Intel NUC 7 Mainstream Kit (NUC7i3BNHX1) - Core i3, 16GB Optane Memory, Add't Components Needed

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Unbelievable performance from a "desktop" computer I can hold in my hand! As fast as any desktop computer and with newest Intel video chip (650), this little wonder will handle almost any game. Actually, will handle any game, but the more resource demanding games will have to be run at lower resolution. Even more amazing is how easy it is to assemble (less than an hour) and to load Windows 10 (about 20 minutes or less). It is an amazingly fast computer which takes up practically no footprint. In addition, I am using this computer to run on a 55-inch high-resolution TV and this little wonder will run at the TVs full resolution with no problem. Amazing! I come from the era when computers ran DOS (and barely at that) and desktops were really "floor computers" as they were so heavy and large. This Intel computer is so fast and has so much storage space (512 GB SSD AND a 2 TB hard drive) with so much RAM (32 GB), it is unbelievable to an "old school" computer person such as me. This model is pre-Optane, so I can only imagine what the Optane powered computers must be capable of for computing needs!

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Absolutely love it. One very important thing they dont tell you about the expandable hdd/ssd is the tray rack only accommodates a 2.5 * 7mm. I was lucky enough to buy a seagate 5tb 2.5 * 15mm hdd only to face myself with a good deal of tray rack mortification and the sata connector to the mb not allowing the nuc case to fully close on one side. Though its not noticeable you have to be careful not to over tighten but snug fit the screws to prevent damage to the mb. Over all... id buy it again, but intel needs better spec sheets.

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Performance is very impressive. At minimum settings, this minipc can actually play sc2 (non-arcade maps) at 60fps. I pair it up with an Akitio Node (eGPU enclosure) + GTX 1070. I never had CPU throttling issues even with turbo-boost off. It matches my purpose perfectly, since it seems that almost no games are actually bottlenecked by even a dual-core CPU! Fan noise with turbo enabled is quite annoying. I wouldnt say its particularly loud, but its pretty high-pitched, so its hard to block out with noise-isolating ear phones. This isnt a problem for me because, so far at least, there has not been a need for turbo-boost.

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Update after few months: this device is one of the fantastic products ever built. I just cant believe how convenient it was to me. I work in an office where I want to have my personal computer available and it is not convenient at all to have a laptop. So I bought backup power adapter for it. I disconnect it from my office then go to my house and connect it over there again. I have added Samsung NVME along with 32 GB; things are amazing.I use the same keyboard that I use for my work laptop and the same monitors that I use for my laptop work so super convenient. I just wish if Intel can add a modular graphics card to it but I will be testing an external GPU to that soon. I bought this as I want to use it in the office and at home and I didnt need a screen. I entered the firmware page and with a single click it updated automatically everything without needing to worry about it. I installed Samsung VME drive with 16 GB RAM and it was blazing fast; Faster than any laptop I have seen including Surface book. Pros: Very fast and solid. No issues. Compact and portable Cons: The price increases frequently. It needs to be a reasonable price so people can buy it.

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Easy to setup, plenty of speed and DOES support 4k @ 60hz via HDMI. Im using this with a Samsung 65" 4k TV and it will do 4k @ 60hz. Near silent as well. This is my 4th Intel NUC - theyre really doing a great job with these.. never had any issues.

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Im going to start with the bad as Id like people to know whats going on up front. At this time there is a problem with this generation i3/i5/i7, 7th gen Intel NUC units. If you are running at 1080P / 4K (typically this happens more with 4k), the display will go black for a few seconds (this also drops the sound), and it will return. This can happen at any time. Once an hour, or once every 10 seconds even. Its random. Currently, Intel has posted on their site that the previous version of graphics display drivers resolves this issue (Version ending in 4664), however it does not resolve the issue. Their forum currently has a dedicated thread regarding these units. I have two, one which is seeing this issue, one which is not. I believe the one which is working fine has the older bios 42, which is unaffected at this time. The only other qualm I have with this unit is that they decided to add a rectangular blue LED to the front of the unit which flashes and lights up when the NUC is turned on and performing tasks. I wish there was a way to disable this (or at least I havent found a way yet). Now onto the good. As always, the Intel NUC line of mini PCs is sleek, quiet, and powerful. This generation holds on to that with a new color scheme which I feel is much nicer looking than the previous white enclosure design. This metal enclosure has a textured gunmetal grey look to it and feels very well designed. The construction itself is simple. It only takes 4 screws to unscrew the bottom of the NUC to get to the 2.5" drive tray, and removing that, you can get to the M.2 mount, and ram slots. Ive owned 4 NUCs at this point. a Celeron 3rd gen, an i5 5th gen, and 2x i5 7th gen and these are the best yet. They are VERY quiet. Paired with an M.2 NVME drive and 16GB of ram, and it will perform beautifully. Ive run these with a Dell 24" 4k display and a 60" LG Plasma @ 1080P and both work very well. Im also glad that Intel moved the power-button from the top of the NUC to the front. It makes the whole look a bit cleaner.

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My Synology NAS just wasnt strong enough to do transcoding for Plex but this NUC does a great job and the codecs that choked my Synology run smoothly with no hiccups. No issues runing Ubuntu 16.04, all the drivers I needed loaded by default but I dont run a gui desktop so cant speak for the graphics/sound. Running docker on it with a few other containers, it sits in my living room under the TV and I cant hear it at all. Front lights up blue around the black panel, can prob turn it off in the BIOS but I like it, has a Tron feel and isnt any brighter than a digital clock I have next to it. Only put in 8gb RAM at the time, but does fine so I dont think Ill need to upgrade. M2 SSD for the primary OS and 2TB disk for extra storage. This is my third NUC, most expensive one but worth it for the i7 and been running two weeks straight and its barely warm to the touch.

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Have a generation 6 NUC i3 slim model and wanted more power and speed. The i3 NUC was very quiet. Originally bought the i7 NUC tall model but the fan was just too loud and the computer ran hot regardless of the cooling setting, so I returned the i7 NUC and ordered the i5 (tall model) NUC instead, as realistically, I do not really need the power of i7. LOL The first i5 NUC was somewhat noisy (even though less noisy than the i7 NUC) and I decided I couldnt live with the noise, so I returned it and got another NUC i5, with the hope that the second one would be quiet enough (and if not, I will just live with my i3 NUC until Intel fixes the noise problem). It was clear right away that the second i5 NUC was much more quiet and once I switched the cooling setting to quiet, it was really quiet as the fan hardly kicks in at all and the NUC is less than one foot from my keyboard. The good thing about the tall model is that you can put in a regular size internal SSD in there (the m.2 SSD houses the OS). Coupled with an external SSD drive, I was able to set up the two-way mirror for my Storage Space in Windows 10 Pro with great speed (Storage Space set up with regular hard drives also works but there is a clear difference in how quickly a document is opened). This has given me great peace of mind knowing that my documents are being saved in two copies in real time, so even if I do not do manual backup at the end of the day, it is not a big deal. (I do not use Cloud backup services now as I prefer to keep my files "on the ground" after experiencing documents mysteriously being moved to the trash by MSs One Drive for Business.) I still manually backup my files pretty much every day so that I have a third copy. I actually just took the m.2 SSD out of my i3 NUC and popped it into the i5 NUC (after deactivating various licenses while in the i3 system). The computer automatically downloaded the necessary drivers/software needed for the i5 NUC and it has worked great so far after 1 day of heavy use. (I have also cloned the i3 hard drive and installed the clone in a laptop before and I never had any issues with the laptop as long as you have the proper licences for both computers.) Will update if the experience becomes less positive, but so far, Im very pleased with my new i5 NUC.

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These things are great, if you can get the "new and improved" BIOS to find a bootloader. But see, thats the mystery! Back in the old days, BIOS programs were easy to use, intuitive, and helpful. But oh no, we cant have that. Instead the "dumbification" of software must continue as it does for softwares like cell phones and what not, so what has Intel done to contribute to the perennial frustration of the human species? "They dont need an easy way to set up a Windows PC anymore! Instead, lets make a graphical version of BIOS that cant find boot sectors without tech support. As they try to install Windows, the worlds most widely used operating system, well send them into an endless loop of blue screens of death, trying to boot to sectors that dont exist, until they are forced to get hold of us, engage people in tech support, and buy new hardware to solve the problem! We dont believe in simplification, only complication!" I miss the gold old days when you could build a PC from its parts and have it up and running smoothly within the hour... Just go get a PC that already has factory installed OS on it. Ive been building PCs for 23 years, I know what Im doing, and this is the first time Ive hit a wall. My frustrations are endless. Nobody should have to go through this. I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy, except those who developed it. I guess that makes them my worst enemy....??? I cant wait until the machines take over and can develop themselves, because left in the hands of human developers, all we get is human error. The Singularity awaits... Have fun!

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All I wanted this computer for was to play my music library, streaming videos, and web browsing. It does not do a single one of those things effortlessly. Display audio (via HDMI) doesnt work about 60% of the time. Intel support has been very responsive, but frankly Id prefer a machine that performs the basic functions reliably to all the support in the world. I was considering a Mac Mini, but at the time (May 2018) the Mini hadnt been updated in 4 years and was just not a smart buy. Well, maybe it wouldve been. Im considering ditching this NUC and getting the Mini anyway. All this frustration vs my $380 initial investment... Might be in my best interest to consider it an expensive lesson learned. God I wish I had a computer that was reliable. This NUC aint it. Maybe they should rename it SUC.

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