Question Intel NUC 8 Mini PC - a good buy?

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
For what it is, it's an appealing machine.

However, the NUC is a "kit".... CPU/MB/PSU/Case. Add your own storage and memory.
By the time you do that, that's a ~$750 solution.

For what you want (and HTPC), you could build (or have built) a small-ish system for less money.
It won't be as compact, but there are plenty of cases out there that wouldn't look out of place in a home theatre setup.

To give you a quick example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.39 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450 GAMING-ITX/AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($50.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Team - MS30 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone - RVZ02B HTPC Case ($81.84 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone - SFX 300 W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply ($52.60 @ Amazon)
Total: $479.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-14 15:57 EDT-0400
 

Bobstrauss

Honorable
Nov 22, 2012
77
0
10,630
I'd love to tackle another build but I am a novice - my last one had hiccups (DOA parts) and I didn't know enough people to help me troubleshoot. Plus, I've got a ten-month-old now who is turning my free time into a precious commodity!

I might just look for some kind of small form factor desktop instead. I appreciate the advice, though!
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Like I said, it was just a quick example of what can be done. Whether that's built yourself, built by someone else, or an off-the-shelf HTPC/SFF system, there are going to be more viable solutions than the NUC - assuming you don't need the system to be quite as tiny.
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Re-looking at it, I'm not 100% sure. Most aspects suggest it is a complete unit & the review would suggest so..... except for this one aspect:
12345.png


But shortly after in the listing, it states a 256GB SSD.

It likely is a complete unit, but the listing could certainly be clearer.
 

Bobstrauss

Honorable
Nov 22, 2012
77
0
10,630
This may be a dumb question, but will this NUC be able to utilize the HDR features of my TV? If I'm playing a 4k video that uses HDR from Netflix, for example, is this NUC capable of sending that signal to my TV?

If not, is it capable of running an external GPU that would do it?
 
Last edited: