NUC as SFF- First impressions

1o57

1o57

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SO, I've been messing around with a few NUC boxes:

intel.web.720.405.png


Both are i5 processors, and I've loaded each with 16 GB of ram. One of them is the m2 SDD only version (it's thinner, no room for a 2.5 SSD) and the other I've added a 1TB Samsung SSD...

So far they both run quiet, and cool. I'm running Windows 8.1 on one and Mint Linux on the other.

As far as power consumption, heat, noise, and footprint/size, I freaking love these things- the bad is they can be expensive by the time you've added RAM and a Wifi module (although they DO have a built in case antennae to attach to what ever mini wifi module you add)

This is the wifi I added:
7260hmw-645x446.jpg
(Photo from Legit Reviews)

Anyway, just thought I'd share the experience with those here in [H]SFF.
 
Which boxes? ;) I like the idea of these (NUCs) but I read that it's very difficult to cool these things. :) It's very compact inside.
 
Is that the i5-4250 model, with the HD 5000 graphics? I looked at picking one of those up for a while.

The new Broadwell NUCs look especially nice, they've got an i7 one with Iris 6100 (not Iris Pro) - could be a sweet little setup for mainstream-ish gaming.
 
So far cooling hasn't been an issue- and I've not had any issues with the SATA controller like a few of the people reviewing at NewEgg have listed- but I've been using new Samsung SSDs, so their issues may be due to brand (that's the prevailing theory anyways)-

I've got 4 NUCs running right now, and I've got both the short model (no SSD) and the thicker box (w/SSD)- so if anyone has any questions I'm happy to answer them-

I'm running Linux and Windows as well (as an experiment) ESXi, all of which have had no issues. The only pain in installing was getting drivers and everything up to speed (but that's no different than any other build)-
 
Mind you, I don't have any complaints noise-wise with my "mini-server" NUC i3-4010U (running file server in Ubuntu on ESXi 5.5) or the Celeron one that's an OpenELEC HTPC in a friend's living room, but I see the complaints about noise rise as soon as games or heavy loads come into play. And what causes this noise ? The extremely flimsy laptop radial fan that has an even tinier heatsink to cool and a case with a bad thermal performance design.

Aluminium housing not used to assist in cooling ? Check.
Glossy black plastic top that isolates heat ? Check.
Tiny internal cooling that could be made much beefier ? Check.
 
Which model has the M.2? I presume this is one of the new models just released at CES? Out of curiosity do you know if using the SATA and the M.2 splits lanes or does the full x4 go to the M.2?
 
I have waited for Broadwell and Skylake before I invest in a NUC. But I find it a little immature and a little to cheap. Just make a few moddels with a better case and impoved cooling. Im a little paranoid whin it comes to fans :)

But, anny thoughts about M.2 vs SSD now that u have them side by side?
 
I'm a fan of the form factor, but noise concerns (and waiting for broadwell) has prevented me buying so far. Could you take the top off and mount a 120mm fan blowing down to keep it cooler?

Also, are the Gigabyte Brix and Zotac boxes NUCs too, or something else?
 
I have an i5 4570 Brix and a Ivy Bridge NuC and they are no different from one another in terms of basic design/layout so far as I can tell.
 
Harnser said:
I'm a fan of the form factor, but noise concerns (and waiting for broadwell) has prevented me buying so far. Could you take the top off and mount a 120mm fan blowing down to keep it cooler?

Also, are the Gigabyte Brix and Zotac boxes NUCs too, or something else?
Click to expand...

SPCR reviewed them as nearly silent.
 
Really? I seem to recall reading some newegg reviews on the Haswell ones (Zotac, Gigabyte and Intel) and some buyers complained of (fan) noise?

Maybe the Broadwell ones (being 14nm and less power = less heat/less noise?) will be quieter?

I found these links:
http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-2-0-officially-announced-at-ces-2015_156894
http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-2-0-rock-canyon-broadwell-system-images-posted-intel_155157

I'd wait for reviews but looks really interesting. Probably gonna be a bit pricey. :)
 
Bieberfever said:
Which model has the M.2? I presume this is one of the new models just released at CES? Out of curiosity do you know if using the SATA and the M.2 splits lanes or does the full x4 go to the M.2?
Click to expand...

broadwell NUCs are not available yet...
 
can you confirm that you actually have a Broadwell NUC?

If yes, please take a picture of the board, is there internal front panel header for Power, LEDs, reset etc...
 
nekrosoft13 said:
can you confirm that you actually have a Broadwell NUC?

If yes, please take a picture of the board, is there internal front panel header for Power, LEDs, reset etc...
Click to expand...

I can confirm he doesn't have one if he added the pictured wireless card to it...the Broadwell nuc will only have m.2 no HMC solutions.
 
That was just a stock photo I grabbed while being lazy while I posted...

And I'm an Intel employee ;) I'm not on the NUC or IOT team, so sorry if I sound like a commercial.
 
1o57 said:
That was just a stock photo I grabbed while being lazy while I posted...

And I'm an Intel employee ;) I'm not on the NUC or IOT team, so sorry if I sound like a commercial.
Click to expand...

Hey Intel employee.. please pass along the word that the 7260 you posted is evil incarnate, thanks :p
 
Can it run IntelBurnTest (or something similar) for 24 hours? I am thinking of getting one to replace my laptop at work. My laptop overheats all the time. I have a notebook cooler and keep the lid a few inches open with a copper wedge. In the summer, I have to have a desk fan blowing on it all the time. Have you tried driving two displays with it?
 
The i5nuc 54250WYK doesn't really doesn't have many issues with overheating that I have seen. I think they do their validation testing at 35C ambient temp. The NUCs are surprisingly capable for average non-gaming usages, they excel at being a htpc.

As for running IBT or any other 24hr temp thing, I don't really see that as a useful measurement given the kinds of workloads you would run would likely not include a full system load for a 24hr period.
 
Kaos_Drem said:
The i5nuc 54250WYK doesn't really doesn't have many issues with overheating that I have seen. I think they do their validation testing at 35C ambient temp. The NUCs are surprisingly capable for average non-gaming usages, they excel at being a htpc.

As for running IBT or any other 24hr temp thing, I don't really see that as a useful measurement given the kinds of workloads you would run would likely not include a full system load for a 24hr period.
Click to expand...

That would be the first thing I would do with a PC when I got it. The use case would be compiling something with 4 threads for 2 hours or running regression tests for development which can take several hours for some people. It would be better to run those on a dedicated server, but sometimes you can't.
 
Kinda confused, too - are you working with an i5-4250 NUC and the "m2 SSD" was a typo, you meant to say mSATA?

Also... why would they solder the m2 wifi card on the new NUC? That's unfriendly. :(
 
Jakal said:
I'd imagine it's the antennas that are soldered-down not the M.2 card.
Click to expand...

Its most likely an M.2 1216 form factor wireless card, and honestly the 7265AC is a pretty damn good card, sure you could get a triband AC card but I doubt it would offer much additional benefit.

That would be the first thing I would do with a PC when I got it. The use case would be compiling something with 4 threads for 2 hours or running regression tests for development which can take several hours for some people. It would be better to run those on a dedicated server, but sometimes you can't.
Click to expand...

I recall someone I worked with saying that the haswell NUCs are rated for 105C on the core before they will throttle/shutdown, you could literally run the i3 based haswell nuc without a heatsink bare die without it shutting down. I might end up eating my words at some point in the future, but I would be willing to bet it would be very difficult to actually overheat the i5-54250WYK with any workload even compiling or prime.
 
I have put together 5x of the i5 (54250WYK) units for the office. 8GB / 128GB mSATA comes out to $500 a pop. Love these!
 
What about the fan noise? They are small fans for the cpu cooler or? I read on newegg reviews, some comments about noise. Perhaps, that's more applicable to the Gigabyte Brix i7 versions? But, even with the Intel NUC, I believe some buyers have bought fanless cases - which is a further expense. I will be very interested to see if the Broadwell Intel NUCs improve on this issue. :)

Regardless, I think the concept of the NUC is interesting! I'd consider one and compare to an ITX build. :)
 
The Gigabyte ones with the i7 with Iris are a bit noisy. The Intel ones are very quiet.
 
I received i3 Broadwell version yesterday (NUC5i3RYK) and I gotta say I love the aesthetics but I am disappointed with the fan noise. I own Haswell i3 as well and it, too, has annoying fan noise.

Gotta try to fiddle with the fan settings in BIOS. Otherwise I'm gonna return this.
 
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