Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) brings X86 processing power in its smallest form factor yet and IT Pro looks at how the NUC compares to the Raspberry Pi, which uses an ARM-based SoC design.

This isn't a traditional head-to-head. We didn't run the devices through a battery of benchmarks - primarily as the winner would be obvious. Plus the devices have two different aims.

The Pi has been developed by non-for-profit charity for use by enthusiasts and to help children learn to program. The NUC is more of a traditional commercial proposal aimed at those who want to be able to carry around PC power in the palm of their hand.

So what's the point of this? With ARM chips making the transition over to tablet/laptop computing, and Intel looking to enter the mobile market, these sorts of battles are going to become increasingly common. We take a look at the implemention of these devices and how they are likely to be used.

Hardware

The first generation Raspberry Pi is powered by a Broadcom BCM2835 SoC with a moderate 700MHz clock speed - in real-world terms this is equivalent to a mid-range smartphone. The Pi has 512MB of RAM and is designed to be bootable from an SD card.

The Pi is usable out-of-the-box, but its System-on-Chip (SoC) design means that components are soldered on and cannot be upgraded.