Custom build or should I just buy a NUC?

[phositadc]

Haven't built a PC in years but have recently gotten the itch to build one. However, my needs are pretty basic -- I'm essentially an "office" type user. Excel, Word, Outlook, web browsing, youtube, etc. At heaviest use, I might have MS Outlook, 4 instances of Word open, 2 instances of Excel, 5-10 tabs in Chrome, and 3 or 4 PDFs open. And maybe in addition to all of that a Citrix remote desktop window open.

If I build something, it would be a microATX build with either an i5-4670 or i7-4770, 16GB RAM, and 500GB SSD.

The other option is just getting the i5 Intel NUC (which is the mobile processor so it's dual-core instead of quad-core) with Intel HD5000 graphics, 16GB RAM, and 500GB SSD.

For my uses, would I even notice a performance difference between the custom build and the NUC? Would it be a complete waste of time and money to do the custom build?

I think it would be fun, but if, for my uses, I would literally have no benefit with the custom build over a NUC, then maybe I'll just get the NUC.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Ken g6]

Have you considered a ChromeBox? The main question would be whether you could get by using Google Docs instead of true Microsoft Office? If so, you might prefer the i3 version that's supposed to be coming soon to the Celeron version that's here now.

 

[phositadc]

Have you considered a ChromeBox? The main question would be whether you could get by using Google Docs instead of true Microsoft Office? If so, you might prefer the i3 version that's supposed to be coming soon to the Celeron version that's here now.

Thanks for the reply, but Chromebox isn't an option. For the time being, MS Office is an absolute requirement. So to me the question really is whether the custom build would have any meaningful benefit over the NUC.

 

[Dman8777]

i7 is definitely overkill for your workload. You could easily get by with an i3 since nothing you mentioned is cpu intensive. An i5 nuc with 8 gb ram would be more than adequate.

 

[phositadc]

i7 is definitely overkill for your workload. You could easily get by with an i3 since nothing you mentioned is cpu intensive. An i5 nuc with 8 gb ram would be more than adequate.

Thanks for the input. Do you think for the office-type tasks that I mentioned, I would even notice a difference between the NUC and the custom build? Like, would moving windows of MS Word around, or opening that 5th PDFfile, be noticeably faster? Or would the performance differences be imperceptible for pretty much everything I mentioned?

It's been so long since I've paid tons of attention to this stuff that I'm out of the loop. Benchmark-wise it looks like the NUC would be in the 4600-4700 range in Geekbench 3 multi-threaded, while the custom build would be closer to 19000(i7) or 12000 (i5). Not noticeable for my needs?

If there's even a slightly noticeable performance boost I'd be tempted to go with the custom build.

 

[LoveMachine]

In terms of hardware, the NUC will likely have all the horsepower you would need, vs. a built system. The advantage of a traditional system would be that you could add/change hardware more easily down the road, and if something were to fail, it would be easier to replace bits n' pieces. A NUC, though, would be nice in terms of office ergonomics (mount the damn thing behind a monitor and you would just have a couple of cables visible), with low power/heat/noise.

If you aren't doing any modeling/video transcoding/CPU-intensive work, an adequate amount of RAM and a SSD would have far more impact on user experience than the CPU.

 

[mfenn]

In terms of hardware, the NUC will likely have all the horsepower you would need, vs. a built system. The advantage of a traditional system would be that you could add/change hardware more easily down the road, and if something were to fail, it would be easier to replace bits n' pieces. A NUC, though, would be nice in terms of office ergonomics (mount the damn thing behind a monitor and you would just have a couple of cables visible), with low power/heat/noise.

If you aren't doing any modeling/video transcoding/CPU-intensive work, an adequate amount of RAM and a SSD would have far more impact on user experience than the CPU.

Agree 100%. As long as you're OK with the storage space you can get on a single SSD (or are willing to pay the premium for a large SSD), then a NUC with 8 or 16GB of RAM will be indistinguishable from a normal PC given your uses.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Sounds like a perfect use case for a NUC, or NUC-type SFF PC.

 

[phositadc]

Thanks for all the input. Was hoping to have an excuse to build something powerful, but sounds like the consensus is that it would be of no benefit to me. If logic prevails I'll go with the NUC...

If logic does not prevail, maybe I'll end up building something anyways 😉

 

[Lonyo]

Well, an NUC will be more expensive really compared to a low end mATX or mITX and limit you in future (assuming comparable specifications of CPU etc).
Unless space is a serious constraint, it's better value to get a regular system really, and it has more future potential as you can re-use components more easily.

 

[Termie]

Well, an NUC will be more expensive really compared to a low end mATX or mITX and limit you in future (assuming comparable specifications of CPU etc).
Unless space is a serious constraint, it's better value to get a regular system really, and it has more future potential as you can re-use components more easily.

This.

There's absolutely no reason to get a NUC unless you really need or want something the size of a couple decks of cards. You're paying a premium of at least $200 for a NUC over an equivalent micro ATX or even mini ITX system.

The NUC seems like a fun experiment, but for most people it's probably the wrong solution, unless price/performance is really unimportant.

I'd say you should build up a system based on an Antec ISK110-VESA mini-ITX case and an i3-4130/H81. It will smoke a NUC for a lot less money.

 

[tullnd]

I'm not sure. That case runs $80. A decent i3 will run over $100($125 for the 4130 model you suggest). Then a motherboard will be $50-80. So let's aim low. That's $230 minimum for a case, processor and motherboard. It'd be $25 more, so $245 if you get the 4130.

He still needs ram, hard drive and any other accessories just the same. Now, a NUC does mean getting mSATA which does increase the cost, but not all that dramatically really. Also normally SODIMM's are used, which add slightly to the cost, but again, not much(about $15 more).

However, if he can drop to a i3 4010u instead, he has two choices. $329 gets him a full NUC with room for a regular SATA SSD. Or he can scale back to a mSATA package for $280.

So the larger NUC at $329 allows him to use a regular SATA drive, but does add a premium of about $10-15 for the memory. So let's call that $339. It IS a slower processor, but for his needs, still more than adequate.

Your build starts at $$245. So it appears the price difference is only $105, not $200. He gets a much more compact setup. He can add wifi/bluetooth to it for just the cost of a card(pre-wired antenna). So yes, it's a bit more, but for the space saving, I'd say it's worth it to many. The performance difference, I don't think will be noticeable to him with his type of use. If concerned, he could jump up to the i5 4250U but that carries a $90 premium, for either version of full size SATA or mSATA drive.

 

[lehtv]

Do you need the PC to be small form factor ...? If not, you can build a sufficiently capable microATX PC for your purposes for very little money. All you need for word processing, browsing etc. is a Pentium, 8GB of RAM and a large enough SSD to hold the OS and programs.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

...You're paying a premium of at least $200 for a NUC over an equivalent micro ATX or even mini ITX system...

i5 Haswell NUC is $370.

ISK110 - $80
i3-4130 - $125
H81 Mobo - $60
Total - $265.

$105 is not "at least $200." The i3 NUC is about the same price as the ISK110 system, but you give up turbo, and therefore a chunk of performance. (It's less comparable, but still a reasonably potent system.)

Poke around a bit on ark.intel.com and you'll see pretty hefty price premiums on the ULV CPUs. So that's probably where the difference is coming from.

Not that I'd get a NUC over an ISK110 system as my main rig - I mean, there's a limit to how much expansion I'm willing to forgo. But it's not as bleak as you seem to think.

 

[lehtv]

i3-4130 - $125
H81 Mobo - $60

You can get i3 and a H81 mobo for about $160 in a combo, can't access newegg right now to link. However, I don't think an i3 is needed for the OP's usage, a G3220 would be fine

 

[Termie]

I'm not sure. That case runs $80. A decent i3 will run over $100($125 for the 4130 model you suggest). Then a motherboard will be $50-80. So let's aim low. That's $230 minimum for a case, processor and motherboard. It'd be $25 more, so $245 if you get the 4130.

He still needs ram, hard drive and any other accessories just the same. Now, a NUC does mean getting mSATA which does increase the cost, but not all that dramatically really. Also normally SODIMM's are used, which add slightly to the cost, but again, not much(about $15 more).

However, if he can drop to a i3 4010u instead, he has two choices. $329 gets him a full NUC with room for a regular SATA SSD. Or he can scale back to a mSATA package for $280.

So the larger NUC at $329 allows him to use a regular SATA drive, but does add a premium of about $10-15 for the memory. So let's call that $339. It IS a slower processor, but for his needs, still more than adequate.

Your build starts at $$245. So it appears the price difference is only $105, not $200. He gets a much more compact setup. He can add wifi/bluetooth to it for just the cost of a card(pre-wired antenna). So yes, it's a bit more, but for the space saving, I'd say it's worth it to many. The performance difference, I don't think will be noticeable to him with his type of use. If concerned, he could jump up to the i5 4250U but that carries a $90 premium, for either version of full size SATA or mSATA drive.

i5 Haswell NUC is $370.

ISK110 - $80
i3-4130 - $125
H81 Mobo - $60
Total - $265.

$105 is not "at least $200." The i3 NUC is about the same price as the ISK110 system, but you give up turbo, and therefore a chunk of performance. (It's less comparable, but still a reasonably potent system.)

Poke around a bit on ark.intel.com and you'll see pretty hefty price premiums on the ULV CPUs. So that's probably where the difference is coming from.

Not that I'd get a NUC over an ISK110 system as my main rig - I mean, there's a limit to how much expansion I'm willing to forgo. But it's not as bleak as you seem to think.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I said $200 for an equivalent system. An i3-4130 is nearly twice as fast as the i5 laptop CPU he's looking at.

As others have mentioned, there's always the Pentium G3220, which would be closer in performance to the laptop chip, and combined with the lower RAM/SSD costs gets you near the $200 mark.

I actually also had in mind the $410 version of the NUC, not the $370 version: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

It can accommodate a 2.5" SSD, which I figured he'd want if he's shooting for a 500GB model.

 

[phositadc]

OP here. Lots of good info in this thread.

Size isn't much of an issue. Nor is cost. I definitely have room for an mATX case. Noise is actually more of a concern than size. That Antec ITX solution looks pretty decent, too. Would an i5 do decently in that thing, or would the thermals not work?

Thanks again for all the replies. Definitely good food for thought.

 

[lehtv]

For a very low noise system, I'd consider Nanoxia DS4 silent case, CM Hyper T4 CPU cooler (can't link newegg right now), and Seasonic G360. The case has an integrated fan controller, the T4 will only spin at 600 RPM when set to silent in the BIOS (and the fan can be replaced with a 3-pin fan downvolted to 5V), and the PSU is practically inaudible

 

[Termie]

OP here. Lots of good info in this thread.

Size isn't much of an issue. Nor is cost. I definitely have room for an mATX case. Noise is actually more of a concern than size. That Antec ITX solution looks pretty decent, too. Would an i5 do decently in that thing, or would the thermals not work?

Thanks again for all the replies. Definitely good food for thought.

The Antec ISK110 won't work for a standard i5 desktop chip. The power supply doesn't have enough capacity to safely run it. You could probably get by with one of the low-voltage models, like the i5-4570S, but it's a bit borderline.

But if size really isn't an issue, then by all means go for an mATX case - much simpler in a lot ways, with a lot more configuration options.