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

[Kaido]

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One thing right off the back i dislike about this device is that it has hdmi 1.4 instead of 2.0. I realize that 2.0 is new and it will likely take 6 months for the appropriate revision but it looks like all the new 4k tvs will have hdmi 2.0 and if i were buying such a device (esp with intention of using with the tv) I would make hdmi 2.0 a requirement.

Good point. HDMI v1.4 supports 4K, but only at 30FPS max. And really, "true" 4K at 24FPS max:

http://www.hdmi.org/press/press_release.aspx?prid=101

1. 3840x2160 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz
2. 4096x2160 24Hz

 

[Aikouka]

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One thing right off the back i dislike about this device is that it has hdmi 1.4 instead of 2.0. I realize that 2.0 is new and it will likely take 6 months for the appropriate revision but it looks like all the new 4k tvs will have hdmi 2.0 and if i were buying such a device (esp with intention of using with the tv) I would make hdmi 2.0 a requirement.

HDMI 1.4a supports 4Kp30, which is fine for anything but games. However, I don't think you'll be playing games at 4K on a NUC anyway.

ARStechnica aren't happy with the fan noise.

It's a little whiny, but it's really not that bad for average tasks. Keep in mind that I don't go around running Cinebench or Prime95 on my NUC.

Would it be possible to change the CPU-fan to a more quiet one?

You would probably have to go with a fanless case, which aren't terribly cheap. Although, I did read some reports that fanless cases actually kept the Ivy Bridge NUCs cooler than the stock blower fan.

So I'm out at CES and both Intel and valve had the iris pro brix model. The guy said it should be out any day now and that it will be $499 (I'll believe that when I see it)

Since the i7-4770R model is supposed to be over $600 for the barebones model, I don't see how a fully-built variant would be cheaper.

 

[EliteRetard]

I'm wondering, are there any standard mounting points for the CPU in the NUC? So you could mount a standard aftermarket cooler (or waterblock).

 

[Kaido]

It's a little whiny, but it's really not that bad for average tasks. Keep in mind that I don't go around running Cinebench or Prime95 on my NUC.

Still stuck with meetings so I have to push off my testing for tomorrow, but how loud are we talking here? My other NUCs are silent 99% of the time and whisper-quiet the other 1% of the time.

 

[Aikouka]

Still stuck with meetings so I have to push off my testing for tomorrow, but how loud are we talking here? My other NUCs are silent 99% of the time and whisper-quiet the other 1% of the time.

Oddly enough, I had the NUC in my computer room when I was setting it up, and I had to pretty much put my head next to the unit to hear it. Although, I have two computers and a mini-fridge in here. With it in my bedroom, you can hear a slight whine from the fan even when the unit is sitting idle. It doesn't keep me up when I'm trying to sleep or anything, but I'm not a huge fan of whiny fans.

I'm just waiting for a fanless case that isn't expensive. I looked into importing one from Tranquil PC, but it's REALLY EXPENSIVE. It's 99GBP + 30GBP for shipping. That's $200, which is as much as I paid for my Streacom FC8 EVO + PicoPSU + power brick.

One thing I saw that's interesting is that Gigabyte is previewing a BayTrail-based fanless NUC at CES:

http://www.legitreviews.com/ces-2014-gigabyte-g-skill-enermax-overclocking-event_132879

Although, that's BayTrail-M where ECS has a Mini-ITX BayTrail-D coming out:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7453/ecs-reveals-bay-traild-miniitx-line

 

[you2]

What is wrong with this fanless case ?
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/akeufacaform.html?gclid=CN3fvem487sCFRBnOgod3yMAhA

 

[Aikouka]

What is wrong with this fanless case ?
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/akeufacaform.html?gclid=CN3fvem487sCFRBnOgod3yMAhA

That one is for the thin, Mini-ITX boards.

 

[Kaido]

Oddly enough, I had the NUC in my computer room when I was setting it up, and I had to pretty much put my head next to the unit to hear it. Although, I have two computers and a mini-fridge in here. With it in my bedroom, you can hear a slight whine from the fan even when the unit is sitting idle. It doesn't keep me up when I'm trying to sleep or anything, but I'm not a huge fan of whiny fans.

I'm just waiting for a fanless case that isn't expensive. I looked into importing one from Tranquil PC, but it's REALLY EXPENSIVE. It's 99GBP + 30GBP for shipping. That's $200, which is as much as I paid for my Streacom FC8 EVO + PicoPSU + power brick.

One thing I saw that's interesting is that Gigabyte is previewing a BayTrail-based fanless NUC at CES:

http://www.legitreviews.com/ces-2014-gigabyte-g-skill-enermax-overclocking-event_132879

Although, that's BayTrail-M where ECS has a Mini-ITX BayTrail-D coming out:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7453/ecs-reveals-bay-traild-miniitx-line

Ah nice! Still stuck in meetings, the i5 NUC is waiting for me on my desk I am curious to see the fan noise comparison though. I have an Haswell i5 Intel NUC and a Haswell i5 Gigabyte BRIX; my Haswell i7 Gigabyte BRIX hasn't arrived yet. I'll probably pick up the Iris version as well because I could definitely use something with a bit more graphical prowess for different projects!

 

[DoeBoy]

the i5 nuc I got had to be returned because of a really loud fan noise that wasn't normal at all. It was made in early december.

 

[rhx123]

I have a horrid feeling that dGPU versions of the BRIX won't make it to market.

Until Gigabyte shows a working prototype of something, it's hard to believe that it's going to arrive after the U2442 and P35k Thunderbolt going MIA.

 

[Kaido]

Anandtech reviews the new Samsung mSATA drives, including the new 1TB drive:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7594/samsung-ssd-840-evo-msata-120gb-250gb-500gb-1tb-review

Bit-tech has a review of the 1TB mSATA as well:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2013/12/09/samsung-ssd-840-evo-msata-1tb-review/1

 

[DoeBoy]

Got a new NUC and it has no fan noise. Though the wireless card the Intel 7260 has terrible terrible speed. This is probably because it has a hd right over it. Has anybody seen any external antennae to connect to this card so maybe I could run a small line out of it somewhere to get real reception?

 

[Kaido]

Got a new NUC and it has no fan noise. Though the wireless card the Intel 7260 has terrible terrible speed. This is probably because it has a hd right over it. Has anybody seen any external antennae to connect to this card so maybe I could run a small line out of it somewhere to get real reception?

What OS & driver are you on?

 

[DoeBoy]

windows 7 x64 and whatever the latest 7260 driver that is on the intel page.

 

[superxero044]

You guys see the Iris Pro Brix are available on Newegg?

4570R (i5) Iris Pro $499
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856164011

4770R (i7) Iris Pro $649
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856164012

If they were both black I would say the i5 would be a no brainer. But that red is a little ugly in my opinion.

I wonder how loud these are. I imagine 4770R is a bit hotter than a 4250U.

If anyone gets one of these I would like to see opinions!

 

[Pheran]

If they were both black I would say the i5 would be a no brainer. But that red is a little ugly in my opinion.

Yeah, they are shooting themselves in the foot with that red case, at least for HTPC. No way am I putting that in my entertainment center.

 

[imaheadcase]

So i see the new ones that take 2.5 SSD are on amazon.com, are the all going to just be I3 with 4400 gpu? Or they going to have I5 version with 5000 gpu?

 

[superxero044]

So i see the new ones that take 2.5 SSD are on amazon.com, are the all going to just be I3 with 4400 gpu? Or they going to have I5 version with 5000 gpu?

LegitReviews had an i5 H sku (the tall version) but I haven't seen it for sale yet.

http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-kit-d54250wykh-review_133823

 

[imaheadcase]

You guys see the Iris Pro Brix are available on Newegg?


If they were both black I would say the i5 would be a no brainer. But that red is a little ugly in my opinion.

I wonder how loud these are. I imagine 4770R is a bit hotter than a 4250U.

If anyone gets one of these I would like to see opinions!

That case looks like it could produce some noise easy, it has a grill on front? Seems poor design.

 

[Kaido]

I'm only interested in the CPU benches myself. Thanks!

Catching up on my backlog here, have a huge tower of NUC's to setup. First one today is the Haswell i5 Gigabyte BRIX: (Win7 64b Pro using a fresh install & drivers off the CD, no updates & not the latest drivers since it's just a quick test)

CINEBENCH OpenGL: 18.26 fps

CINEBENCH CPU: 230 cb

According to the ranking, the 4400 GPU is about double the Intel 4000, which only got 9 FPS for the GPU test. However, the CPU cb score was only 230, compared to 214 on the dual-core 1.7ghz Intel i5-3317U, so those are about neck-and-neck. Also, the fan does come on while running this unit. Sounds like a modern laptop fan. Not annoying or loud, but yes, it is noticeable. I do like the Gigabyte driver CD - all of the drivers are in folders on the CD, so you just drag & drop the lot to your desktop and install individually, if you don't want to bother grabbing the latest off the website. Very easy, no funky auto-installers.

 

[Kaido]

You guys see the Iris Pro Brix are available on Newegg?

4570R (i5) Iris Pro $499
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856164011

4770R (i7) Iris Pro $649
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856164012

If they were both black I would say the i5 would be a no brainer. But that red is a little ugly in my opinion.

I wonder how loud these are. I imagine 4770R is a bit hotter than a 4250U.

If anyone gets one of these I would like to see opinions!

Anxious to get my hands on one! Very interested to see how the Iris 5200 performs. Interesting that they are still using the mSATA drives instead of the standard 2.5" drives...I'd be much more accepting of the price if I could slap in a standard laptop-sized hard drive or SSD.

 

[Kaido]

Also, the i5 Haswell BRIX does GREAT with basic 3D CAD model viewing. Butter-smooth on the models I've tested. That Intel 4400 really helps a bunch in the graphics department. Also, the fan does come on under GPU.

Been chugging it along on Prime95. Top fan noise is not bad at all. Extremely efficiency cooling system - the top is mildly warm, nowhere near hot like my first-rev i3 IVB could get.

 

[superxero044]

Anxious to get my hands on one! Very interested to see how the Iris 5200 performs. Interesting that they are still using the mSATA drives instead of the standard 2.5" drives...I'd be much more accepting of the price if I could slap in a standard laptop-sized hard drive or SSD.

Those Iris Pro Brix do allow for BOTH mSata and 2.5" you are just limited to a certain height of drive (don't remember the number)

 

[Kaido]

Those Iris Pro Brix do allow for BOTH mSata and 2.5" you are just limited to a certain height of drive (don't remember the number)

Oh I see, it's on their official specs:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4889#sp

List:

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Document/brix-pro_sata.pdf

The black one was OOS everywhere, so I went ahead & ordered a red one. Not super crazy about the red color in a business environment (or HTPC, for that matter), but oh well. I have a 240gb mSATA SSD I can use, so I'll slap that puppy in there.

 

[Kaido]

Hackintosh installation guide for the Intel Haswell i5 NUC:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks...uide-intel-haswell-nuc-core-i5-d54250wyk.html