[johnmflores]

NUC = Next Unit of Computing = Intel's version of the Mac Mini

Intel® NUC Products

There is a new version packing a quad core Skylake i7 with Iris Pro 580 graphics core, M.2 PCIE SSDs, USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, and an SD card reader in a package the size of a paperback.


Photo: Gordon Mah Ung

Hands-on with Intel's Skull Canyon NUC, the most powerful game-ready mini-PC | PCWorld

Has a lot of potential to run Adobe Creative Cloud. I have a Thunderbolt RAID that could work well with it.


Anyone using these? Any thoughts?

[RGlasel]

Anyone using these? Any thoughts?

Use welder's gloves to pick it up. I'm being slightly facetious, .all the mini-PCs I've used have been low wattage devices, but the 120 watt power supply is a giveaway. I like the idea of a computer you can attach to the back of your monitor or push into a cubbyhole, but even with a small fan, this device will need elbow room to properly dissipate heat. The advantages of the extra small form factor will be somewhat negated by its need for personal space and cabling. Still pretty amazing, but to me it seems like an in-between device with limited market appeal.

[TomTom]

Hi John,

I opted for a Lenovo M73 tiny with an i3 for low power consumption as I run it as a media server (Plex, and this box can stream Blu-ray rips) that is on all time. I love the form factor and the option to go big on the cpu like you did. As I am a cheapskate I shied away from the price of the Intel NUCs. After looking at other options and I came across the Lenovo tiny form factor models. Though I have only had it a few months it's a 4th gen i3... open box return that was about half off full retail. I do run Adobe CC on it but it's really a back-up to my laptop in that regard. I will run a mirrored RAID setup when I can afford it but for now have a 4TB external on it.

[Digitalis]

Has a lot of potential to run Adobe Creative Cloud.

Sure it has potential, however two ram slots is awfully limiting*, one hard drive is equally limiting. The number of USB ports is also concern, however there are internal USB headers. If you do upgrade it the high component density means there is a high probability that cooling will be an issue. The Intel video card isn't a huge issue for image editing** and the system seems to have a weak built in sound card***

Small form factor PCs have been around for decades and the limitations of their hardware expansion has always prevented me from buying into a system.


*RAM is one of the most important things with image processing systems, the CPU doesn't matter so much as de-mosaicing RGGB isn't really all that computationally demanding.
** if you are into gaming, or 4K video production it will be.
*** I like to listen to music while I work, and I'm admittedly a bit of an audio quality nut. I never use the built in soundcards I use a USB DAC hooked up to a Klipsch 5.1 speaker system.

[Giklab]

if you are into gaming, or 4K video production it will be.

I might be mistaken but I believe this has (or will have at some point) the option of adding a desktop video card via an external enclosure.

[Digitalis]

I might be mistaken but I believe this has (or will have at some point) the option of adding a desktop video card via an external enclosure.

That would totally wreck the advantage of the form factor

[reeftool]

The NUC looks interesting but I don't really look at it as a replacement for my desktop but rather as a second computer. If you live in a smaller apartment with space issues, it may be a good solution. Rather than making desktop comparisons, I think the NUC is better compared to laptops. A high end NUC will be a cheaper solution than a high end laptop with a monitor plugged in and uses the same amount of real estate. Of course, you loose the portability of the laptop but I do know people who own laptops that never leave their desk.

To my knowledge, the NUC is still a bare bones DIY kit that lacks memory and an OS so it really doesn't compete with the Mac Mini either.

[Digitalis]

A high end NUC will be a cheaper solution than a high end laptop with a monitor plugged in and uses the same amount of real estate.

I agree, though the upshot of the NUC is you get to choose the monitor you are editing with - there are a scarcity of IPS equipped laptops with decent coverage of the adobe colour gamut - and the laptops that are made for photography are extortionately priced.

, the NUC is still a bare bones DIY kit that lacks memory and an OS so it really doesn't compete with the Mac Mini either.

Same goes for the SSD, you will have to buy that separately too. And for such a platform you will want the biggest one you can get 256Gb* at minimum.



*Something feels fundamentally wrong when I write triple digit numbers in gigabytes, when I was getting into computers 20mb hard drives were considered MASSIVE.

[reeftool]

You can plug an external monitor into a laptop but that will drive the cost up even higher. I had an old, cheap netbook that I had an HDTV plugged into that I streamed Netflix movies with. The netbook died and I now just use a blue ray player. A lot of people built small form factor PC's for a while for use as media servers and video streaming but that's really not practical anymore. I have an external HD plugged into my Netgear router and I can watch my uploaded content on every device I own.

We'll be seeing triple digit gigabytes on our phones soon. Tablets are already there. My first computer used cassette tape. If you had a floppy disk, it was a big deal and hard drives were huge furniture sized boxes that cost thousands. It probably won't be long before our phones can do everything. We will just plug in our keyboard and monitor when we get home and go to work.

[johnmflores]

The Intel team behind the Skull Canyon NUC says it will handle Adobe Creative Cloud and editing 4k video...

[Clarkey]

The Intel team behind the Skull Canyon NUC says it will handle Adobe Creative Cloud and editing 4k video...

Thread resurrection!

Hi John,
Did you end up going this way? I'm also looking to re-enter the desktop space and will not be building a full tower case.

Excepting the Skull candy edition, I see all of the NUCs have been updated (and the price is coming down) to the Kabylake processors.
I've been looking at the i5 (pity dual core, but honestly, not an issue - 32GB of RAM should sort most of that out). The i7 is supposed to go fast, but very hot under load (therefore noisy fan).

I'm also going to consider the Zotac Magnus systems, which are supposed to have excellent thermal management.

[johnmflores]

Thread resurrection!

Hi John,
Did you end up going this way? I'm also looking to re-enter the desktop space and will not be building a full tower case.

Excepting the Skull candy edition, I see all of the NUCs have been updated (and the price is coming down) to the Kabylake processors.
I've been looking at the i5 (pity dual core, but honestly, not an issue - 32GB of RAM should sort most of that out). The i7 is supposed to go fast, but very hot under load (therefore noisy fan).

I'm also going to consider the Zotac Magnus systems, which are supposed to have excellent thermal management.

I’ve been using the Skull Canyon for over a year now. Took a little bit of time transitioning from a Mac - getting my 2 RAID drives (Drobo and Promise Pegasus) to work and some early teething problems (overheating) but after some firmware updates it’s settled in nicely. The fan does get loud when doing some heavy Photoshop, Lightroom, or Premiere still but that doesn’t bother me. I would def buy again.

[Digitalis]

The fan does get loud when doing some heavy Photoshop, Lightroom, or Premiere still but that doesn’t bother me.

That degree of noise would be an issue for me, I spent some time perusing some threads that discuss this: the mean average is about 57 dB from directly in front of the Intel NUC, while running system intensive programs. For reference: my water cooled PC runs at 38 dB* when running at full capacity.



*Measured at 1 foot, the 400mm radiator is mounted to the top of my system case, the fans i'm using are noctura 200mm running at 500rpm, I also have some internal 140mm fans cooling hard drives, and of course the PSU has a dedicated 140mm fan. The bigger the fan is: the greater amount of air it can move compared to a smaller, noisier one.

[johnmflores]

That degree of noise would be an issue for me, I spent some time perusing some threads that discuss this: the mean average is about 57 dB from directly in front of the Intel NUC, while running system intensive programs. For reference: my water cooled PC runs at 38 dB* when running at full capacity.



*Measured at 1 foot, the 400mm radiator is mounted to the top of my system case, the fans i'm using are noctura 200mm running at 500rpm, I also have some internal 140mm fans cooling hard drives, and of course the PSU has a dedicated 140mm fan. The bigger the fan is: the greater amount of air it can move compared to a smaller, noisier one.

I’ve got two things in my favor:

1. I went to too many punk, ska, and new wave concerts growing up and too many years on motorcycles without earplugs so my hearing is attenuated at certain frequencies.
2. When I’m doing some heavy processing I just turn the stereo up to 11 and rock out. Or make some coffee and take a nap.

[Digitalis]

I’ve got two things in my favor

so do I...



..A pair of klipsch reference II speakers. Connected to a very good DAC/AMP.