previous NUC generations, the performance line can be equipped with a 2.5" SATA3 drive.
If you do not need the second 2.5Gbit Adapter or vPro features, this can be an inexpensive alternative to be used in a homelab or for running VMware ESXi.
Features
- 9 Models available (i3/i5/i7 in Slim, Tall-H, or Tall-Q Chassis)
- Up to Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU (4 Core / 2.8 GHz - 4.7 GHz)
- 2.5Gbit Network Adapter
- M.2 x4 Gen4 Slot (22x80)
- 2.5" SATA3 drive bay (H and Q only)
- Up to 64 GB Memory (DDR4-3200 SODIMM)
- Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports
- Three USB 3.1 Gen2 ports
CPU Performance
The following chart is based on the CPUs PassMark Score. Currently, there are not many entries in the PassMark score database, so the numbers might change. 
Thanks for this article and advice Florian, very useful.
So, question - which model would recommend for running ESXi on for a homelab?
Enthusiast (Phantom Canyon) - Successor to the 8th Gen Hades Canyon
Pro (Tiger Canyon) - Successor to the 8th Gen Provo Canyon
Performance (Panther Canyon) - Successor to the 10th Gen Frost Canyon
Assuming you want maximum performance and features - it would look the Pro for then 2nd NIC which allows for teaming and keeping traffic physically seperated?
NUC11TNHv70L (Pro with second NIC) is my top choice. Second NIC for testing NSX/Failover/Teaming/Separation etc.
Panther Canyon is the budget option if you do not need a second NIC or vPRO features.
I wouldn't recommend the enthusiast unless you have a use-case for the graphics card.
Tell you one thing Intel NUC product codes are mental - trying to find the exact model amongst the array of all the possibilities is an absolute nightmare! :D
My NUC Model Lineup page explains Intel NUC Naming Convention. Maybe that helps a little bit.
> Compared to previous generations, or the Panther Canyon, this system does not have the option to add 2.5" HDDs.
https://www.heise.de/news/Mini-PCs-Intels-NUC-11-Serie-kommt-nur-teilweise-nach-Deutschland-5046152.html claims that it does have: . Die H-Versionen sind 54 mm hoch und bieten Platz für einen 2,5 Zoll großen Datenträger zusätzlich zu einer M.2-SSD. I
Fixed that. I had an early product spec where the 2.5" was not listed.
The Intel® NUC 11 Pro Kit NUC11TNHv5 has "Formfaktor des internen Laufwerks M.2 and 2.5" Drive"
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/de/de/ark/products/205602/intel-nuc-11-pro-kit-nuc11tnhv5.html
Fixed that. I had an early product spec where the 2.5" was not listed.
Ahhh I see where I was getting confused - the NUC11PHKi7C comes in the narrow thin format - to make space for the GPU where as the Pro (Tiger Canyon) - Successor to the 8th Gen Provo Canyon
Performance (Panther Canyon) - Successor to the 10th Gen Frost Canyon are in the sort cube format?
Phantom Canyon > Successor to the Hades Canyon/Skull Canyon.
Tiger Canyon > Successor to 8th Gen vPro Provo Canyon (Typical NUC Cube)
Panther Canyon > Successor to 10th Gen Frost Canyon (Typical NUC Cube)
Apparently the Panther Canyon NUC family will only be distributed in the Asia-Pacific region:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16474/intels-tiger-lake-nuc11-panther-canyon-for-asia-alone
I really love that 2 ethernet port nuc! :)
I have space for one NUC so maybe it's time to put order going for: NUC11TNHV50L
In Finland about 480€. Shipping is something about end of the February.
Only downside of these nuc:s are that cannot get temperatures on ESXi.
Did anyone test putting in 128 GB RAM in a NUC 11 Pro / Tiger Canyon / NUC11TN?
awesome comparison, thanks for the article. Helped me a lot
I recently picked up one of the Phantom Canyon units and after getting the Community Fling network drivers integrated I have ESXI 7.0 U2d running on it. But I haven't had luck in getting the RTX 2060 to passthrough. Always get an error 43 on the driver. it "tickles" the monitor for a moment (toggles from standby to active only for a few seconds) on bootup but nothing on display or anything after that. Have set the typical hypervisor.cpuid.v0 and have tried to disable svga which has helped in the past. I still have my old Hades Canyon running on passthrough on ESXI 6.7. Not sure if this is a problem/issue with 7.0 or what?
Hi Mark,
run into the same issue, following this article I've chosen Tiger Canyion, and run into the same issue (passtrough of integrated xe Graphics)
I then found this...
https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/VT-D-SR-IOV-for-Iris-XE-on-Intel-NUC-11th-gen-NUC11TNHV50L/td-p/1312501
Would you suggest the best VMware version for NUC11PH with rtx2060? Is still 7.x or 8? I would need gpu bypass to a Ubuntu 20.
it is 8. no need of fling driver.
i recently bought the intel nuc 11 enthusiast, cause it was cheap in europe, 529 euro naked. just playing a little bit around with windows and my gamepass ultimate, which i use normaly with my xbox series x, but i have access to the whole windows pc games too. the nvidia card is not as good for playing as my xbox. so i think i will use this machine in the future for esxi. now i have for that a mac mini 2012 i7 2,6 ghz, but this is a little bit slow actually, can run 2-3 vms at the same time. have read i can run esxi 8 without any other drivers for the internal networking card.
in this nuc i have actually a 2 tb nvme ssd and 32 gb ram. formfactor is nice, a little nice machine.
what do you think, how many vms can i run at the same time? what about the nvidia passthrough, as i have no experience with this.
i bought recently the intel nuc enthusiast 11. just playing a little bit around with windows and some games. but in the future i want to swap it with my old mac mini late 2012 esxi server. this intel enthusiast was cheaper than the other nucs i could get, so i bought this.
i have read that esxi 8 can be installed without the fling network drivers, so it should work out of the box with esxi 8. i installed a 2tb m2 ssd and 64 gb of ram.
now my questions:
- is it now possible to passthrough the nvidia card to windows and linux?
- i want do some testings (speed and others) before and can i add a vmstorage to an external usb drive (just for testing, i dont want to format my inside windows m2 ssd for this)
- maybe anybody can give my the power consumption of the enthusiast?