New NUC, HD5000, 4x USB 3.0, infrared sensor

Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2005
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Hi guys.

Been looking around the these compact PC's for a few days because I am possibly weighing up the move to Ubuntu and ditching my PC. I am just sick of the huge tower and all that power I just don't need. I love the idea of sticking a NUC or Brix onto the back of my monitor.

So I had my eyes on a Gigabyte Brix i3-4010 with Intel HD4400 graphics. I really like the case of the Brix, but if its on the back of my monitor does it really matter? So I have also seen the NUC i5 D54250WYK for about £40 more and for the speed bump in cpu and graphics I think it may be worth paying that little extra.

Do you think it will be worth paying the extra for the NUC over the Brix if its going to be my main PC? Like I said I will be running Ubuntu and all I need it for is Internet, Email, CD ripping and the odd game of Quake Live @ 1080p.

One thing I am worried about though is the fan noise in the NUC i5 D54250WYK. I have heard it can be excessive. This is what is putting me off the NUC. I don't want to hear any fan noise at all ideally. Has there been any new BIOS from Intel to cure this problem? I have heard the Brix i3 is very quiet.

Cheers.
 
Associate
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Yup, I'd say go for the i5 NUC too, the fan really wasn't that bad and worst case scenario you can pick up a fanless case for between £65-£100 if it really bothers you down the line.
 
Soldato
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Well I am 90% sold on the i5 but I am just worrying about the fan noise. I know you say its not that bad but this sort of noise is subjective.

I have seen people altering the BIOS settings to try and cure it but Intel don't recommend this.

Anyone here with a D54250WYK tweak the BIOS to deaden the fan noise?
 
Soldato
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is a NUC capable of running Lightroom well with normal every day use like surfing and so on ??? my iMac from 2009 ( 3ghz dual core and 8Gb) is really showing its age lately with RAW files from a 5D mkii. My better half says we cant go for another iMac yet so am on a budget for a new System that will last a couple of years with LR. I guess when i stick in a SSD (500Gb ish) and memory with monitor (1440p) am still looking at over £1k easy. aaghh what to do :(
 
Associate
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is a NUC capable of running Lightroom well with normal every day use like surfing and so on ??? my iMac from 2009 ( 3ghz dual core and 8Gb) is really showing its age lately with RAW files from a 5D mkii. My better half says we cant go for another iMac yet so am on a budget for a new System that will last a couple of years with LR. I guess when i stick in a SSD (500Gb ish) and memory with monitor (1440p) am still looking at over £1k easy. aaghh what to do :(

I have a NUC and its really good! I bought the best model, the i5 one with 256GB harddisk, 8GB ram. I use it for browsing, media playing on my TV @ 1080p, torrent box and XBMC. I also bought a wireless xbox controller and play games on it and it runs well. It boots to Windows 8 start screen in 8 seconds, is very quiet and very small. Its a great little PC, a good desktop replacement unless you want to play the latest games.
 
Soldato
Joined
12 May 2005
Posts
5,146
Location
Ripon, North Yorkshire
I have a NUC and its really good! I bought the best model, the i5 one with 256GB harddisk, 8GB ram. I use it for browsing, media playing on my TV @ 1080p, torrent box and XBMC. I also bought a wireless xbox controller and play games on it and it runs well. It boots to Windows 8 start screen in 8 seconds, is very quiet and very small. Its a great little PC, a good desktop replacement unless you want to play the latest games.

thanks for the reply, not fussed about games, just wondering about photo editing
 
Associate
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thanks for the reply, not fussed about games, just wondering about photo editing

Photoediting on this would be ok I guess, but not the best thing for it as the CPU isnt that amazing on the NUC, its upto 1.9GHz max. You might be better off building a mini PC with mini ATX. It will be bigger than the NUC, but you can stick in a much better CPU.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
11 Mar 2004
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Is there any news on the fanlless zotac yet?

Edit - release date 14th July

Celeron n2930 £108
I3 £198
I5 £270

Would the Celeron be fine for Netflix, amazon prime, Xbox movies, now TV?

Got several 32 and 60gb ssds I can throw in, would that leave just ram on top to buy?
 
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Soldato
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