Intel has been telling anyone that will listen at the conference that the PC is the leading gaming platform. It has also been explaining how new PC gaming experiences may be had by using its Core processors, Intel Graphics, Intel RealSense technology and Thunderbolt 3.

But when it came to something more practical Chipzilla shows its new Intel NUC (code-named Skull Canyon) featuring a 6th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, Intel Iris Pro graphics and Thunderbolt 3.

The new NUC6i7KYK  includes a 2.6GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) 45W quad-core Core i7-6770HQ. Not the fastest but pretty quick. The Iris Pro 580 GPU, has 78 of Intel's graphics execution units and a 128MB eDRAM cache and the Thunderbolt 3 port which also supports full USB 3.1 gen 2 transfer speeds of 10Gbps.

It takes DDR4 memory, M.2 SATA and PCI Express SSDs, and comes with a built-in Intel 8260 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapter, just like the Core i5 NUC.

There is a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, a mini DisplayPort 1.2 output, four USB 3.0 ports, a headphone jack, an SD card slot, a gigabit LAN port, and an IR sensor for use with remote controls. This will be the first NUC to support Thunderbolt, which opens up possibilities for external graphics cards down the line.

Skull Canyon measures 216 by 116 by 23mm. Like all NUCs, you'll need to bring your own RAM, OS, and storage to the party. The barebones model will cost around $650, and Intel claims that a "typical build with 16GB memory, 256GB SSD, and Windows 10 is estimated at $999."

It begins shipping in May.