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

[faithie999]

Do You know of any other Atheros-cards, maybe with Bluetooth on-board?

Thanks in advance

wish i'd thought of that!!

i have an HP probook 4530s, hacked on 10.8.2. it has a combo wifi/bt card, the atheros AR5B195.

i just borrowed it from the probook and put it into the nuc. i downloaded kexts from http://www.osx86.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=2628&page=2

both wifi and BT worked. there may be an issue with BT not persisting after sleep, but i don't have sleep working on the NUC yet so i can't test that. this issue is noted in the comments on the osx86 page.

there is an ample supply of these wifi/bt cards on ebay, most around $10 with free shipping. make sure you buy a half-height card.

note in the comments on the osx86 page that you might have to do some fiddling with vendor id/device id in one or more of the kexts, depending on which card you end up with. in my experience, you may have to put the card into a windows or linux setup to properly read the vendor and device id's.

bottom line is that it's worth $10 to try it! the worst case is that BT doesn't work as you'd like it, but wifi will still work and you'll pay $10 for a wifi-only card.

 

[hans007]

Do You know of any other Atheros-cards, maybe with Bluetooth on-board?

Thanks in advance

ab

 

[faithie999]

the AR9285 has BT onboard.

i have one sitting on my desk right now that sadly doesnt work in my HP probook as it doesnt have an HP firmware. if anyone wants it for their intel NUC, well you can hit me up $7 and ill ship it to you.

i may be wrong, but i believe the AR9285 card is only wifi.

the AR5B195 wifi/BT card (which is what i have in my probook) is a combination of the AR9285 wifi chip and the AR3011 bluetooth chip. maybe what you have is the combo card.

you are right that a non-hp-branded AR9285 won't allow the probook to boot. i was planning on using the combo card from my probook in the NUC, and using a spare AR9285 from my parts bin in the probook, where i don't need BT. however, the AR9285 i have isn't HP-branded so it's not on the probook's whitelist.

 

[Kaido]

I am getting bad pixelation when watching live TV from my HDHomeRun Prime over wired ethernet. Issue doesn't exist when streaming recorded shows, blu ray rips, or other stuff. Annoying weakness.

Going to try a USB ethernet dongle. Will be happy if it works, because hey it works! And I'd rather have it work than not work. Will be angry if it works, since such a thing shouldn't be needed.

Does your NUC have a Wifi card in it? If so, is it the Intel model?

I'm assuming your other computers on Ethernet don't get pixelation while watching live TV? I'm hoping it's a chipset driver type of thing that can be solved with a software fix if so. Seems like a very specific problem.

 

[hans007]

i may be wrong, but i believe the AR9285 card is only wifi.

the AR5B195 wifi/BT card (which is what i have in my probook) is a combination of the AR9285 wifi chip and the AR3011 bluetooth chip. maybe what you have is the combo card.

you are right that a non-hp-branded AR9285 won't allow the probook to boot. i was planning on using the combo card from my probook in the NUC, and using a spare AR9285 from my parts bin in the probook, where i don't need BT. however, the AR9285 i have isn't HP-branded so it's not on the probook's whitelist.

Ah you are right. I have a ar5b195.

 

[faithie999]

Ah you are right. I have a ar5b195.

$7 shipped is a generous deal!! someone ought to snap it up. i bought one yesterday on ebay for several dollars more.

the only thing i wasn't able to test in my hackintosh NUC when i temporarily installed the AR5B195 is whether it's recognized as a native apple BT device so that it will wake with a BT keyboard or mouse click (couldn't test because i don't have sleep/wake working properly yet). if not, it can still be awakened with the power button.

 

[rifken2]

mine! I will take the card. PM with details.

 

[faithie999]

removed by poster

 

[Dirigible]

Does your NUC have a Wifi card in it? If so, is it the Intel model?

I'm assuming your other computers on Ethernet don't get pixelation while watching live TV? I'm hoping it's a chipset driver type of thing that can be solved with a software fix if so. Seems like a very specific problem.

No wifi.

My other computers do sometimes get pixelation, but this is consistent and unwatchably bad.

Kind of odd.

 

[Kaido]

No wifi.

My other computers do sometimes get pixelation, but this is consistent and unwatchably bad.

Kind of odd.

That's really odd, especially since you have no wifi card. I think it was Legit Reviews who thought the problem stemmed from the heat generated from the Wifi card, beneath the SSD (which does get pretty dang toasty).

Does your streaming software support OSX? I'd be curious to know if the same pixelation issue happens on a different OS - that would rule out drivers, at least. And I'd venture a guess to say we've ruled out heat, as well, since you're not cooking the box with both an SSD and a wifi card. So if it plays nice under OSX, we can blame either a hardware issue or a BIOS issue, although I think one of the reviewers said they had issues with USB Ethernet as well (correct me if I'm wrong). So perhaps something funky with the bus...

 

[FriendlyGhost]

I wan't to put together a NUC, but the budget is tight.
I'll probably go with Win 7, but this is for fun and maybe I would make it a hackintosh.

I would probably go for 2x4Gb of RAM, but which brand/type?
Are there huge differences in performance?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

 

[Zivic]

I wan't to put together a NUC, but the budget is tight.
I'll probably go with Win 7, but this is for fun and maybe I would make it a hackintosh.

I would probably go for 2x4Gb of RAM, but which brand/type?
Are there huge differences in performance?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

8 gigs should be fine. I would go with g.skill like the op suggested.

I have a couple machines around running 8 and depending on your use/apps, it should be fine.

that said, you will only be saving about 25 bucks over the 16 gig set. (newegg has 8 gig sets priced ~40 bucks)


-

I just finished my build on one of these boxes for my dad.
-120 GB msata ssd
-16 gig ram
I got a windows score of 5.9. Using it for the couple days I had it, I was impressed with it. windows 7 loads in 12 seconds. It is more than enough for his use.


I went with the non thunderbolt model. I wanted the built in NIC.

Things it needs:
-an analog audio out
-at least 4 usb on the back
-and at least 2 on the front

 

[Kaido]

Aftermarket cases: (thanks to Octavean from Tonymac for the links)

http://www.techpowerup.com/176104/A...nd-Shiny-Replacement-Cases-for-Intel-NUC.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/177389/Abee-Debuts-Two-More-Intel-NUC-Replacement-Cases.html

 

[cytoSiN]

Aftermarket cases: (thanks to Octavean from Tonymac for the links)

http://www.techpowerup.com/176104/A...nd-Shiny-Replacement-Cases-for-Intel-NUC.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/177389/Abee-Debuts-Two-More-Intel-NUC-Replacement-Cases.html

Smexy:

 

[Dirigible]

That's really odd, especially since you have no wifi card. I think it was Legit Reviews who thought the problem stemmed from the heat generated from the Wifi card, beneath the SSD (which does get pretty dang toasty).

Does your streaming software support OSX? I'd be curious to know if the same pixelation issue happens on a different OS - that would rule out drivers, at least. And I'd venture a guess to say we've ruled out heat, as well, since you're not cooking the box with both an SSD and a wifi card. So if it plays nice under OSX, we can blame either a hardware issue or a BIOS issue, although I think one of the reviewers said they had issues with USB Ethernet as well (correct me if I'm wrong). So perhaps something funky with the bus...

Added a Plugable usb ethernet adapter and no pixelation with live TV.

I don't pretend to understand what's going on. Seems like streaming recorded TV and full-sized blu-ray iso rips would use just as much or more bandwidth as live TV. Yet the recorded TV and full-sized blu-ray iso rips worked just fine previously while live TV was unwatchable with the pixelation.

I'm just glad it works now.

 

[capeconsultant]

Aftermarket cases: (thanks to Octavean from Tonymac for the links)

http://www.techpowerup.com/176104/A...nd-Shiny-Replacement-Cases-for-Intel-NUC.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/177389/Abee-Debuts-Two-More-Intel-NUC-Replacement-Cases.html

Great post! Thanks.

 

[faithie999]

i made the bold assumption that the NUC would boot from the thunderbolt port, so i ordered and just installed a seagate thunderbolt adapter.

i powered on, entered bios, and see that there is "no boot device".

to confirm that the adapter was working, i booted as i had been, from a USB drive, and after booting, the thunderbolt drive was functioning.

i am booting into OS X 10.8.2, but i wouldn't expect that to matter, at least as far as bios seeing or not seeing a boot drive.


then, experimented with windows 7 installer.

using NUC bios 25: windows installer sees the NTFS HD which is in the thunderbolt adapter, but says it cannot install to this disk because the bios doesn't support booting from this device.

using NUC bios 28 or 32: windows installer finds no boot drives.

is it known for sure whether the NUC is supposed to boot from thunderbolt?

thanks!

ken

 

[Kaido]

$10 off the Dual HDMI model with coupon code INTE0102: ($289 shipped!)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856102002

 

[Kaido]

is it known for sure whether the NUC is supposed to boot from thunderbolt?

Haven't found much info on this. May be a BIOS limitation currently.

 

[jalaram]

$10 off the Dual HDMI model with coupon code INTE0102: ($289 shipped!)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856102002

Back in stock at Amazon as well (only 4 in stock right now). $292.49 + free/Prime shipping.

 

[Homerboy]

sooooooooooooooo tempted for XBMC.....

 

[faithie999]

Haven't found much info on this. May be a BIOS limitation currently.

i posted this question on the intel NUC forum a week ago, which looks like it is visited by at least one intel tech, but perhaps intel is on a long holiday break. hopefully at some point i'll get intel's answer, and better yet, a BIOS revision to support thunderbolt booting!!

 

[cbn]

You should post this, or link to this thread, over in the HTPC forum. Good stuff here. :thumbsup:

Agreed. This is a great thread. I also think it should be in the SFF forum.

I wanna see a Haswell version of this, with the high powered 40eu IGP.

+1. With added overclocking options and a larger BGA cooler (able to run passively when CPU and GPU are at stock clocks).

Aftermarket cases: (thanks to Octavean from Tonymac for the links)

http://www.techpowerup.com/176104/A...nd-Shiny-Replacement-Cases-for-Intel-NUC.html



http://www.techpowerup.com/177389/Abee-Debuts-Two-More-Intel-NUC-Replacement-Cases.html

Definitely larger cases, but I am wondering about the cooling? (link says 60mm fan, but what does the heatsink look like?)

 

[chronochime]

Aftermarket cases: (thanks to Octavean from Tonymac for the links)

http://www.techpowerup.com/176104/A...nd-Shiny-Replacement-Cases-for-Intel-NUC.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/177389/Abee-Debuts-Two-More-Intel-NUC-Replacement-Cases.html

They look really nice, but then the case cost almost as much as the entire NUC. Ouch

 

[cbn]

Some pics off my Twitter feed:

NUC vs. Screwdriver: (size comparison)
https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/ewRMFkL5

NUC vs. Wyse C10 thin client: (size comparison)
https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/HwfckY87

NUC vs. old-gen Mac Mini: (size comparison)
https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/QV8XDdFT

NUC vs. WDTV Live Streaming media player: (size comparison)
https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/FkzvxcEZ

240gb mSATA SSD drive: (size comparison)
https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/BlJUelqY

Windows 7 Task Manager + Aja disk test: With the 240gb SSD & 8GB RAM
https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/jnXGuSln

Pics don't really do it justice. When you're holding it, it clicks "this is the future" in your head :awe:

Great pics! I really liked the NUC vs. Old gen Mac Mini.

NUC mainboard vs. LGA push-pin desktop cooler: