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Intel NUC i5 Haswell (BOXD54250WYKH1) AU $378 Delivered @ Amazon.com

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Intel NUC i5 Haswell (BOXD54250WYKH1) AU $378 Delivered @ Amazon.comAffiliate
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Lgav_atron on 01/08/2014 - 20:32 amazon.com (3698 clicks)
Last edited 01/08/2014 - 21:56 by 1 other user
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I've been on the market for a competitively priced NUC for a while now and for some reason Amazon are now shipping these to Australia at a great price.

  • 4th Generation Intel Core i5-4250U processor
  • Intel HD Graphics 5000
  • Dual channel SODIMM DDR3L 1333/1600 MHz, 1.35V
  • Internal support for 2.5" HDD or SSD
  • Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
  • 4 USB3.0 Ports
  • Compatible with Linux (Linux Mint, Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE) and Windows 7

I purchased an i5 unit for US $335.99 with US $14.41 shipping to Brisbane for a total of US $350.40. Came to approximately AU $378 delivered.

EDIT: I did not use the Amazon Currency Converter and bought in USD.

Lowest price ever according to CamelCamelCamel

The Haswell i3 is also on offer for US $264.99 for those looking for something a little cheaper.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.
Computing Computer Intel Mini PC

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closed Comments

  • bentan77 on 01/08/2014 - 20:55

    Wouldn't something like this be better value?
    http://www.pccasegear.com/sc/Cjg

    Edit: I guess power consumption might be a little higher

    • yargnairod on 01/08/2014 - 21:59
      +8

      It's also 7 times bigger

      • bentan77 on 01/08/2014 - 22:05
        -3

        NUC: 8.9 inches, 7.91 inches, 2.55 inches
        Antec: 8.7" x 3.1" x 8.4"

        It's only slightly bigger.

        • yargnairod on 01/08/2014 - 22:15
          +11

          Firstly Metric system please!!!. Secondly if you've ever seen a NUC you'll know those specifications are wrong. I suspect those measurements are the size of the packaging. The actual size of the nuc is 116mm x 102mm x 50mm (or 4.59" X 1.95" X 4.41"). Look at the size of the ethernet port and USB plugs and then try to imagine how small it is (the other ports shown are actually mini hdmi and mini display port)

        • bentan77 on 01/08/2014 - 22:22

          @yargnairod:
          Oh I just grabbed the dimensions from Amazon

        • senzuri on 01/08/2014 - 23:18
          +2

          @bentan77: probably the box

    • asa79 on 02/08/2014 - 18:52

      Intel NUC has bultin IR, that can turn the unit on from off state, which is great for a HTPC

  • gav_atron on 01/08/2014 - 21:10
    +4

    Yeah I was thinking of building custom but wanted an 'always on' solution to compliment my NAS. So for me power consumption was a big consideration for me.

  • fatpizza on 01/08/2014 - 21:18
    +1

    I ordered one of these last week(at this price), should be delivered next week. If it works well with Xbmc I'll be ordering another for the bedroom.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/08/2014 - 21:54
      +2

      If its just xbmc I wouldn't spend that much. I have the Celeron NUC and it flies with OpenElec

      • iDroid on 01/08/2014 - 23:27
        +3

        I run OpenElec (XBMC) on a RaspberryPI ($45) super low power consumption - excellent for an always on solution.

        I have an external HDD plugged in via USB for main storage.

        No powerhouse, but plays 1080p movies without a sweat.

        • kabammi on 01/08/2014 - 23:42
          +2

          I do exactly the same as iDroid. Very happy.

        • Izefyre on 02/08/2014 - 00:33

          Plays everything you throw at it but it's very laggy. It takes time to navigate through your files which is kind of annoying in my opinion.

        • IDontWantToSignUpJu… on 02/08/2014 - 13:04

          Yes I hear the menus aren't as snappy on the Celeron version. They apparently play videos just fine, but if you're in this relatively niche category generally you're after the best all around experience possible, which often push people towards the i5.

        • bobz79 on 02/08/2014 - 13:31

          RaspberryPI hands down wins 'value for money'. But it can't handle 1080P AAC 5.1 smoothly (partly because it re-encodes it to AC3 on the fly, where as most players just down convert to stereo). Also NUC is a better option for browsing, NAS etc…

        • asa79 on 02/08/2014 - 18:54
          +1

          It struggles on 1080p movies with multiple audio streams like stereo and 5.1 AAC

          I replaced raspberry with celeron NUC and openelec, in the kids room, and works perfectly, wall mounted the unit behind the TV using the bracket and the remote turns the whole unit on and off without any issues or external IR sticking out

      • fatpizza on 02/08/2014 - 09:16

        Not using openelec. MSDN subscription so I can install Windows 7 64-bit ultimate. :)
        I know it's slightly overkill but I'd I'd rather something a little too beefy, than find something in a year or two that won't play some things properly.

      • lukyjay on 02/08/2014 - 14:54

        If you're looking for some transcoding (using this as a server, and having clients), I think this device is great. I plan to use mine for Plex as a headless server and use my chromecast as the client :)

    • asa79 on 02/08/2014 - 18:53
      +1

      i5 can run windows 7or 8 and do 3D Bluray movies without struggling.

  • tanksinatra on 01/08/2014 - 21:46
    -1

    Its a pity that these things don't include a multi channel sound card and multiple HDMI outputs like most PC's do.
    Without them it'll be a bit challenging to hook up a home theatre system.

    • bohn on 01/08/2014 - 21:55
      +1

      but you can passthrough to an amp tho?

    • [Deactivated] on 01/08/2014 - 21:56

      This is not a desktop PC so it's understandable its missing some features. It's a very small unit.

    • bentan77 on 01/08/2014 - 22:07
      +5

      What kind of home theater system has multiple screens and can't take audio from HDMI?

    • jong on 01/08/2014 - 22:51
      +3

      For about $17 bucks you can get a USB to TOSLINK adapter, which would fix your audio problem.

      (And before anyone complains about the quality, it's a DAD, not a DAC)

      • tanksinatra on 03/08/2014 - 11:00

        Yup I'm thinking about getting a NUC. I'd need a USB-optical adapter for my HTS.

        NB Nothing wrong with doing that, its just that it would have been nice if it had been integrated into the NUC.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/08/2014 - 12:36

      There are versions with dual HDMI and also thunderbolt available but not sure if any ship to Au. Just from a quick search maybe someone will find others that ship.

    • asa79 on 02/08/2014 - 18:57

      it has HDMI and DisplayPort. HDMI and DisplayPort both can handle DTS-HD and TrueHD sound

  • almostfrench on 01/08/2014 - 21:59

    Silly question: can NUC replace a PC? I need a compact PC that can run autoCAD and some other architectural design software likes Revit.

    • alittlelewd on 01/08/2014 - 22:00

      Pretty sure those CAD programs need 3d acceleration a bit more powerful than the IGP on the i5, however someone please correct me if I am wrong.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/08/2014 - 22:02

      Im not sure how it would handle cad software to be honest. If you need something portable can go with hp workstation laptops with quadro cards (but $$$). http://www8.hp.com/au/en/products/workstations/product-detai…

    • yargnairod on 01/08/2014 - 22:08
      +2

      It can replace a pc but it's uses ultra portable laptop parts (like macbook air). People are running autoCad and creative suite on a macbook air so yes it can be done. I've look at the autocad recommended requirements and it doesn't appear to be cpu or gpu intensive. The i5 should be able to handle it fine. It's only moderately taxing requirement is 8GB of ram (these machines have 2 slots of up to 8gb each)

    • Miami Mall Alien on 01/08/2014 - 22:13

      I need a compact PC that can run autoCAD and some other architectural design software likes Revit.

      alittlelewd is correct.

      IGPs will not cut it for AutoCAD/Revit/3ds Max/Maya, not even versions from 2011.

      At work, the lowest-specced GPU that I have seen successfully running AutoCAD or Revit 2014 would be something on the order of an old NVidia 8600GT (which according to Tom's Hardware GPU Hierarchy Chart ranks close to an Intel HD 4000 IGP); but, the caveat is, you do run into major slowdowns when working on large, complicated drawings with lots of Xrefs or plugins.

      I can't imagine you could a lot of heavy drafting work done with an IGP in a reasonable amount of time; at least that's the feedback from the users I've seen using legacy PCs with modern version of Autodesk software.

      In today's GPU market, a safe bet for full Autodesk compatibility (running AutoCAD/Revit/3ds Max/Maya comfortably) is something like a GTX 750 Ti or an R9 270, both of which can be had for under $200.

      If we're talking workstation cards, then you want an NVidia Quadro 2000 at a minimum (which are somewhere in the region $300-$500 dollars).

      People are running autoCad and creative suite on a macbook air so yes it can be done. I've look at the autocad recommended requirements and it doesn't appear to be cpu or gpu intensive.

      It most certainly is.

      The usage scenario you've described is for people who do jack-all with those programs and maybe open a drawing to zoom in on an element or resize a photo on Adobe Creative Suite.

      For people who make a living via Autodesk software or Adobe's products, you really are best-served investing in a workstation CPU (Xeon W3565 or something) and at least a low-mid-range GPU.

      • alittlelewd on 01/08/2014 - 22:18
        +2

        Do CAD programs even take advantage of workstation cards anymore?

        We recently sidegraded our Quattro K5000s to cheaper, gaming style cards (780s and Titan Blacks) that run OpenCL and CUDA faster for DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut, Smoke and other post production software because those programs for a while have run faster on the cheaper but more powerful gaming cards.

        • Miami Mall Alien on 01/08/2014 - 22:23
          +2

          You know I was just debating that very question myself a few days ago with our 3D guys.

          I only mentioned the Quadro on account of certain businesses adhering to very strict hardware standardisation.

          When the price of a Quadro K5000 can buy you a reasonable HP Z400 Workstation, you do wonder what on earth you're paying for.

          NVidia barely put out those AutoCAD/3ds Max-certified drivers anymore, the memory bandwidths on the Quadro series are woefully-minute until you get to the K5000 (especially since 3ds max depends on VRAM access to render quicker; time is money) and the days of workstation cards having the upper-hand in the VRAM race is over.

          One of the 3D/visualisation guys told me he swears by workstation cards because they are allegedly "more stable" and have better-binned chips (again, who knows) and he's ran into problems rendering on pure gaming GPUs in the past (though that could have easily been an unstable PC per se, not the card).

          We have a mixed bag of workstations in our office too; a few with gaming cards as well (GTX 480s, 560s, 570s, 770s) and they really seem to be performing identical to their Quadro counterparts in all the Autodesk and Adobe software we use.

          In my mind, workstation cards are daylight robbery; but I inherited most of our IT planning choices from my predecessor.

        • alittlelewd on 01/08/2014 - 22:29
          +1

          @Amar89:

          If you thought the price of a K5000 was robbery, you should see the cost of a RED Rocket card (for hardware debayering of raw .R3D files). As of early this year RED released OpenCL hardware rendering. Now we have 4x useless cards.

          http://www.red.com/store/products/red-rocket

          I don't make any of the decisions as to what's bought in my office, but my boss is very cluey and up to date with these things.

        • Miami Mall Alien on 01/08/2014 - 22:36
          +3

          @alittlelewd:

          To be honest, I'm used to these extortionate tactics employed by both hardware and software companies specialising for the CAD and Graphical Design industries.

          It's just the nature of the clients they deal with; most of them do have more money than sense and they freely exploit that paradigm.

          But at a minimum; gaming GPUs is a fairly sensible and practical change most companies like yours and mine can make that'll save money and achieve the same results.

          Workstation cards, I just cannot justify them.

        • [Deactivated] on 01/08/2014 - 22:37
          +1

          Last time i looked at workstation cards they were the only option. gaming cards were a lot more powerful but didn't have the right support and open CL. but a lot changes in a year

        • Miami Mall Alien on 01/08/2014 - 22:41

          @Fincky:

          As I said, I work in a fairly large CAD-oriented company where we use both a workstation GPUs (NVidia Quadro K2000s, K4000s, K5000s) and gaming GPUs (GTX 480s, 560s, 570s, 770s) to run the entire suite of Autodesk products and most Adobe products and they perform identically.

          I've heard only anecdotal, unproven evidence that gaming GPUs can have some issues with 3ds Max, but I've yet to see anything tangible.

          In any case, it helps having the option of being able to readily swap a wide variety of workstations (specs-wise) around if indeed you find certain software has issues with certain configurations, but I think Workstation GPUs have become more marketing voodoo than real-world results.

  • reactor on 01/08/2014 - 22:20

    My Dad is looking to upgrade his business computers, and my knowledge only goes so far so can someone please explain this to a NUC-newb; these are basically all-in-one PC's but you still need to buy RAM ?
    Or are these more or less good to go from the box [after installing necessary software etc.] ?

    • yargnairod on 01/08/2014 - 22:33
      +7

      That's Correct. It's an all in one PC with a mainboard plus CPU + GPU already soldered on.
      You need to install 3 things.

      1) RAM
      2) 2.5" Hard Drive (Strongly recommend an SSD)
      3) Operating System from a Bootable USB stick.

      After that yeah it acts like an ordinary PC

      • reactor on 01/08/2014 - 23:00

        Cool, thanks for the info :)

      • lukyjay on 02/08/2014 - 14:55
        -1

        Shame the CPU is soldered on. No room for upgrading in the future.

      • [Deactivated] on 03/08/2014 - 22:20

        You can use an external USB CD drive too - USB stick is better but not the only method.

        People who aren't familiar with booting from USB and it's set up will be glad to know this ;)

    • scrimshaw on 01/08/2014 - 22:36
      +5

      All in one refers to computers like Apple Macs, these are best described as "small form factor" or SFF units, they're still very much a 'desktop', except that the board, processor and chassis is all part of the same package. They also use laptop parts rather than desktop parts, so it's memory and processor are not interchangeable with ordinary desktops.

      To get it to work, you'll need to provide it with at least three things:

      1. RAM (of the SO-DIMM variety, they also have to be SODIMM DDR3L 1333/1600 MH and not ordinary DDR3 memory. These are the same type of memory found in Ultrabooks.

      2. HDD (2.5" laptop form factor) drive or an SSD.

      3. An operating system

      an Optionally 4, an IEC C5 cable that's going to plug the power supply into your aussie power socket, otherwise a travel adapter is required.

      These are not suitable if your goal is to get a computer up and running as cheap and as quick as possible, mainly because for each of these machines you will need to buy and install OS's on them, as well as buying memory and disk storage which drives up the price of getting them to be Windows workstations by about $200 dollars.

      • clandestino on 01/08/2014 - 22:57
        +1

        It begs the question, what are these things actually suitable for?!

        • scrimshaw on 01/08/2014 - 22:58
          +3

          You can mount them on the back of a monitor, turning it into an all in one unit.

          OK if you dig the small form factor and low power consumption and low noise, not so much if you're after a gaming computer or a computer for as cheap as possible.

      • reactor on 01/08/2014 - 23:01

        Ahh rightio. Cheers for that, very detailed - but appreciated! :)

    • SickDmith on 02/08/2014 - 01:27

      Consider NUC to be a "laptop" without monitor and keyboard. :)

  • msmhw on 01/08/2014 - 23:05

    what is the different between the one in the post and this one

    the second one looks better and smaller, isn't?

    • uccoffee on 01/08/2014 - 23:50

      the smaller one does not take 2.5 inch drives, only msata

    • SickDmith on 02/08/2014 - 01:28

      And this one can take mSATA as well as 2.5" HDD. So this one is kinda dual HDD. :))

  • musicinbed69 on 02/08/2014 - 05:56

    Seems like you would be better off buying the cheapest laptop you can find and just using that.

    • fatpizza on 02/08/2014 - 09:19
      +1

      You're really paying for the small form factor. I don't want a laptop permanently sitting in my home theatre.

  • akatsuki on 02/08/2014 - 12:19

    I'm interested in buying NUC. If I get it from Amazon, will I still get full 3 years warranty from Intel?

    • kenmizuki on 02/08/2014 - 13:28

      Same question

    • akatsuki on 02/08/2014 - 20:20

      no one knows? :(

    • thefunkygibbon on 02/08/2014 - 21:18

      I can't find anything either way, I've found a few people talking about CPUs which if they are retail box packages are apparently international warranties. Also found the following specific to NUCs and couldn't find anything specific in either the International or Australian version to say either way.

      http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-0340…

      I'm going to go with a yes they are covered, but don't hold me to that. :)

    • akatsuki on 02/08/2014 - 22:15

      oh well…bought one :P

      cheers.

  • stevelo on 02/08/2014 - 13:37

    How is this compare to desktop Intel core i3-4150 for htpc? Especially for 3D Blu Ray when running Win 8

  • mateh on 02/08/2014 - 14:24

    Thanks. Just got one with 8GB RAM and Samsung 120GB Evo SSD.
    About time I upgraded my Windows virtual server + firewall appliance.

  • MadMaxBargainRoad on 02/08/2014 - 15:58

    Awesome price for both the i3 and i5 model. Would have grabbed one if I didnt have a bay trail box.

    PS: I have 4G(2x2 BINB) of DDR3L on sale for $35. PM me if you are interested.

  • fred09 on 02/08/2014 - 16:21

    I've been wanting to setup a home theatre PC with Plex and Chromecast for a while now. Do you think this would do the job? I hear a lot about 1080p transcoding, but find I'm a bit of a novice with all of this, and find it hard to ascertain how to put something all together.

    • alittlelewd on 02/08/2014 - 16:27

      1080p transcoding (for Plex on the fly) can be done even on the lower end i3 NUCs, and most likely on the Celerons too.

      It sounds like this is overkill for your needs. You would also have to buy a hard drive and OS which would run around the ~150 mark depending on your source.

      • Huntz on 02/08/2014 - 22:51

        Plex on an my old Core 2 Duo runs smooth as ever too

  • mattyman on 03/08/2014 - 08:01

    I bought one of the red NUCs a while back. 16GB RAM, 256GB mSata SSD with Windows 8.1. Using Hyper V to also run a couple of 2008R2 Windows servers off of it. It handles all of that really well. Boots to desktop in about 9 seconds.

    They are really good little units.

  • langitbiru on 03/08/2014 - 18:19

    this might sound a silly question. How is the compatibility with the electricity voltage?
    If i am not wrong, australian and US share a different voltage… would that be a problem ?

    • scrimshaw on 03/08/2014 - 19:13

      PSU automatically switches depending on voltage — it's one of those 'laptop' style AC adapters. No worries.

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