Intel NUC Kit - The Prefect Home Lab Server?
-
I mount one for a friend this Christmas.
Inside the Nuk an i5 with 1Tb 2.5" hd, 256Gb Sdd Msata2 and 8gb memory.
It runs very very very good, He uses Photoshop with this computer.
It's a nice choice.
-
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
-
@scottalanmiller said:
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
Main problem with Nuc It's the price, It's about 20%-30% expensive than a normal desktop or Laptop.
-
I have a similar unit, a bit older though: http://ark.intel.com/products/83255/Intel-NUC-Kit-NUC5i5RYH
It's a great home lab machine, I run esxi with 5 Linux VMs right now. It's quiet (although a bit louder than 27" iMac), power efficient and stays cool. Mine officially supports 16GB of ram, I also use M2 SSD, I can add regular SATA SSD if needed. -
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
Main problem with Nuc It's the price, It's about 20%-30% expensive than a normal desktop or Laptop.
It's 30% of the price? Isn't that a good thing? Why is that a problem?
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
Main problem with Nuc It's the price, It's about 20%-30% expensive than a normal desktop or Laptop.
It's 30% of the price? Isn't that a good thing? Why is that a problem?
is it really though?
MS had a special (yeah it was a special) on a Dell XPS 13 i5 yesterday for $670.
-
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
Main problem with Nuc It's the price, It's about 20%-30% expensive than a normal desktop or Laptop.
It's 30% of the price? Isn't that a good thing? Why is that a problem?
is it really though?
MS had a special (yeah it was a special) on a Dell XPS 13 i5 yesterday for $670.
That's a very good deal. But the NUC is around $380, right? Sure it needs memory, but that's cheap. I'm not saying it is a better deal if you need a laptop, but if you are looking for a desktop how many machines are in a similar price range? Especially once you start deciding to get an SSD in them?
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
Main problem with Nuc It's the price, It's about 20%-30% expensive than a normal desktop or Laptop.
It's 30% of the price? Isn't that a good thing? Why is that a problem?
is it really though?
MS had a special (yeah it was a special) on a Dell XPS 13 i5 yesterday for $670.
That's a very good deal. But the NUC is around $380, right? Sure it needs memory, but that's cheap. I'm not saying it is a better deal if you need a laptop, but if you are looking for a desktop how many machines are in a similar price range? Especially once you start deciding to get an SSD in them?
I'm sure looking at the whole price was exactly what he was getting at. Toss in RAM, SSD Screen (does the NUC come with a keyboard and mouse?) they quickly become similar prices.
But if you're looking to drive a desktop, it's not a bad base.
I sure will be nice when video cards can connect via ultra-high speed cables, then you just have a stack of components. I could see three main interchangeable pieces - CPU/RAM, video, storage. Could be lego style - could be pretty stylish too.
-
@Dashrender said:
I'm sure looking at the whole price was exactly what he was getting at. Toss in RAM, SSD Screen (does the NUC come with a keyboard and mouse?) they quickly become similar prices.
Well, most people don't buy screens with every desktop, just once in a while. Same with keyboard and mouse.
Comparing to a laptop is pointless, you don't interchange desktops and laptops. Comparing to desktops, do you see many machines in a similar class with similar options with a similar price? If so, from whom?
-
@Dashrender said:
I sure will be nice when video cards can connect via ultra-high speed cables, then you just have a stack of components.
While I agree that this looks interesting, I don't see it as a factor for the foreseeable future. The cost of doing this and the limitations of the interconnects make this fruitless. At some point an external PCIe bus technology will be available with the necessary speed to make this work and I could see hard core gamers jumping on board at that time. Until then, the cost of the approach is far too high and the limitations far too much. Only those that are really serious about gaming will be willing to have such a cumbersome system and they are the ones for whom it does not work at all right now. So it is stuck in limbo until that is addressed.
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I wish that AMD got into this game and made a similar unit themselves, too. The Intel NUC is a bit like the Raspberry Pi of the PC world.
Main problem with Nuc It's the price, It's about 20%-30% expensive than a normal desktop or Laptop.
It's 30% of the price? Isn't that a good thing? Why is that a problem?
is it really though?
MS had a special (yeah it was a special) on a Dell XPS 13 i5 yesterday for $670.
That's a very good deal. But the NUC is around $380, right? Sure it needs memory, but that's cheap. I'm not saying it is a better deal if you need a laptop, but if you are looking for a desktop how many machines are in a similar price range? Especially once you start deciding to get an SSD in them?
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
-
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
This is definitely better price than I'm paying for HP's right now. If it has dual displayport outs I'd seriously consider this when the next machine needs to be replaced.
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
The problem are the expansions, you cannot add any PCI Express so you cannot change the Graphic card, sound card, add Sata drivers...
But don't get me wrong, I love Intel Nuc, I think my next desktop computer at home will be a Nuc.
-
@iroal said:
The problem are the expansions, you cannot add any PCI Express so you cannot change the Graphic card, sound card, add Sata drivers...
I agree that that is a limitation, but is it a problem? Considering you would look at these as business desktops or lab servers, I would never be adding GPUs or sound cards to those. Well almost never, GPUs once in a great while. I get that it only has Intel GPU on board and those are total garbage, but for a business desktop normally fine. But as business machines, I don't think that those limitations are real and any business desktop of this form factor will have the same limitations so that is a form factor problem, not a NUC one per se.
-
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
The problem are the expansions, you cannot add any PCI Express so you cannot change the Graphic card, sound card, add Sata drivers...
But don't get me wrong, I love Intel Nuc, I think my next desktop computer at home will be a Nuc.
The reason I would got with Intel Nuc is its size. I would not plan on expanding anything even if it does come with PCI-E lanes. If graphic cards, sound cards, and other modular components come into play I would get Corsair Compact Case with an ATX motherboard instead. It might cost about the same base price as Intel NUC, but Intel NUC appeals me most with its compact size.
Bottom line question would be what do you plan to use Intel NUC for? -
I forgot to say that is super silent, you know It's on for the light, and with a very low power consumption.
-
@LAH3385 said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
The problem are the expansions, you cannot add any PCI Express so you cannot change the Graphic card, sound card, add Sata drivers...
But don't get me wrong, I love Intel Nuc, I think my next desktop computer at home will be a Nuc.
The reason I would got with Intel Nuc is its size. I would not plan on expanding anything even if it does come with PCI-E lanes. If graphic cards, sound cards, and other modular components come into play I would get Corsair Compact Case with an ATX motherboard instead. It might cost about the same base price as Intel NUC, but Intel NUC appeals me most with its compact size.
Bottom line question would be what do you plan to use Intel NUC for?I like the Bitfenix prodigy's too
-
@wirestyle22 said:
@LAH3385 said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
The problem are the expansions, you cannot add any PCI Express so you cannot change the Graphic card, sound card, add Sata drivers...
But don't get me wrong, I love Intel Nuc, I think my next desktop computer at home will be a Nuc.
The reason I would got with Intel Nuc is its size. I would not plan on expanding anything even if it does come with PCI-E lanes. If graphic cards, sound cards, and other modular components come into play I would get Corsair Compact Case with an ATX motherboard instead. It might cost about the same base price as Intel NUC, but Intel NUC appeals me most with its compact size.
Bottom line question would be what do you plan to use Intel NUC for?I like the Bitfenix prodigy's too
I've got one of those... was going to make a NAS from it but now it just sits there... I may try and make a steam box or some kind of emulator. The processor leaves a bit to be desired though.
-
@coliver said:
@wirestyle22 said:
@LAH3385 said:
@iroal said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@iroal said:
Yes, you need to add memory and a SSD, in same models you can add and Msata SSD and a 2.5" Harddisk simultaneously
So if the base is $380, a decent SSD is $100 and memory is $70 (which is REALLY high) we are looking at $550 for a recent, very fast Intel i5 processor, 32GB of RAM or more and a screaming fast, current SSD desktop? It's not "OMG how did it get so cheap" but it sounds like a good deal to me, overall.
The problem are the expansions, you cannot add any PCI Express so you cannot change the Graphic card, sound card, add Sata drivers...
But don't get me wrong, I love Intel Nuc, I think my next desktop computer at home will be a Nuc.
The reason I would got with Intel Nuc is its size. I would not plan on expanding anything even if it does come with PCI-E lanes. If graphic cards, sound cards, and other modular components come into play I would get Corsair Compact Case with an ATX motherboard instead. It might cost about the same base price as Intel NUC, but Intel NUC appeals me most with its compact size.
Bottom line question would be what do you plan to use Intel NUC for?I like the Bitfenix prodigy's too
I've got one of those... was going to make a NAS from it but now it just sits there... I may try and make a steam box or some kind of emulator. The processor leaves a bit to be desired though.
It's almost perfect for a NAS. Ton of Bays. I built a gaming PC for my ex girlfriend that was a blue prodigy. The small form factor was wanted. Could've been smaller but I liked the case and she did too.
