Following up to our popular 32-thread Xeon PC feature, we've been in the hunt for affordable Xeon processors based on more modern architectures. Our search put us on the trail of Intel's Xeon E5 2630 v4, a 10-core Broadwell-EP part (40 threads for 2 CPUs) that can be found for less - with a catch - so we put together a system to show off what's on offer here.

In an effort to capture some of the lucrative gaming market, Intel has developed a new NUC aimed at enthusiasts and gamers with the Iris Pro Graphics 580. The Skull Canyon NUC6i7KYK is marketed for "intense gameplay," but we'll have to see about that.

Meet Broadwell-E: Hide Your Credit Card Intel has officially unveiled Broadwell-E, which consists of four processors covering 6, 8 and 10-core configurations. These chips differ quite a bit in terms of specifications and pricing, all the more reason to explore them in better detail.

Intel has been a real champion for small form factor computing, recently introducing three new types of mini PC designs in addition to the NUC: the Compute Stick, Mini Lake and 5" × 5", or mini-STX as it is now commonly referred to. One of the first companies to adopt the new mini-STX form factor is MSI with its new Cubi 2 Plus, a tiny 1.3L computer that not only supports a desktop Skylake Core i7 processor but also accept up to 32GBs of DDR4 memory and a high-speed NVMe SSD for good measure.

Building a new PC is all about choices and tradeoffs. Picking between AMD and Intel is usually the first choice you have to make, but it certainly isn’t the most complicated. Instead, that honour goes to the motherboard, with each board maker typically offering at least half a dozen different models based on a single chipset. We've done a lot of the homework for you to save you some time, money, and/or regret. Here's what we believe is the very best out there.