To NUC or not to NUC, NUClheads unite!

[VirtualLarry]

Considering a NUC, maybe more than one. Newegg has the one with two HDMI, no thunderbolt, and a laptop i3 for $300, less on sale.

Will still require RAM (laptop RAM, right?), and an mSATA SSD, and an OS, to complete the build.

Anyone else build a NUC, or thinking of it? The only thing that turns me off is the lack of external storage options, like eSATA or USB3.0. I cannot imagine why Intel though it was a good idea not to have at least one USB3.0 port on there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856102004
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-697&ParentOnly=1&IsVirtualParent=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231582
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106153

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Don't do it Larry.

I know you love playing with toys, but let this go.

(Its pretty much a mac mini)

 

[aigomorla]

I ordered one larry after playing around with one.

I included the intel centrino bluetooth / wifi module along with a plextor 128gb msata drive.
Gonna load 8 gigs onto it and bolt it behind my HDTV.

Oh you also need a laptop cord.
The unit doesnt come with one, and its like 6 dollars.

Total i think i paid like $470, however im pretty sure it will do a dayam good job at being a HTPC with 0 gaming.

I have decided to go the windows 7 route.
I have seen it boot up windows 7, run 1080p, and even have 7 channel audio.
Its very quiet, very Tiny, and draws very little power, bolts behind almost any standard VESA mount monitor.

What more could i ask for in a htpc?


LOL... larry if u wait a couple of days, when i assemble it and build it, i'll do a WIP + Review on it.
Throw a few benchmarks on it as well.

I dont think the NUC was fully intended to run on its own without some form of network.
If you dont have a inhome network setup, then id probably say build another SFF.
If you do have a in home network setup, with NAS, and WiFi coverage, i cant see how this machine wont be able to handle all the normal jobs required.

 

[slayernine]

Anyone else build a NUC, or thinking of it? The only thing that turns me off is the lack of external storage options, like eSATA or USB3.0. I cannot imagine why Intel though it was a good idea not to have at least one USB3.0 port on there.

I have bought three of them for use in an office, these things are fantastic! Awesome form factor relatively cheap and they come with a vesa mount.

Users don't believe me when I tell them "yes your computer is that small".

They take all of five minutes to assemble, if that. Four screws out, pop in ram, slide in msata, four screws back in and your done.

 

[Ayah]

they should've slapped a dual-port i350 on it.

 

[sm625]

How is this in any way better than that pentium 2020m notebook for $350? The one that isnt even on sale... Do even a wee bit of shopping and I'm sure you can find a 3rd gen i3 notebook for $350.

 

[VirtualLarry]

How is this in any way better than that pentium 2020m notebook for $350? The one that isnt even on sale... Do even a wee bit of shopping and I'm sure you can find a 3rd gen i3 notebook for $350.

Form-factor. If I wanted a laptop, I would look for a laptop.

 

[capeconsultant]

I want one, but I want the Core i7 with USB 3.0 which I think is coming soon. As long as it is quiet. And by that I mean silent.

I think they are cool. I love my desktop but hate the space it takes up.

 

[dclive]

Perfect little ESX 5.1 boxes.... slap in 16GB RAM and you're done...

 

[Connoisseur]

Ooooh new toy... I want. I have a 4 year old gaming desktop which still plays most games but I'm tired of the fan noise, the cabling and the fact that I have to clean out the air filter every other week. I'm willing to sacrifice gaming ability for a teeny tiny desktop machine that'll be completely unnoticed. Must wait for haswell though... it'll be a lot closer to "best of both worlds" than this iteration. At least i'd be able to play starcraft and diablo at reasonable speeds.

 

[aigomorla]

i got my NUC.

still waiting for the DDR3 and Msata

if it arrives today, i'll be able to post it.


EDIT:
So i finished assembling it.
There really isnt much i can post about it that others havent already.

It was that easy to put together.
I did replace the tim to something else.
I am gonna do a fresh install soon, and i'll fill ya guys in.

EDIT2:
its having problems running MKV's at 1080p. i see skipping and breaking.
I dont know if its a wifi issue or a processor load issue.
Going to need to tie it directly into my network via cable and debug it.

 

[Connoisseur]

Have you gotten mkv's working so far? Would definitely want to see if I can get a haswell version when it arrives for my main pc and server and maybe a discount ivy bridge for htpc for the living room. I bet it'd still save me a ton in power costs over my aging Core 2 Quad Q9550 system with a Radeon HD 4890

 

[dma0991]

Would be nice to know how much power this thing pulls from the wall in a worst case 100% load scenario.

 

[piasabird]

If you pay $300 you are getting a $125MB, a $125 CPU and a case for $50 with a power supply. I think you can get a $125 Gigabyte motherboard with Wireless USB3 and DUAL ethernet. You can buy more for less or about the same price.

Just my opinion.

 

[Ayah]

If you pay $300 you are getting a $125MB, a $125 CPU and a case for $50 with a power supply. I think you can get a $125 Gigabyte motherboard with Wireless USB3 and DUAL ethernet. You can buy more for less or about the same price.

Just my opinion.

And how many NUCs fit in the same volume as that gigabyte board with it's accompaniments?

 

[Rio Rebel]

i got my NUC.


EDIT2:
its having problems running MKV's at 1080p. i see skipping and breaking.
I dont know if its a wifi issue or a processor load issue.
Going to need to tie it directly into my network via cable and debug it.

box
I take it you bought the Celeron model? I have been thinking hard about getting one, since it would be a perfect little HTPC ...but not if it chokes on videos.

I would have thought that this box would take XBMC and play 1080p videos just fine.

 

[Connoisseur]

And how many NUCs fit in the same volume as that gigabyte board with it's accompaniments?

Yeah people seem to be forgetting this... I want something that I can tuck away and never think about again.

 

[VirtualLarry]

box
I take it you bought the Celeron model? I have been thinking hard about getting one, since it would be a perfect little HTPC ...but not if it chokes on videos.

I would have thought that this box would take XBMC and play 1080p videos just fine.

I currently have an FM1 LLano 3.0Ghz unlocked quad-core for my HTPC. Overkill? Slightly. But I didn't want to run into any stuttering issues either.

 

[Lonyo]

I would wait and see when they expect to make Haswell NUCs if you don't need it right away.

 

[Schadenfreude]

I was considering getting a NUC myself, but:
- I'd wait for the Haswell refresh
- No headphone jack kills the deal for me

Kinda silly to get somethig so ultraportable only to have to attach it to a digital audio unit taking even more room (or HDMI, which won't work for me as my monitor doesn't have speakers ).

I'm really considering getting the Mac Mini (after the Haswell refresh) and bootcamping it so it runs Win8: after installing he HDD/SSD, RAM and wifi for the NUC the costs should be comparable and it has a headphone jack!

 

[aigomorla]

well it doesnt skip on the MKV.
it appears it was my wifi.

Oh and the MKV's i was talking about were very BIG ones...

Its a quick machine.
I set it up for my parents, and they fell in love with it.
At first they didnt believe it was a new PC.

It plays netflix, youtube, and all the movie content i threw at it so far.
The really big MKV's tho, i cant grab them though wifi... i need to get it on a usb and take it over.

I may need to get a ethernet powerline station setup and just hardwire it or get a better usb wifi dongle, as the intel centrino one is kinda crap...

 

[Rio Rebel]

well it doesnt skip on the MKV.
it appears it was my wifi.

Oh and the MKV's i was talking about were very BIG ones...

Its a quick machine.
I set it up for my parents, and they fell in love with it.
At first they didnt believe it was a new PC.

It plays netflix, youtube, and all the movie content i threw at it so far.
The really big MKV's tho, i cant grab them though wifi... i need to get it on a usb and take it over.

I may need to get a ethernet powerline station setup and just hardwire it or get a better usb wifi dongle, as the intel centrino one is kinda crap...

Did you get the i3 version? I want to get the Celeron and use it strictly for playing movies (including blu-ray) through a wired network. Throughput is great, but I'm concerned about it being underpowered for 1080p.

I went through your struggles with the network, and finally gave up and wired as much as I could. Wireless can reach the throughput levels but can't sustain them with consistency. Powerline can be the answer - whatever throughput you get, you get it consistently. But for me, I couldn't find two outlets that didn't require something plugged in. I am getting 20mbps with my zyxel "500" pair, which isn't enough for 1080p. But I think it's because I can't isolate the two powerline plugs on their own outlet.

 

[Chiropteran]

I don't understand why they are so expensive. You can buy a netbook or tablet for a similar price, and you get it all- no need to buy a separate hard disk, RAM, monitor, etc. I'd rather have a tablet for size constraints, or a real PC if I am going to sit at a desk or at the TV.

 

[Rio Rebel]

It is perfect for HTPC. I don't want a laptop and certainly not a tablet for that use.

 

[biostud]

When running your NUC's do you use a wireless keyboard/keyapd or just a remote?