Intel NUC 4" x 4" micro-PC - $299 shipped (1.8ghz i3, motherboard, case, PSU)

[Pheran]

Reading through the comments, it seems to be very popular with OpenELEC (bootable XBMC via USB) enthusiasts. No mSATA SSD required, just add a stick of RAM & optional Wi-fi.

To be fair, none of the NUCs actually require the mSATA SSD if you are willing to leave a USB stick plugged in to run from.

I'm chomping at the bit to get one of these things, maybe for Christmas.

 

[Kaido]

I was thinking that I'd primarily be using this as a desktop replacement for an office environment where the machines currently being deployed are old P4's (so anything is better).

Also, I still can't get over the size. Yes, I understand the technical side of it (Ultrabook minus battery/touchpad/keyboard/screen), but when you hold one of these bad boys in your hands, I dunno, it just feels like you're living in the future, playing with future technology. It's like the size of one of my 5.25" CD-ROM drives on the old Pentiums that I've been replacing - smaller actually, haha.

The downside is the price & the cable mess. I have a few hooked into dual-monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, and a USB sound card for speakers and it gets pretty messy! Plus once you really factor in all the goodies (RAM, mSATA SSD, wireless card, OS license, and periperhals) it can really add up. I think my standard install is around $1200 with Office & a monitor and whatnot. But the benefit you get from having a ton of RAM (I put 16gb in all of my work ones for future-proofing) and from having an SSD coupled to a modern, hyperthreaded, dual-core CPU is just awesome. Beats the pants off the old computers, which isn't always the case when you're replacing computers because most of the new ones still come with slow mechanical drives, and your general off-the-shelf models have slow 5400-rpm drives.

 

[Kaido]

To be fair, none of the NUCs actually require the mSATA SSD if you are willing to leave a USB stick plugged in to run from.

I'm chomping at the bit to get one of these things, maybe for Christmas.

Is Windows 7 bootable off USB hard drives? I know XP had a lot of issues with that previously.

 

[Pheran]

Is Windows 7 bootable off USB hard drives? I know XP had a lot of issues with that previously.

I believe you can, but it may require some finagling. It's a lot easier with Linux.

 

[Kaido]

Intel Haswell NUC kit spotted with enclosure for 2.5-inch drives:

http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-h...wykh-spotted-enclosure-2-5-inch-drives_127098

15mm taller, due in December, p/n D34010WYKH and D54250WYKH. Can take a 2.5" hard drive or SSD. This is cool because 2.5" SSD's are a good $20 cheaper than mSATA SSD's, and laptop-sized hard drives are available in up to 1TB sizes for around $80. I'm curious to see if Intel goes with the thinner 7mm drive size, the standard 9.5mm drive size, or the thicker 15mm drive size. If they go with 15mm, that opens up the doors to go with the 2TB internal 2.5" drives, which would be way cool for local storage on an HTPC!

This is also nice because it can cut the price way down on the overall build - a 1TB drive for $80 knocks over $100 off the total price if you were looking at a 240gb mSATA SSD. Although, one of the things I really like about the NUC is that they force you to use an SSD, so even on the lower-end i3 & Celeron models, you still get great performance because your computer boots quickly & your apps load fast. Here's a larger picture of the new 2.5"-drive-capable NUC:

http://www.legitreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WC-HDD-NUC-Back-Angle.jpg

 

[you2]

Are those DVI slots or vents ?

Intel Haswell NUC kit spotted with enclosure for 2.5-inch drives:

http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-h...wykh-spotted-enclosure-2-5-inch-drives_127098

15mm taller, due in December, p/n D34010WYKH and D54250WYKH. Can take a 2.5" hard drive or SSD. This is cool because 2.5" SSD's are a good $20 cheaper than mSATA SSD's, and laptop-sized hard drives are available in up to 1TB sizes for around $80. I'm curious to see if Intel goes with the thinner 7mm drive size, the standard 9.5mm drive size, or the thicker 15mm drive size. If they go with 15mm, that opens up the doors to go with the 2TB internal 2.5" drives, which would be way cool for local storage on an HTPC!

This is also nice because it can cut the price way down on the overall build - a 1TB drive for $80 knocks over $100 off the total price if you were looking at a 240gb mSATA SSD. Although, one of the things I really like about the NUC is that they force you to use an SSD, so even on the lower-end i3 & Celeron models, you still get great performance because your computer boots quickly & your apps load fast. Here's a larger picture of the new 2.5"-drive-capable NUC:

http://www.legitreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WC-HDD-NUC-Back-Angle.jpg

 

[Kaido]

Are those DVI slots or vents ?

Vents. The Haswell NUCs sport a Mini-HDMI & Mini-Displayport. You can get DVI adapters for those anywhere tho.

 

[TwiceOver]

Intel Haswell NUC kit spotted with enclosure for 2.5-inch drives:

http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-h...wykh-spotted-enclosure-2-5-inch-drives_127098

15mm taller, due in December, p/n D34010WYKH and D54250WYKH. Can take a 2.5" hard drive or SSD. This is cool because 2.5" SSD's are a good $20 cheaper than mSATA SSD's, and laptop-sized hard drives are available in up to 1TB sizes for around $80. I'm curious to see if Intel goes with the thinner 7mm drive size, the standard 9.5mm drive size, or the thicker 15mm drive size. If they go with 15mm, that opens up the doors to go with the 2TB internal 2.5" drives, which would be way cool for local storage on an HTPC!

This is also nice because it can cut the price way down on the overall build - a 1TB drive for $80 knocks over $100 off the total price if you were looking at a 240gb mSATA SSD. Although, one of the things I really like about the NUC is that they force you to use an SSD, so even on the lower-end i3 & Celeron models, you still get great performance because your computer boots quickly & your apps load fast. Here's a larger picture of the new 2.5"-drive-capable NUC:

http://www.legitreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WC-HDD-NUC-Back-Angle.jpg

SWEET! Now if only we could buy one.

 

[gevorg]

Can you run a Hackintosh on these?

 

[Kaido]

Can you run a Hackintosh on these?

On certain models, yup. Not the Celerons because they only have HD graphics, not HD4000 or newer:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/81449-intel-nuc-dc3217iye-os-x-10-8-2-success.html

http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-builds/104357-berndvp-intel-nuc-dc3217iye.html

 

[gevorg]

^^^ Nice!

 

[Kaido]

Got XP (32-bit Pro) installed on the 1.1ghz Celeron Intel NUC (gray-top) p/n BOXDCCP847DYE ($159 Newegg/Amazon) - just set the hard drive to IDE (not AHCI) mode in BIOS first. Drivers are available by searching "DCCP847DYE" at Intel's support site:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx

OOTB it's missing: (I didn't install a Wi-fi card in this one)

1. Sound (Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus) - included with Graphics driver
2. Ethernet (Ethernet Controller) link
3. Chipset (SM Bus Controller) link
4. Video (Video Controller - VGA Capable) link
5. Intel Management Engine (PCI Simple Communications Controller) link
6. Latest BIOS (GKPPT10H.86A v042 at the time of writing) link - grab the third one to update from Windows (GKPPT10H.86A.0042.EB.EXE)

I did a quick GPU test with a high-bitrate 1080p MKV file: (the birds clip from the link below)

http://cybernetnews.com/xbmc-high-bitrate-sample-videos/

Horrible results. After a few seconds it went bananas, completely unwatchable. I played with the hardware & software settings in VLC, no love. Totally maxed out the CPU, too. I would have thought that the integrated graphics had their own separate processing system, but apparently the CPU speed affects the Intel HD Graphics performance, because I've gotten better performance on HD Graphics from faster chips. I'm not sure on the specifics tho. This machine is not suitable for high-bitrate HD file playback However, it is a great little box for basic computing & probably most emulators/MAME stuff. I skipped the Wi-fi card in my Celeron test unit and used a 60gb Mushkin MKNSSDAT60GB for $75: (the smallest available is 30gb for $65, so you get double the space for $10 more, but the 120gb starts at $95)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226319

XP was just under 4 gigs installed (SP3 + drivers). I got 300 MB/s read, 364 MB/s write using Aja speed test (I did the test a couple times, last time with a 16gb test file...usually reads are faster, huh). XP 32-bit can only take a max of 4 gigs of RAM, which is only like $35 online:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231341

So $160 NUC + $35 4GB RAM + $75 60GB SSD = $270 + OS license cost. Throw in a USB CD-ROM if needed, great for a grandma/kids/kitchen computer! You could also make a DIY Chromebox with Deepfreeze (and have more features - Java/Flash/ActiveX/etc.).

 

[Kaido]

The Haswell i5 NUC is available for $431.04 shipped if you need one ASAP: (only a few left in stock)

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-D54250WY...dp/B00F3F38O2/

The i3 model is in stock for $323.94 shipped: (HD4400 not HD5000 integrated graphics though)

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-D34010WY.../dp/B00F3F381A

Very interested in the upcoming ones with 2.5" drives, those will be awesome for arcade cabinets!

 

[superxero044]

People are actually receiving them now:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=176718&pid=1545332#pid1545332

I'm still going to wait until price at least reaches MSRP. Now to decide between i3 and i5. Maybe wait until Bay Trail?

 

[Kaido]

People are actually receiving them now:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=176718&pid=1545332#pid1545332

I'm still going to wait until price at least reaches MSRP. Now to decide between i3 and i5. Maybe wait until Bay Trail?

I have one of the i5 Haswells on the way, should be in next week. I needed one for a test machine, so I'll see how it fares. Really interested in the graphics performance in particular!

 

[finbarqs]

you guys think I should go for a i5 for trancoding? or i7 for 4 streams 1080p + 5.1 over plex? I don't wanna over purchase, if I can save a few bucks on haswell i5..

 

[Kaido]

you guys think I should go for a i5 for trancoding? or i7 for 4 streams 1080p + 5.1 over plex? I don't wanna over purchase, if I can save a few bucks on haswell i5..

My i5 Intel Haswell NUC should be in next week, I can test it if you'd like. The i7 is basically just a slightly faster i5 in this case - both are dual-core with hyperthreading; neither are true quad-core chips. The i7 mostly just adds an extra 200mhz (x2), plus a higher turbo frequency.

 

[Auric]

Kaido, Windows NT 6.x is required for Intel GPU acceleration, and also HD audio bitstreaming.

 

[Kaido]

Kaido, Windows NT 6.x is required for Intel GPU acceleration, and also HD audio bitstreaming.

Reaaaaaaaaaly? I'll reformat with Windows 7 tomorrow and will try again, thanks for the tip! That would explain a lot - I was very puzzled why HD videos would play on other computers with HD graphics, but not this one. But then, those all came with newer operating systems, derp!

 

[Pheran]

It's really not OK to install WinXP anymore, especially with the end of support coming up in April.

 

[RossMAN]

I previously supported Kaido for Elite, now I think he should be banned for making me spend more money

This would be perfect for my wife's new PC, just need to decide which one and which parts to buy. I predict a long PM to Kaido in my near future

 

[Pheran]

Why PM? Configuration discussion could benefit everyone.

 

[superxero044]

i3

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-D34010WY...ds=haswell+nuc

and i5 nuc

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-D54250WY...=IGXJGRJD25RCW

now in stock directly from amazon (although VERY limited supply).

Still going to wait for the i5 to drop to its actual MSRP (360ish)

 

[Kaido]

It's really not OK to install WinXP anymore, especially with the end of support coming up in April.

Fast & runs everything, why not? :awe: Just throw on a firewall, antivirus, and a good browser.

 

[Kaido]

I previously supported Kaido for Elite, now I think he should be banned for making me spend more money

This would be perfect for my wife's new PC, just need to decide which one and which parts to buy. I predict a long PM to Kaido in my near future

Right now, I would go with either an i5/i7 Haswell Brix, or the i5 Haswell NUC from Intel. 240gb SSD + 8GB RAM (single stick) + Windows 7. The Logitech MK320 is a great wireless keyboard & mouse combo (on sale for $29 periodically).

http://www.amazon.com//gp/product/B00F3F38O2

http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Direct...dp/B0089W4RDW/

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12.../dp/B008LTBLLY

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Profes...dp/B004Q0T0LU/

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wirel...dp/B003VAGXZC/

If you need Wifi, this works on Windows 7 according to the Amazon notes:

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-6235AN-H.../dp/B007QXLIWI

Hanns-G has a 27" 1080p LED monitor with speakers & HDMI input on sale for $219:

http://www.amazon.com/Hannspree-Hann...dp/B00EIRFYS4/

You will need Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable:

http://www.amazon.com/MarginMart-Inc...dp/B00104XCVO/

Seagate has a 4TB USB 3.0 external drive on sale for $149 if you need more storage:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expans...dp/B00BFFQN3M/

I recommend Genie9 for incremental local backup (free version available) and Macrium Reflect for image clones of the main drive. For cloud backup, I like Backblaze for $5 a month: (unlimited)

http://www.backblaze.com/

The home version of Microsoft Office 2013 is currently on sale for $113 through Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/MICROSOFT-Offi...dp/B00C8UOI3U/

All of the bits & pieces add up, but the payoffs are:

1. Tiny size (4" x 4" footprint)
2. Zero noise
3. Extremely low wattage (40w jumbo LCD + 30w tiny PC = 70w computer max = low bills!)
4. Fast 100% SSD system (SATA-III speeds + dual-core Core i CPU = zippy!)

I mean, if you don't need to crunch with a quad-core and you don't need to game with a dedicated GPU, these are hard to beat for a desktop replacement. Fast, quiet, small, not horrifically expensive. Plus very very cool