The Simply NUC Topaz 2 is presented as a compact mini PC with a sober design that stands out for having a fairly powerful hardware configuration, since it can mount up to one processor Intel Core i7-1260P, a chip framed in the Alder Lake-P generation (Core Gen12), a low-power chip that adds 4 high-performance cores based on the Golden Cove architecture and equipped with HyperThreading, and with 8 high-efficiency cores based on the architecture Gracemont. This equates to 12 cores and 16 threads.
This configuration represents the top of the range that the Simply NUC Topaz 2 can reach, which means that it is available in more modest configurations, and also cheaper. On the product’s official website we can see that its base configuration will consist of a Intel Core i3-1215U, a chip that has 2 high-performance cores with HyperThreading technology and 4 high-efficiency cores. In total, it adds 8 threads.
The base configuration comes equipped with 4 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage capacity, but we can expand it up to 64 GB and we have two M.2 2280 slots, which means we can also easily expand the storage. The Simply NUC Topaz 2 has a wide range of ports and connectors, and comes with connectivity Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. Let’s go over its connections and outputs before we talk about the price:
- 2 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet.
- 1 x HDMI 2.0b.
- 1x DisplayPort 1.4.
- 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C.
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A.
- A 3.5 mm jack for sound.
The Simply NUC Topaz 2 can be purchased with Ubuntu as a pre-installed system at no additional cost, or with Windows, although in the latter case we will have to pay the cost of the license. All in all, it is a wise decision to give the user the possibility to choose between different operating systems, with and without additional cost.
We can pre-purchase the Simply NUC Topaz 2 for €799 configured with Core i7-1260P excluding tax, though limited to 4GB RAM and 256GB storage. If we configure it with 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB SSD, a much more interesting configuration, the price goes up to 1,019 euros without VAT.
