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Smallness uber alles: Intel’s tiny, Haswell-based NUC desktop reviewed
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That's a cool piece of hardware, though I admit that whenever I see "NUC", my first and only thought is this
NUC! NUC! NUC!
NUC! NUC! NUC!
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Any chance you could test linux support? Given the Intel components, I wouldn't expect any problems but I'm considering buying one of these to run Linux Mint (Ubuntu based) and it would be nice to know for sure.
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We tested some at work.
They functioned well as workstations; Windows, Office, and other such basics. Strap to a monitors VESA points and you have a DIY AIO. I still want to use one as a thin client, mostly because we already have the hardware anyway. The brackets we had screwed to the NUC, then slid down over screws on the monitor (keyholed slots).
Futzing around the lab they worked pretty well as lighweight servers, though virtualization pretty quickly became more economical. I guess there's still a place for them as local DNS, NTP, etc servers. I kinda want to deploy some as remote monitoring servers; they just need to poll some things, receive updates from some other things, and forward the mess on to the main servers.
They're neat, but unless you just absolutely had to have the size, kinda meh.
They functioned well as workstations; Windows, Office, and other such basics. Strap to a monitors VESA points and you have a DIY AIO. I still want to use one as a thin client, mostly because we already have the hardware anyway. The brackets we had screwed to the NUC, then slid down over screws on the monitor (keyholed slots).
Futzing around the lab they worked pretty well as lighweight servers, though virtualization pretty quickly became more economical. I guess there's still a place for them as local DNS, NTP, etc servers. I kinda want to deploy some as remote monitoring servers; they just need to poll some things, receive updates from some other things, and forward the mess on to the main servers.
They're neat, but unless you just absolutely had to have the size, kinda meh.
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We've sold one of these, the first gen one, at our shop. It was a pretty nice small form factor machine. I am always telling my customers get get NUC'ed.
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When I saw NUC I figured it was a reference to a "nucleus colony", a small container for transporting bee colonies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuc
Perhaps there's a hobby apiarist at Intel?
Perhaps there's a hobby apiarist at Intel?
[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25980819#p25980819:2zla6chq said:drumhellar916[/url]":2zla6chq]That's a cool piece of hardware, though I admit that whenever I see "NUC", my first and only thought is this
NUC! NUC! NUC!
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I have been using my first-gen Intel NUC (DC3217IYE) for the last ~10 months with OpenELEC (XBMC) and it has performed really well.
It was getting a bit hotter and a bit noisier due to dust than I would like so I replaced the case with the SilverStone PT14 which is basically a large heat sink designed especially for the NUC and has a larger fan than the original (which runs more slowly and quietly). The case seems to distribute heat much better than the thick plastic original.
Now it is basically silent, tops out around ~70 degrees celsius, auto turns on/off with my TV (by means of a master-slave power board) and can be controlled using my standard Panasonic plasma remote via CEC over HDMI (and the Pulse Eight USC CEC-Adapter). The Intel HD4000 works without problems and the new HD5000+ models must be even better.
Summary: The NUC is a good thing.
It was getting a bit hotter and a bit noisier due to dust than I would like so I replaced the case with the SilverStone PT14 which is basically a large heat sink designed especially for the NUC and has a larger fan than the original (which runs more slowly and quietly). The case seems to distribute heat much better than the thick plastic original.
Now it is basically silent, tops out around ~70 degrees celsius, auto turns on/off with my TV (by means of a master-slave power board) and can be controlled using my standard Panasonic plasma remote via CEC over HDMI (and the Pulse Eight USC CEC-Adapter). The Intel HD4000 works without problems and the new HD5000+ models must be even better.
Summary: The NUC is a good thing.
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There are fanless case options for the NUC, such as the Akasa Newton V and the LGX ML300, for those that desire total silence. The ML300 even has an automotive power kit option - Turn your car into a mobile server because... just because.
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My more tech obsessed friend bought one and we looked it over. Well made, a bit too pricey for me but not for him. The noisy fan during gaming is a disappointment as that would eliminate it as a tiny Steam Machine. Ars solution already is a better answer for that anyway so it is not a big deal but it does put a check mark in the Cons column.
Overall it is a nicely assembled but too expensive solution. At the final price a Steam box is a better bet as is a mac mini for the apple crowd as it comes fully functional. For any linux user or gamer the Ars solution is better as well.
It is good to see them get into the fray but their pricing means they don't really care about success. I have small servers that are cheaper and run linux today, adding this might be good for HTPC but I can build a quieter cheaper system myself. So ... no.
Overall it is a nicely assembled but too expensive solution. At the final price a Steam box is a better bet as is a mac mini for the apple crowd as it comes fully functional. For any linux user or gamer the Ars solution is better as well.
It is good to see them get into the fray but their pricing means they don't really care about success. I have small servers that are cheaper and run linux today, adding this might be good for HTPC but I can build a quieter cheaper system myself. So ... no.
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If you don't mind paying for a cable card, you can use one of the SiliconDust tuners, like the HDHomeRun Prime. This frees up your precious USB ports and can be easily installed next to a cable modem.
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this would be a hell of a media server, just add an external HD and let it sit in a corner, and also a network cable for those, er, downloading needs.
bonus points for Doge reference!
bonus points for Doge reference!
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25980823#p25980823:1978zlq2 said:
On my post-CES list for sure!
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25980825#p25980825:32rq2dmk said:
For remote monitoring/network monitors/sensor boxes/lightweight servers you can't really beat the small arm linux boxes like raspberry pi or cubieboard - pi for around $60 , cubie2/truck $80 -100
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(Looking at the single provided view of the mb)why does it need a fan, there's no CPU? /jk
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I think a great comparison would be Maingear's Spark. It's a tiny machine that looks like it could go toe to toe with the NUC. Hopefully the barebones version will have a competitive pricing.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25981069#p25981069:xgwtonko said:sonolumi[/url]":xgwtonko]
It's great for mining Dogecoins.
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If you are a contractor and your client has a display/keyboard at the office this could be a great replacement for your banged up laptop. The NUC will probably fit in the large pocket of cargo pants.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25980823#p25980823:3j2mo5ef said:
I have the 4010 version that I run OpenELEC on and it works great. On version 3.x I couldn't get my Logitech K400 keyboard to work, but it works fine in the 4.0 Gotham alphas, and that was the only issue I had.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25981069#p25981069:30w7g0es said:sonolumi[/url]":30w7g0es]
Kind of reminds me of the Mac-Mini (sans the dog).
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Pity they didn't show the box with the cables attached. With a box so small and lightweight, I think just the stiffness in the cables would make it difficult to keep the box stand straight level on the desk. A flick of the mouse and the box is off the desk.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25981323#p25981323:1m61upng said:
My impression is that 2012 and 13 were/are the years of small. Right now it's, how small can one go, at this point.
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While the Mac Mini may look more elegant, this does make you think it's time Apple bumped the specs.
The ideal place for this device would probably be mounted on the back of the screen. It's small enough for that. It would help reduce the cable clutter.
The ideal place for this device would probably be mounted on the back of the screen. It's small enough for that. It would help reduce the cable clutter.
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Putrid Polecat
Ars Tribunus Militum
I don't agree that the NUC is a good value when you can get an ultrabook for 600 that obviously includes screen and keyboard.
The complete package should cost 300-400 and I would buy it in a heartbeat.
The complete package should cost 300-400 and I would buy it in a heartbeat.
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I'm left wondering why Andrew Cunningham wrote his article in a way which almost insisted that the wireless card was a requirement, when there's a perfectly good Ethernet port on the damn thing...
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While you are at it why not ask V-12 engine and a hot tub to go in there as well.[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25981375#p25981375:2ukwrokj said:
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=25981593#p25981593:24fd8009 said:
I mean, there's a slot for it, and it costs $33, and it adds support for wireless Bluetooth peripherals that save you some cable mess. It's not a requirement, and you don't have to use it if you don't want to.
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It looks like Intel went to an awful lot of trouble just to design and build an advertisement for buying either a mac mini or an ultrabook...
The mini is incrementally larger; but skips the loathsome external power brick and isn't made of silvered plastic, the cheapest-looking substance in the known universe (despite actually being cheaper). The ultrabook would put basically the same specs on the table, except for including KVM of some degree of usability.
I honestly just don't understand the target audience here. It would be a contender as a media center PC; but it's too small to cool itself quietly. It would be a contender as a corporate desktop box; but it's too small to have an internal PSU, and the price delta between your basic 160GB 2.5inch drive and an mSATA SSD will add up fast if you are equipping an office, and the case certainly doesn't look designed with VESA mount as a primary function, though obviously some ugly adapter brackets can be added.
It just seems to slip neatly between any of its plausible use cases. I don't get it.
The mini is incrementally larger; but skips the loathsome external power brick and isn't made of silvered plastic, the cheapest-looking substance in the known universe (despite actually being cheaper). The ultrabook would put basically the same specs on the table, except for including KVM of some degree of usability.
I honestly just don't understand the target audience here. It would be a contender as a media center PC; but it's too small to cool itself quietly. It would be a contender as a corporate desktop box; but it's too small to have an internal PSU, and the price delta between your basic 160GB 2.5inch drive and an mSATA SSD will add up fast if you are equipping an office, and the case certainly doesn't look designed with VESA mount as a primary function, though obviously some ugly adapter brackets can be added.
It just seems to slip neatly between any of its plausible use cases. I don't get it.
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Only thing which comes to my mind after reading this: I want a Haswell based Mac Mini.
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Can these things boot off an iSCSI target?
If they can, they'd make great "thin-workstations", running a real operating system of their own, but having no locally saved state and being resettable like a VM. You'd only need to stuff in some RAM and you'd be done.
If they can, they'd make great "thin-workstations", running a real operating system of their own, but having no locally saved state and being resettable like a VM. You'd only need to stuff in some RAM and you'd be done.
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"The NUC is a barebones PC kit, meaning that you'll need to bring your own storage, Wi-Fi, and RAM to fill it up and make it actually work. The maximum cost of the NUC depends on which components you decide to fill it with.... The final price tag of $702.99 is reasonably competitive compared to other OEM systems, especially once you take Intel's three-year warranty into account."
Except the Intel warranty presumably only covers the bits they provide and not the bits you BYO, whereas the other OEM's warranties would also cover the (provided) storage, Wi-Fi, and RAM.
Except the Intel warranty presumably only covers the bits they provide and not the bits you BYO, whereas the other OEM's warranties would also cover the (provided) storage, Wi-Fi, and RAM.
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