Could this Mini-PC handle Minecraft or would I be better off with a dedicated video card

[fikappacman]

Could this mini PC handle minecraft at a 720 or 1080P resolution....it seems it could but I am skeptical? I know there are better one's on the market but its for my son and we are trying to stay within a 500 budget. I had a nice build option suggested on another thread but this is about 400 cheaper with an operating system included. Also could it run steam games?

Thanks!

Intel NUC BOXD54250WYKH1 Intel 4th Gen Intel Core i5-4250U with Intel HD Graphics 5000

 

[BigBadBeef]

There is no 720p or 1080p with minecraft, its a flash game, it will eat its requirements no matter what you do. Go check the minimum requirements on the minecraft website and see if your CPU matches them!

 

[Guest]

How much RAM on the rig?
Minecraft uses Java more than anything. Due to this it uses RAM, not as much the GPU or the CPU. As far as Steam games are concerned, some yes. Steam has everything from 8-bit to Newest and greatest! It is more on a per game basis.

 

[fikappacman]

There is no 720p or 1080p with minecraft, its a flash game, it will eat its requirements no matter what you do. Go check the minimum requirements on the minecraft website and see if your CPU matches them!

I already checked the minimum requirements (as well as the "optimum" requirements. The issue that arises is that there are over a thousand different responses on forums that I have searched over the last 2 months claiming this "works well" or "doesn't work well". I understand I could build a rig for 1K that would work great but I'm looking to throw together a nice little system for a first grader to enjoy and not break the bank

Also for the resolution specs detailing to 720P or 1080P it was meant for video output issues....there are absolutely issues that I have seen that can arise with integrated video cards with spotty output....lets put it this way I wouldn't run this rig on my 4K tv Just checking to see if anyone has used this rig or something close to it that may be able to identify their thoughts based on their expertise. Thank you!

 

[fikappacman]

How much RAM on the rig?
Minecraft uses Java more than anything. Due to this it uses RAM, not as much the GPU or the CPU. As far as Steam games are concerned, some yes. Steam has everything from 8-bit to Newest and greatest! It is more on a per game basis.

I would add 16GB I would assume.....I agree that RAM is super important. I'm not worried with the I-5 processor...I am more concerned with the integrated video card being only a 5000 series. Any thoughts?

 

[Saberus]

There is no 720p or 1080p with minecraft, its a flash game, it will eat its requirements no matter what you do. Go check the minimum requirements on the minecraft website and see if your CPU matches them!

Minecraft isn't a flash game, nor is it limited to specific resolutions. The NUC can run Minecraft, but you might have to tinker with some settings to get decent frames on your iGPU. If you can throw more than 1GB of RAM at it (what MC grabs be default), do so, 2-3GB tends to be enough unless you're going bonkers on render distance or using shader mods.

 

[Guest]

Should be fine, minecraft isn't GPU intensive. Also you only really need 8Gb 2 x 4gb DDR3 1600 CAS 9 prefer 10 is okay too. You will be limited on some games on steam of course with the 5000 series. Too bad not in a case, otherwise you could up that GPU if push came to shove. If nothing else it can be a dedicated minecraft server!

How to give minecraft more RAM: http://www.wikihow.com/Allocate-More-RAM-to-Minecraft

 

[BigBadBeef]

Minecraft isn't a flash game, nor is it limited to specific resolutions. The NUC can run Minecraft, but you might have to tinker with some settings to get decent frames on your iGPU. If you can throw more than 1GB of RAM at it (what MC grabs be default), do so, 2-3GB tends to be enough unless you're going bonkers on render distance or using shader mods.

Right, okay, Java, typo, moving on, the topic- much more interesting!

 

[Guest]

Lol I wanted to say something butttttt I was just going to let it go.

 

[BigBadBeef]

Voxel games are completely different from other games, they don't render polygons, they render entire cubes of various shapes and sizes called voxels, that is why minecraft is so blocky. At the moment, the most efficient renderer of voxels is the CPU since GPU's aren't adept at rendering them.

So as long as the CPU is Quad core (4 physical cores), you will be fine, you will even be able to run a 32x32 resource pack!

INFO: Did you know crysis 3 has a voxel terrain generator? That's why it does murder on anything lesser than a quad core CPU.

There you go, about as in-debth as I can make it, happy OP?

 

[fikappacman]

One other aspect with this rig that I can't seem to locate....would it support the ability to record gameplay as my son is interested in recording some of his map creations as well. Also any advice on a solid hardware option for this....thanks!

 

[BigBadBeef]

It might, but he may stuck at 720p, 29.97Hz.

 

[fikappacman]

Voxel games are completely different from other games, they don't render polygons, they render entire cubes of various shapes and sizes called voxels, that is why minecraft is so blocky. At the moment, the most efficient renderer of voxels is the CPU since GPU's aren't adept at rendering them.

So as long as the CPU is Quad core (4 physical cores), you will be fine, you will even be able to run a 32x32 resource pack!

INFO: Did you know crysis 3 has a voxel terrain generator? That's why it does murder on anything lesser than a quad core CPU.

There you go, about as in-debth as I can make it, happy OP?

Thanks for the reply back. That was part of my confusion with this since basically he has been playing this on the XBONE and its a nightmare to add mod packs (though we have accomplished it) to the system. I doubt he will be doing much more than fan made maps and mods but I would like to have the ability to have it handle more powerful tasks as well....I had figured the i5 would be ok and this confirms that.

What's your thoughts though on the 5000 integrated VC....I know it won't handle everything that could be thrown at it as well as an GTX 960 (ala more modern steam games)....but you would feel comfortable with its capabilities to effectively handle most games?

Also any other recommendations on a budget build though I think this one may be ok?

Thanks!

 

[teknobug]

Yes I have an i3 4010U NUC and it can but at lower settings. Rising World is also a java game and it runs surprisingly decent on the NUC as well.

 

[fikappacman]

Yes I have an i3 4010U NUC and it can but at lower settings. Rising World is also a java game and it runs surprisingly decent on the NUC as well.

Does this have the 5000 integrated card as well? The reason I was asking is I saw one that had the card and one that had a different card. Just wanted to get an idea from someone who uses one of these rigs. My other thought was to throw some MAME at it for me on the side I was hoping that would work as well (not so much with the i5 but the video capabilities). .