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Help choosing a Intel NUC or similar mini-pc from other company (Zotac, Asus?)
So I think it's time to upgrade my parents pc and thought to try for a mini pc. The problem is that there are way too many models, cpu models (including M editions) to choose from. A simple research I did came up with way too many choices.
So maybe someone in here has already done the research and can lower the possibilities.
- Budget: max 500-600 (euro)
- Will have a w7 and maybe later w10, so a dual+ cpu i5?
- able to support 4-8GB ram (preferably 2 ram lanes)
- If possible room for a ssd / m.2 and a 2.5" hdd
What is really important is that it's as quiet as it can be. (ambient temps up to 30 in summer)
So either a really good low rpm fan or a passive cooled one?
Main usage will be powerpoint, excel & internet browsing ( & streaming).
I know those are a lot of requirements but atleast I didn't put the usual $7 budget :P
Cheers
Comments
Intel NUC5i7RYH Seems pretty Good. What is its price ??
All I'm going to say is Gigabyte Brix
There are some $100 Mini PCs on Aliexpress, but fixed RAM and HDD.
Just checked it. Nice Deal ~ $520 for Intel Core i7-4770R Benchmark Scoring 9800+
>
you mean 14000+ http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/search?q=i7-4770R+
531.00 with VAT (locally) and I am guessing it's the barebone so no ram / disk.
Looks nice but still too many options, any chance you could point some of those models that would fit my requirements and are the best choice from the lot?
Btw maybe it wasn't obvious but the 600 max should be with ram / disk (which should be ~ 100 so 500? for the barebone minipc)
Intel NUC best quality
I haven't seen any difference with Brands so much
Mostly depends on User !
Then, it's better to get the Gigabyte Brix. Same Price but powerful processor !
I'd plumb for an intel nuc maybe a i5 5250u or something similar (not sure if skylake nuc's are out yet). The 5250u has the pretty decent HD 6000 graphics. I wouldn't go for an i7 as I hear they can be quite noisey when they turbo boost.
Not that noisy that can't be tolarated. However, usage matters. For Me, it's Performance vs Price than anything !
However, is these Mini PC's Run on AC Adapter ? Or, Battery Powered ??
First image from SCAN, second from Ebuyer
Here's what it is -
All for £576.69
go with flubit @rmlhhd
Image isn't Loading. How much extra for Ram, HDD's other than the Barebone Brix ?
The NUC 5PPYH (with Intel Pentium N3700 processor), with a SSD, two 4Gb DDR3-L SoDimms and a genuine Windows license fits all your requirements and it is very quiet: the processor only draws a few watts of power. It has a shorter than normal m2 slot, most current SSD don't fit, but it also has a regular 2.5'' hdd slot. Intel NUCs have a better than average warranty and are well built.
the N3700 appears to have 50% of the lowest i5M score.
I have to check up those new i5/7U since they appear to be quite better
I can say brix too.. Have almost same spec but cheaper price than Nuc.
You don't need a Core i5 to do powerpoint, excel & internet browsing. The Pentium N 3700 has 4 good enough cores. But if you want a powerful computer, there are of course better processors, with the drawback of the fan noise and higher price.
Should load,
SCAN:
Brix - £400.80
SSD - £69.56
HDD - £43.90
Ebuyer:
RAM - £63.33
I think, Reducing Ram to 8 GB & getting i7-4770 will be a better choice ! Though the price will increase ! SSD can be decreased to 128 GB if needed !
my bad
it is true cpu doesn't have to be extremely powerfull though the powerpoints do end up being kinda big and full of photos and stuff which makes it "heavier". I guess the N3700 with 4 cores at turbo 2.6 if I recall correctly should be enough and I take it it produces less heat so less noise?
@Mahfuz_SS_EHL noise has to be kept as low as possible, so ppl have a point that a really strong processor will end up making more noise.
I don't think the noise would be that much which will be disguisting / uncomfortable to you.
they usually use 60mm fans so if they spin at max ... :P
The n3700 would be the best choice if noise is a real concern. It will be more than adequate for ordinary usage, especially as it's quite a graphical upgrade over the last gen.
But, it's not too much powerful. Multitasking won't be so good according to: https://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+N3700+@+1.60GHz&id=2513
Now-a-days, Score lower than 4K is not upto the mark !
I assembled a 5PPYH NUC for a friend and I have a inexpensive Asrock N3150B-ITX naked motherboard (same processor) with a pico-psu adapter, 8Gb Kingston RAM and a Intel SSD: a fanless solution, no noise at all. Speed is not the strongest point, of course, but it beats any Z3735 mini-pc and it is enough for most purposes. I notice a slowdown on some heavy flash web sites (nothing to get mad about), and I never tried gaming. A strong point for me is the 3840x2160 hdmi output (25 Hz), because I have a UHD TV. Any significantly better fanless or compact quiet system is far more expensive. The latest Atom X5 should be near to N3700 performance, but there are no desktop systems yet.