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

[Medikit]

Can we update the first post with a link to Anandtech's review? http://www.anandtech.com/show/7566/intels-haswell-nuc-d54250wyk-ucff-pc-review

 

[Kaido]

any info on transcoding 1080p with i5 haswell?

Sounds like you're really busy, but if you had time to run Cinebench 11.5 and/or Handbrake benchmarks on Celeron vs i3 vs i5 vs i7, that would be terrific. I can't find any published results comparing these ULVs.

Regarding the Iris Pros, I thought I read somewhere (AT?) that there's probably not much of a performance gain with the same TDP as the non Iris Pros (eg i5-4200U vs i5-4250U). I don't think I've seen actual benchmarks there either though...

I'll be testing the new models this coming week. fingbarqs, I have several computers, devices, and MKV files to test streaming with, so I'll let you know how that goes. One is actually going to be another display kiosk, so video testing needs to be done! jaydee, I can run whatever you'd like. Do you want both the CPU & GPU results from CINEBENCH?

 

[Kaido]

Can we update the first post with a link to Anandtech's review? http://www.anandtech.com/show/7566/intels-haswell-nuc-d54250wyk-ucff-pc-review

Added to OP, thanks!

 

[Kaido]

I replaced that IVB i3 (black top) that was having Ethernet connectivity issues (it was also borderline HOT) on top. The replacement has a new case design inside:

http://i.imgur.com/I3GDkWH.jpg

There is an indent in the metal with a thermal pad, which covers the mSATA SSD. The revision number on the ID tag on the bottom is 104 (old one is 102) so they've obviously recognized the thermal issue there & fixed it. The new one has no Ethernet dropouts and does not get anywhere near hot, just a bit warm. To be fair, none of the other IVB i3 models I have had the Ethernet problem or excessive heat problem.

 

[DoeBoy]

Fan noise from D54250WYK is so bad I think its defective. It looks like there have been others that have gotten ones with defective fans when I search the intel boards. Has anybody else gotten one of these nuc's? It really sounds like something is wrong with the bearings in the fan or something. I am contacting the seller for maybe an exchange since these i5's ones cost a mint.



Update: I went ahead and opened it up and took the ram out and tried to take it out of the casing. Well I failed at that but in the process the fan is no longer making noise. Makes me think something was touching the fan in some way. Only 3 screws on the board btw.

 

[jaydee]

I'll be testing the new models this coming week. fingbarqs, I have several computers, devices, and MKV files to test streaming with, so I'll let you know how that goes. One is actually going to be another display kiosk, so video testing needs to be done! jaydee, I can run whatever you'd like. Do you want both the CPU & GPU results from CINEBENCH?

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

 

[The0ne]

I need something to stream/play 1080p mkv files. Which would work for price/performance?

 

[Kaido]

Fan noise from D54250WYK is so bad I think its defective. It looks like there have been others that have gotten ones with defective fans when I search the intel boards. Has anybody else gotten one of these nuc's? It really sounds like something is wrong with the bearings in the fan or something. I am contacting the seller for maybe an exchange since these i5's ones cost a mint.



Update: I went ahead and opened it up and took the ram out and tried to take it out of the casing. Well I failed at that but in the process the fan is no longer making noise. Makes me think something was touching the fan in some way. Only 3 screws on the board btw.

I have mine on the bench today, so I'll test it out & see how the fan noise is. Literally every other model has been dead silent, so my first guess would be a fan issue.

 

[Kaido]

I need something to stream/play 1080p mkv files. Which would work for price/performance?

What exactly are you looking to do? If it's on your TV, they make set-top boxes for $99 that lets you stream MKV direct (ex. WDTV Live Streaming box).

 

[Kaido]

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

OK, I've got a few on my desk, I'll fire up 11.5 when I get a moment today!

Edit: Got busy, revisiting on Thursday!

 

[superxero044]

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)

 

[Kaido]

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)

I would be interested to try a Valve Gabebox with Iris :thumbsup:

 

[superxero044]

Valve actually had a brix with a steam logo on the top. They wouldn't really give me any more info on it though

 

[DaveSimmons]

ArsTechnica just reviewed the Haswell:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...tels-tiny-haswell-based-nuc-desktop-reviewed/

I'm tempted to get a couple, for a HTPC and for my music jukebox, but at ~$600 for the HTPC and $800 for the jukebox (480 GB mSATA) I can't justifyu replacing the PCs I already have.

 

[Kaido]

ArsTechnica just reviewed the Haswell:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...tels-tiny-haswell-based-nuc-desktop-reviewed/

I'm tempted to get a couple, for a HTPC and for my music jukebox, but at ~$600 for the HTPC and $800 for the jukebox (480 GB mSATA) I can't justifyu replacing the PCs I already have.

Yeah, I wish I had more use for them at home. I do video editing, so I need a good GPU in my workstation. I have a Roku 3 on my TV, which handles everything but emulators & is VERY family-friendly, so nice dice there. Then I was thinking one for my home theater, but I do like to play Steam from time to time and even the Iris probably wouldn't cut it, so a traditional HTPC or just a tower with a gaming GPU would be better there.

They are fabulous at work for everything from desktop replacements to machine controller computers to display kiosks to projector computers in meeting rooms. So easy to deploy. Love 'em!

 

[FriendlyGhost]

ArsTechnica just reviewed the Haswell:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...tels-tiny-haswell-based-nuc-desktop-reviewed/

ARStechnica aren't happy with the fan noise.

What's the experiences from You?

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

 

[you2]

I'm beginning to think these boxes are pricey for what they offer. I just built a mini itx with inwin 656 case; 120gb ssd and g3220 for $330. If I had waited for one of those deals that happened back in oct it would have been less than $280.
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The g3220 is faster than the mobile i3; the thing uses 1.8watt on standby; 16 watt for simple stuff (web browsing) and 45watt for prime95 (both core). The case is 8.9" x 3.0" x 8.3"; so it is a little larger. The only two negatives I can see (other than the bigger footprint) is the MB i choose does not have display port (some do) and the case front usb are 2.0 (which is fine for me; I can use the rear ports when I need the speed).
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For comparison the nucc is 4.6” x 4.4” x 1.4” so it is quite a bit smaller but it would also cost $100 more and be 2/3 the speed (for the I3; $200 more for the I5). I'm kind of hoping gigabyte or intel would offer a model with the G3220 for a bit of a savings (the small foot print is appealing but as I said at the top I'm beginining to think the cost is a bit excessive). Btw the inwin case is pretty nice; it takes me less than an hour to assemble these and it has room for a slim dvd if you want one.
--
(the watts mentioned above are for the full system as measured by a kill-awatt 4400)

 

[Kaido]

I'm beginning to think these boxes are pricey for what they offer. I just built a mini itx with inwin 656 case; 120gb ssd and g3220 for $330. If I had waited for one of those deals that happened back in oct it would have been less than $280.
-
The g3220 is faster than the mobile i3; the thing uses 1.8watt on standby; 16 watt for simple stuff (web browsing) and 45watt for prime95 (both core). The case is 8.9" x 3.0" x 8.3"; so it is a little larger. The only two negatives I can see (other than the bigger footprint) is the MB i choose does not have display port (some do) and the case front usb are 2.0 (which is fine for me; I can use the rear ports when I need the speed).
-
For comparison the nucc is 4.6” x 4.4” x 1.4” so it is quite a bit smaller but it would also cost $100 more and be 2/3 the speed (for the I3; $200 more for the I5). I'm kind of hoping gigabyte or intel would offer a model with the G3220 for a bit of a savings (the small foot print is appealing but as I said at the top I'm beginining to think the cost is a bit excessive). Btw the inwin case is pretty nice; it takes me less than an hour to assemble these and it has room for a slim dvd if you want one.
--
(the watts mentioned above are for the full system as measured by a kill-awatt 4400)

You pay for the size and you're stuck with laptop parts & integrated graphics. It's definitely a trade-off.

 

[Kaido]

ARStechnica aren't happy with the fan noise.

What's the experiences from You?

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

I'll run Prime95 or something for awhile tomorrow & see how it fares. Will report back.

 

[Kaido]

Anandtech has a review of the Gigabyte BRIX Pro with Iris graphics up:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7648/gigabyte-brix-pro

Press release:

http://www.gigabyte.us/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1262

Special note on pricing:

The final aspect that we are covering today is pricing. The i7-4770R and i5-4570R cost $392 and $288 respectively (as per the ARK pages). They are only available to OEMs. The MSRP for the GB-BXi5-4570R is $529, while the GB-BXi7-4770R comes in at $649. Considering that no other vendor has brought out a i7-4770R system, Gigabyte can charge a premium and still get away with it. Given the high price demanded by Intel for the CPU alone, the end pricing of the systems don't appear outrageous.

Frankly I was a little shocked at the pricing until I realized that it's using one heck of a CPU chip - a true quad-core i7 with hyperthreading:

http://ark.intel.com/products/76642/Intel-Core-i7-4770R-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz

So it's not using a ULV chip like the other NUCs. However, power suffers - they saw peaks of 93 watts & loads of 88 watts, which is still pretty good, but not in the sub-30w range of the other models. But still, DANG - a real i7 in that tiny package?? It has some impressive but mixed numbers on the GPU side of things too:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7648/gigabyte-brix-pro/2

Very interesting. Will snag one when it becomes available. Already have a project in mind for it! With a real CPU in it, that would also make it a pretty sick ESXi box...

 

[Kaido]

Also, poking through the comments on that article. On said the Iris Pro is a little better than a 640M in terms of performance. Very interesting post by John Hardkiss:

(1st post here)
I am suprised it isn't mentioned here that Gigabyte is planning to release BRIXs with mobile dGPUs as well. This is interesting and I hope Anandtech will cover this as well and compare their performance with the 4770r. Obviously, having dGPU in a BRIX format defies the need for 4770R somewhat. the combo-setups will be 1) AMD A8 APU + Radeon HD 8890M, 2) Intel CPU + Radeon HD 8890M, 3) Intel CPU + Nvidia GTX 880M. You can even see the stickers Gigabyte put on their BRIX models showcased at the CES in your own gallery here: http://anandtech.com/Gallery/Album/3311#8 .

A request for the full review is also to please have some clear pictures of the BRIX stripped down. I mean, how is the cpu connected to the heatsink and how is the fan exactly positioned? I can imagine myself building a simple, sleightly larger case with some Vesa compatible holes drilled in it to fix the Brix Pro in. This way one could hopefully exchange the stock fan with some quiet 140mm fan and not have to live with the probably insane amount of stocknoise. (And, i could glue the psu inside this larger case as well - Gigabyte, take note of this idea!)

I would also like to suggest to look at how the dimensions of the Gigabyte Pro motherboard relate to the NUC dimensions. Is it 1:1 as far as size goes? Or 1:1 as far as formfactor goes: are the screwholes dimensioned the same?

Lastly, I would like to suggest this: In a lot of the practical gaming tests that are done with iGPUs, I don't see 1080p resolutions being tested. Today this is becoming outdated, since not only the 4770R in this BRIX Pro unit, but also the Kaveri a10-7850k (as well as the 65W(!) rated a10-7800 which I believe shares the same iGPU but is clocked a bit lower cpu wise) are capable of gaming at these resolutions. I mean, see this for what we have coming our way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axyHkKn_e80 pretty insane.

So, please Anandtech, start incorporating 1080p gaming in your benchmarks. A game like cs:go on 1080p would be awesome. I am planning to use either the new kaveri or this 4770r for this game but I'm not sure it will handle it.

A rather long first post, but you can understand hopefully that I try to bring some free thoughts to this table. I hope you incorporate these in your review Anandtech!

Kaveri looks pretty sick for gaming via that Youtube link. That would make a pretty tight Steambox for sure!

 

[finbarqs]

yeah... i7 will definitely transcode, but I'm more interested in the ULV package to see if it'll transcode 1080p w/ 5.1 sound over plex...

 

[Kaido]

yeah... i7 will definitely transcode, but I'm more interested in the ULV package to see if it'll transcode 1080p w/ 5.1 sound over plex...

Setting up the Haswell i5 Intel NUC on my desk for Plex & Prime95 now! We'll see how it fares today for streaming performance & fan noise...

 

[you2]

Anandtech has a review of the Gigabyte BRIX Pro with Iris graphics up:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7648/gigabyte-brix-pro

Press release:



Very interesting. Will snag one when it becomes available. Already have a project in mind for it! With a real CPU in it, that would also make it a pretty sick ESXi box...

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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.

 

[Kaido]

Setting up an IVB Celeron. Odd quirk, it really slogs down when installing applications (installing about 20 small apps right now). Not sure if it's the 1.1ghz Celeron (pegs at 100%) or the MyDigitalSSD (roughly 100 MB/s slower than the Mushkins I normally use). Not sure if the CPU speed affects the read/write speed of the SSD at all.