Looking at this for replacement PC....what do you guys think?

[Baz]

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=1VK-004K-00032

Intel NUC Mini PC/HTPC, 4th Generation Intel Dual-Core i5 Upto 2.6GHz, 8GB DDR3L, 240GB SSD, Wifi, Bluetooth, Dual Monitor Capable, Windows 10 Professional 64Bit

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Do I really need the i5 over the i3?

I don't game - but will be doing some streaming.

It's an extra $130.

Not a big deal but what do you think?

Going with the 240GB SSD.

Also, do you plug in an external CD ROM on these machines? I'm used to having them (I like having 2) in my tower.

Thanks for any thoughts!

[Baz]

Pics:

[legion]

Do you do anything else that is graphics intensive? Do you have any large spreadsheets? Do you use Photoshop? If you answered "no" to all of the above, you are fine with the i3.

[stomachmonkey]

I love those little compact pc's.

I views hem as something similar to laptops where my general thought is spend as much as you can afford.

This is mostly due to the limited upgrade options.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by legion

Do you do anything else that is graphics intensive? Do you have any large spreadsheets? Do you use Photoshop? If you answered "no" to all of the above, you are fine with the i3.

OK thanks - very limited photo shop and no spread sheets (thank God).

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I love those little compact pc's.

I view them as something similar to laptops where my general thought is spend as much as you can afford.

This is mostly due to the limited upgrade options.

I like them too!

What about adding a CD Rom drive? External, right?

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Baz

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=1VK-004K-00032

Intel NUC Mini PC/HTPC, 4th Generation Intel Dual-Core i5 Upto 2.6GHz, 8GB DDR3L, 240GB SSD, Wifi, Bluetooth, Dual Monitor Capable, Windows 10 Professional 64Bit

-------------------------------

Do I really need the i5 over the i3?

I don't game - but will be doing some streaming.

It's an extra $130.

Not a big deal but what do you think?

Going with the 240GB SSD.

Also, do you plug in an external CD ROM on these machines? I'm used to having them (I like having 2) in my tower.

Thanks for any thoughts!

That is a quite old unit. You need to look at the generation as well as the i5 vs. i3.

Intel NUC Kit NUC6i5SYH- Mini PC - the 6 before the "i" says it is a 6th gen CPU. Gen 7 units are "out" but I haven't found them for sale.

That said, we are running quite a few of the NUCs. I have one in my conference room to run the display unit, video conferencing, etc. I also built one for my father when he needed a new PC.

Here is what I purchased for my dad NUC6i5SYH. The "H" at the end means the case is large enough for a standard 2.5mm drive. I put in the M2 style SSD drive for operation and then a 2GB real disk drive internally for backup. You need to add memory and an OS, and you are done! I also bought my dad an external DVD drive, just in case he loads software from a disk.

[red-beard]

An external DVD drive is about $20.

[chapstic2001]

Originally Posted by Baz

What about adding a CD Rom drive? External, right?

Correct, via USB. Besides most applications are downloaded today and installed as an .exe.

[red-beard]

One more thing on the external DVD drive, make sure it is USB 3.0! All of the external ports are USB 3.0 for much faster transfer rates.

[Baz]

Ok thanks, guys.

I like your 'spy vs spy' avatar Chapstic2001! Old school and very cool....

[legion]

I bought a refurbished i5 full-sized desktop for Christmas for my kids for $270 from WalMart online. Basically came with everything but the monitor, and it is easily upgradable. (And had a DVD-rom drive ).

[John Rogers]

When I was teaching intro to computer classes (fully retired now) I used the analogy of a race car I.E. power, power POWER! Today I would recommend an Intel I-7 CPU, 16 GB or more RAM or as much as the mother board can handle, fastest video card with 4GB RAM and CPU on it and HDMI outlets (2) and a SSD hard drive for the boot OS and two 4TB drives to save/backup things on. For a monitor a 48 inch Vizio flat screen TV from Walmart for $250 or so. Use an external DVD player in an adapter that can also hold an 8GB drive if needed for backups. Run in 64 bit mode and streaming videos will be a breeze and with the large screen you can watch them and work with any office type applications with no slowness. It will last for 3 to 4 years I would guess.

[widebody911]

I've been considering getting one of those to use as media center PC.

[flipper35]

John, normally that is true, but the i7 doesn't really add performance in anything he is doing. If you were doing some huge data crunching or video editing it does add some performance, but in gaming the i5 is actually as fast or faster.

[John Rogers]

Correct as to what he is doing now.......but what about next year or so? Again like my vintage 914-6, always plan ahead just in case.

Example: If I grab a movie from 123Movies and need to convert it to a MKV format so I can watch it on my Co-Star box in the bedroom, the use of Handbrake to convert it runs all 6 CPUs of my AMD X-6 processor to 99% so anything else gets slowed down way bad. It also uses about 95% of the 12GB of RAM in my PC. I guess it is about time for me to do some upgrading? Will the OP do this today, probably not, but in 6 months....who knows?

[stomachmonkey]

Realistically the CPU is less critical.

For rendering it's all about the GPU these days.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by john rogers

Will the OP do this today, probably not, but in 6 months....who knows?

I can almost guarantee you I will never do that....because I don't even know what it means....lol...

I use my PC for email, looking up stuff on the www, paying bills, buying stuff, storing audio and visuals, and also watching YT videos.

I currently have a 2TB external HD that I use to store all my audio and visuals so it frees up my partitioned C and D drives (combined 3 GB).

My friend is telling me now I should get the i5 due to a better graphics chip set.

Thanks for the additional posts and info!

[Seahawk]

I had no idea there was such a thing as a mini PC.

Thanks, Baz. These are perfect for additional offices we are adding.

I have got to get out more.

[john70t]

That's cool.
(Not sure how far these types of linked modular setups can go before redundancy comes full circle but..)

You can rig that with the existing keyboard/mouse using a KVM How to Operate Multiple Computers With One Keyboard and Monitor

I've got the IOGEAR, It has a small button which can be hidden/attached anywhere https://www.amazon.com/two-computers-one-monitor-Electronics/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Atwo%20computers%20one%20monito r

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by john rogers

Correct as to what he is doing now.......but what about next year or so? Again like my vintage 914-6, always plan ahead just in case.

Example: If I grab a movie from 123Movies and need to convert it to a MKV format so I can watch it on my Co-Star box in the bedroom, the use of Handbrake to convert it runs all 6 CPUs of my AMD X-6 processor to 99% so anything else gets slowed down way bad. It also uses about 95% of the 12GB of RAM in my PC. I guess it is about time for me to do some upgrading? Will the OP do this today, probably not, but in 6 months....who knows?

Sure, but is it worth the extra money to save those 13 seconds difference it takes to render a movie?

They have benchmarked the crap out of the i5 and i7 to see why the i7 is so much more expensive. So far there hasn't been much real world justification. On paper the i7 is a monster, but it is a paper monster.