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Intel NUC8I5BEH3 Barebone Mini PC $379 + Delivery/C&C @ JW or Computer Alliance

890

Seen this at other stores as well. Heavily reduced.

I grabbed mine from Computer Alliance in Brisbane and then added in 32GB RAM and a 1TB M.2 NVME SSD from Amazon. All up under $700.

Link to Computer Alliance Product Page

Specs and details:

  • Intel Core i5 8259U 2.3GHz (6M Cache, up to 3.80 GHz) Quad Core CPU
  • Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 655 (low-end gaming)
  • 2 x SODIMM DDR4 (Max 32GB) Memory Slots - DDR4-2400 1.2V SO-DIMM
  • M.2 PCIe Slot and 2.5" HDD Support
  • Intel Dual-Band Wireless-AC 9560 module
  • VESA bracket
  • HDMI 2.0a, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) and DP 1.2 via USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, 4 x USB 3.1 (Gen2) Type A, microSDXC card slot, Supports 3 Displays
  • MicroSD port

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126148/…

This will support 64GB. I have it in my NUC.

Related Stores

JW Computers Online
JW Computers Online
Computer Alliance
Computer Alliance

closed Comments

  • If I bought this for a plex server, how many people would be able to stream from it at the same time from different locations?

    • Very broad question, are they going to stream within the lan or remotely? If remotely then probably 2 max, otherwise it will come down to how much bandwidth and transcoding ability of the client devices

    • +1

      lots of factors, upload speed, end client, video itself

      it does support quicksync

    • +11

      Direct streaming is entirely up to your upload speed, and the quality of your files. If you need to transcode. If using the CPU, 2-3 max. If you pay for Plex pass and take advantage of hardware acceleration. The iris plus on board gpu can handle a good 12 or so transcodes at once- but again your upload is the main factor here.

    • -1

      10 is a good round number

      • True, but it’s irrelevant to the discussion.

        Edit: or as below, maybe not irrelevant at all

    • +2

      The i5-8259U is a decent CPU for plex. It will be able to do more ~10 1080p hardware transcodes due to quicksync

    • Wait… don't tell me you're using 56k dial-up…. LoL

    • Just check the power draw on this if your going to use it as a media server 24/7. You may be better off with a dedicated NAS box.

  • +4

    You can actually get 64GB into these units - https://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2019/03/64gb-memory-on-the-i…

    • -6

      Nobody will run any programs required 64GB on this tiny NUC

      • +1

        buy 3 and make a vsan homelab.

      • +10

        Incorrect.

      • +5

        Not the program, it is the data that the program handling requires it.

        A lot of people use this tiny beast as a hackintosh as it is unbelievably easy to install a macOS with 1/3 of the price of an equivalent Mac Mini (2018).

        Most of them need to use macOS to edit video which requires tons of memory. 64GB is not rare to them :)

      • +6

        For what it's worth, I have quite a few little machines like this running ESXi servers. My home router / firewall / VPN server and all my web servers etc all run off a single i5 with similar specs to this. I'd happily take the 64gb of ram.

        • +1

          @Praeto, how do you use for Firewall, is there was expansion slot to add dual port Nic?

          • @Borg: Maybe just one arm - single connection to a switch witch connects all the endpoint devices.

          • @Borg: On that particular machine I’m using VLANs to get around the restriction. On other machines with an expansion slot, I’ve thrown in cards with multiple physical NICs.

            Because this is running ESXi server and I use switches that support VLAN routing, that’s the easiest solution.

            • @Praeto: Am more thinking NBN modem here……. to one NIC and 2nd for LAN so that it's all managed on the NUC. How does one manage that?
              I currently use a SFF PC as ESXi server but like the smaller NUC form factor.

              • @Borg: Same answer as before, you can use VLANs or use a machine with more than one NIC. If you go the VLAN route, you can use a smart switch to do the VLAN tagging etc.

                • @Praeto: How?
                  The connection from the NBN Modem uses up the PC's Nic. How is one meant to now link the PC to the rest of the LAN as there is no 2nd Nic on the PC. The only things that would work are VM's on the PC.

                  • @Borg: NBN modems are generally not designed to handle VLANs. So you need a VLAN aware router to handle interVLAN routing, either a hardware one or a virtual one.

                    ESXi has a special VLAN ID 4095 that allows all VLAN tags to be passed through to the VM. You can run a virtual router on the VM (eg pfsense) to handle all the VLAN tagging untagging.

                    Put the NBN modem into bridge mode and connect it through the managed switch to tag it with a dedicated VLAN ID for WAN. Set the switch port connecting to the ESXi as a trunk port. Then set the virtual router in a VM to use the modem VLAN as the WAN interface

                    This way you can run the virtual router as a router on a stick on the ESXi. So the only one port on the ESXi is a trunk port, and one of the VLAN is connected to the modem via the managed switch. Also a benefit of a virtual router consumes very little resources for both CPU/Ram for home use cases.

                    This video shows WAN on VLAN set up on pfsense.
                    https://youtu.be/z59_MWWPL-Q

                    • @CoronavirusVaccine: Appreciate the replies.
                      I know about VLANs. Perhaps I am missing the obvious here. How do my home PCs connect to the internet if the NBN Modem is connected to the NUC PC as it only has x1 Nic.

                      Remember the NBN HFC supplied modem cannot be accessed. It only has x1 NIC port for running a LAN cable to a Router (in this case the NUC PC). On there I would have a Sophos UTM VM to handle the connection and firewall. All VMs are now fine for internet access.

                      The problem: There is no 2nd NIC port on NUC PC as an output to link it to my home switch/router which at this point would be Air Gapped due to no link to WAN. On must have a 2nd NIC port for it to work surely

                      • @Borg: Ah… Sorry indeed I didn't fully appreciate what you were asking.

                        I am trying to say to connect them like the diagram below. The NBN modem doesn't need to connect to NUC directly. Connect it to an access port on the managed switch, and then pass it to NUC on a designated VLAN. This way it's virtually plugged into the NUC via VLAN, therefore it shares the same physical port as all the other home devices that were connecting through the managed switch.

                        NBN
                        |
                        |
                        Managed Switch —(trunk)— NUC
                        | |
                        (VLAN1) (VLAN2)
                        | |
                        PC1 PC2

                        Does that make sense?

                      • @Borg: CoronavirusVaccine has answered the question in good detail, but I think the things you're missing are:

                        1. You don't need to plug your modem / router directly into your machine. You can plug it into a managed switch, and then make it so that the only other port on the switch that gets to access / receive traffic from the port the router is plugged into, is your computer with the firewall installed on it. If it's easier to visualise, think of it as a separate switch between your router and your computer.

                        2. Physical NICs can have more than one IP address assigned to them. The IP address can be on different subnets / VLANs etc depending on setup. Your single phsyical NIC can have virtual interfaces on 192.168.1.0 / 192.168.2.0 / 192.168.3.0 etc all at the same time. Not just in Vmware, but in Windows or whatever OS you use itself. As long as the port your computer is connected to on the smart switch is setup to expose you to those networks, it works fine. Replace different subnets with different VLANs and it works similarly if you go that direction. Though if you go the route of VLANs, your NIC needs to support it obviously.

                        • @Praeto: Ah ok so you guys are using a managed switch, that now makes sense.
                          The NUC wouldn't work for me so. Will stick to current Esxi PC setup works fine with 3 Nic Ports. I wanted to minimise my footprint so adding a managed switch defeats my goal. Thanks for your answers.

      • +3

        For virt workloads they will.

  • +1

    They dont come with windows OS right?

    • +7

      Correct. Lots of people use these with Linux.

    • +5

      FYI you can still use Windows 7 licence keys on Windows 10. I did it this week. I'm not sure if it's against the rules but it does work.

      Many people have a random old useless PC around to move the licence from.

      • Yep, almost dropped $12 on eBay but grabbed the key off my “windows 8” surface pro.

      • +1

        It doesn't violate the rules, in fact Windows 7 can still be legally upgraded to Windows 10 completely free using the Windows 10 Upgrade Tool.

    • +1

      If you absolutely need Win10 with it, consider one of the prebuilt ones like the $499 one from Bing Lee posted 1-2 months ago:

      https://www.binglee.com.au/intel-bxnuc8i5inhja4-nuc-8-mainst…

      It won't boot as fast as an SSD but the Optane memory speeds up boot time reasonably well. I got one for mum and dad and it's running quite well. 3yrs warranty too.

      • +2

        $500 for a PC without an SSD in 2021 is insane. Not worth the compromise even for basic use IMO.

        • As mentioned Bing Lee has soldered RAM.

  • +1

    Can i use this as home office and basic surfing - no gaming?
    I want to get a minimal small hardware … esp. this can support 3 displays?

    • +3

      Easily. 3 displays does require daisy chaining a display port monitor so rely on two screens easily.

    • +3

      These can be vesa mounted to the rear of a display. So Damn good.

      • But if i have 3 monitors on monitor holder i wont be able to mount this on back of monitor, right. wont have any space for.

        • +2

          Just Mount it to the back of the holder, they are literally so small, compact and lightweight, even mount it to the side or under the back of the desk.

        • One will need to support DP daisy chaining. Rare.

    • +5

      Your use case is an absolute breeze for this device. Don't be put off by the size, they're surprisingly capable.

      Source: I've deployed many into the workplace to suit a variety of use cases, simple and complex, plus I have an older one as a very capable home server, Plex, music, RDP, etc.

      Highly recommended unless you have very specific performance needs (gaming, 3d rendering, etc).

    • +3

      Absolutely. I'm using a NUC with a gen5 CPU, 16gb ram & SSD for this exact purpose. Run all the office apps, vscode, a bunch of chrome windows, teams, discord etc all at the same time.

      The NUC here has a gen8 CPU, so it's even more powerful.

  • +4
    • +2

      Good pickup. I went Computer Alliance as close to Brisbane CBD and bricks and mortar for support.

  • +4

    I got one of these at boxing day sales. So small and quiet. Use it as a server

  • https://www.binglee.com.au/intel-bxnuc8i5inhja4-nuc-8-mainst…

    Is selling a similar one for $499 but comes with 16gig of optane memory, 8gig of ram and 1 terry harddrive.

    • +4

      Be careful, this one may have 8GB of soldered RAM.

      It does. Lots soldered!

      https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/articles/…

      Intel® NUC 8 Mainstream-G mini PC NUC8i5INHJA, with the following components already installed:
      Intel® NUC Board NUC8i5INB, with soldered-down 4-core Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor
      Discrete graphic card AMD Radeon™ 540 (soldered down)
      Intel® Wireless-AC 9560 module (soldered down)
      Two wireless antennas
      8GB LPDDR3 dual-channel memory (soldered down)
      Pre-installed 1TB 2.5-inch HDD
      Pre-installed 16GB m.2 Optane™ Memory

      • +1

        Fair call, I didn't buy one myself.

        • I did. At $499, if one doesn't need anything upgraded, it's a good bargain and includes 3yrs warranty too. Does everything my folks needs it to and the GPU can run games like Torchlight 2 decently on high graphics settings.

          For anyone who wants high specs though, barebones is the way to go.

          • +3

            @Mugsy: Also got the Bing Lee $499 version. Seems ok except the fan is obnoxiously loud and runs constantly, throttling up and down. Apparently the dedicated Radeon graphics in it runs continually so it needs to dissipate a lot of heat.

            • @Johnny25: Thanks for mentioning about the fan. Will have to pay attention to it next time I visit my folks. I don't recall hearing much noise from it when setting it up at my place nor when hooking everything together at my folks' place. Granted I am use to a full sized desktop with a proper GPU for gaming so what's quiet for me might not be quiet for others.

              • @Mugsy: Ah… maybe I'm just sensitive to that kind of thing. I also have a 5th gen NUC which is much quieter and with my M1 Mac mini I never hear a fan at all.

                It's also possible I got a dud!

  • +1

    Assuming this price doesnt come with any DDR memory as default? We need to buy separately

    • Correct. Barebones.

  • Oh this looks good. My PC is playing up ( 8 years old, keeps randomly shutting down)
    So was thinking of going low power and small form factor.
    Can someone help me please with what else I should buy?
    I am going to use this as my desktop, word, excel, web stuff.
    Would like a large capacity SSD and 8-16gb ram
    Also, can i just transfer my windows 10 licence or buy a new one?

    • +3

      If it's an OEM Windows licence, that is it was installed by the manufacturer, you can't transfer it. If it's a retail licence you can transfer it after deactivating on old device.

    • As per other user. Make sure you sign in with a Microsoft account so your key (if eligible) gets stored online. Will make your life a lot easier.

  • I have this exact NUC and am looking to sell it, I'm waiting for the next eBay sell for $1 deal. Anyhow I upgraded to the NUC Extreme so I can game on it.
    This is a great little computer and the price is excellent, I was able to play "Project Cars 2" at minimum settings for a barely enjoyable user experience.
    The NUC uses significantly less power than a traditional desktop tower, my NUC used 15 watts when idle at the Windows 10 desktop and go up to about 20 watts for transferring files. I did have this connected to a solar battery setup at 12 volts (no inverter needed) this was the reason why I originally bought it.

  • ok thanks, I will get this with 16gb https://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/crucial-16gb-2666mhz-… and 1TB https://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/kingston-a2000-1tb-22…
    $600 ready to go
    Will transfer the licence from an old PC

    • +2

      Nice. I went with the WD sn550 m.2. Well reviewed.

      https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07YFFX5MD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_f…

      Now cheaper by a few $$$%

    • +1

      One comment. Go 2x8 instead of 1x16. Dual channel will give you max speed. Better off 2x16.

      • Oh good idea. Does it have the slot for 2 X ram?
        Sorry if that is a stupid question…

        • 2 x SODIMM DDR4 (Max 32GB) Memory Slots - DDR4-2400 1.2V SO-DIMM

  • +2

    Almost tempting to upgrade. I have 3 5th gens rack mounted and this would certainly add more power.

  • +3

    Same chip as the MacBook Pro (2018 13-Inch w/Touch Bar). Might make for a good hackintosh.

    • +3

      It is not just good, it is one of the best hackintosh machine out there :)

  • how does this have Iris Plus in 8th gen?

    • It does.

    • +2

      The GPU actually went backwards on the 10th Gen NUCs, no idea why. So 8th > 10th if you care about 3D graphics

      • +1

        Lol I see, sure I guess?

        Was just curious

  • +4

    JW also have the MSI Cubi 5 10th Gen i3 for $299. Also comes with a $50 Gift Card until mid-March bring it down to $249. Add RAM and storage will get you a nice little unit for $400.

    https://www.jw.com.au/msi-cubi-5-i3-10110u-barebone-wifi6-no…

    Gift Card - https://au.msi.com/Promotion/bts-new-start-with-pro

    • Thanks. I wonder which is better?

    • 2 cores as opposed to 4 cores would be the obvious differences.

      • +5

        And the iris plus graphics. And Thunderbolt 3.

        Also having usb 2.0 in 2021……not for me.

        Overall a cracking price but think the $130 extra for the NUC is well worth it.

  • can I use this for blue iris and as unifi controller

  • I had this running as a Hackintosh. Honestly pretty good.

    • Do you have instructions? I struggle to install one that can update to the latest OS, either automatic or manual

      • These days, the key is to use OpenCore instead of Clover. It’s much closer to a native install, and OS updates are generally much smoother and safer.

        This would be a mighty fine starting point: https://github.com/appleserial/NUC8I5BEH

  • +4

    Just found this for $369 Delivered on eBay with code from Computer Alliance

    • What code? Otherwise $399.

      • TSS60xxxxxxxxxx

        Perhaps targeted

  • Thanks mate

  • Can someone explain the appeal of these? After adding RAM and SSD it ends up being about $600-700 it seems. You could build a decent desktop PC for the same price. Is it just paying for the privilege of the super compact small form factor?

    I wouldn't mind having something like this to use for work instead of using my gaming PC as my daily driver (expensive in terms of electricity running costs), but I'd be thinking $200-300 like Chromebook range…? What am I missing?

    • +4

      I haven't found a desktop at that price and spec anywhere. Maybe I am missing something.

      Chromebooks are great but different use case.

    • +1

      Can someone explain the appeal of these?

      Form factor is one major point, however it depends on what you want. NUCs are very popular in homelabs (for 24/7 VM server duties) since they're excellent for creating virtualisation clusters or even just a single node because they're quiet, consume very little power and have a small footprint.

    • +4

      There are subtle features which you generally don't get with a $600-$700 desktop PC:

      • All USB 3.1 gen 2 ports (well, at least 4 of them).
      • WiFi + Bluetooth included.
      • Thunderbolt port.
      • HDMI 2.0a (while it is done via a bridging chip, it is at least 4K/60Hz).

      Other than WiFi, most of the other features do require high speed external storage devices or a 4K/60Hz monitor.

      It's mostly the form factor and lower power usage. Though, this particular NUC does use more power (as Intel struggled with their manufacturing process improvement and at the time AMD has started their Zen lineup).

      • Do you know the similar alternatives that run AMD instead of Intel?

        • I have an ASUS PN50 that is basically a NUC that runs AMD Ryzen 4000 APUs. Replaced one of these with it, but was almost twice the price (for the 4700 8-core, but still). Performance is much improved, practically idles for stuff that used to get the NUC warmed up.

          No Thunderbolt though, that's Intel exclusive (for now anyway)

          • +1

            @TimR31: Yep looked at the PN50 Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 boxes. $599 and $699. Lovely boxes but different price points.

          • +2

            @TimR31: Thunderbolt isn't Intel exclusive. It's due to the chipset used and cost that Asus elected not to put Thunderbolt 3 in there.

        • +2

          PN50, but it is priced in the i7 NUC range. That price range means you really need the form factor and low power usage. There are a few things you need to consider:

          • Ryzen 5000 series laptop CPUs coming soon. They will have SMT enabled. It was fine if you bought a Ryzen 4000u series APUs last year, but if you put the harsher 2021 view on it, you must really need a high performance tiny form factor PC right now to get one.
          • Will those 5000 series ones come with Wifi 6E + Bluetooth 5.2?
          • Mac Mini m1's CPU is really good (but that's a Mac).

          If you prefer enjoy now or you already have Wifi 6 setup at home, and you want a compact PC form factor with low power consumption, you can consider PN50 with Ryzen based mobile APU. The USB setup for PN50 annoys me:

          • 3 USB-A port, All USB 3.2 gen 1 (basically USB 3.0).
          • The battery charging port is on USB-C and that has alt-mode support. Problem is, it is just 5V with higher current, so it makes more sense to make one of the USB-A ports charging port (because of the cable provided by mobile phone makers - I really doubt USB-PD charging is supported on that port).

          It goes to show that while AMD's APU is better, the chipset cuts corner (or Asus did). Also, when it comes to the USB setup and data bandwidth, Intel NUCs still do that better (Asus PN50 has Intel CPU based models too, it has the same annoying inferior USB setup). To be fair, the Mac Mini USB-A ports have the same issue.

          This intel NUC's wifi chipset is a bit dated, and intel had to push the power consumption to compete so its power consumption is higher. It's still a huge pain to get intel SGX working (which is a very annoying requirement to get 4K UHD blu-ray playback on PC, so most people rip 4K UHD blu-ray discs and play the decoded version).

          • @netsurfer: still security flaws with SGX? Platypus sorted?

          • @netsurfer: Thanks a lot for the detailed info!

            Ryzen 5000 series laptop CPUs coming soon

            Does it mean we should expect an upgraded version of PN50 with Ryzen 5000 in the near future?

  • Can this run parsec in 4k?
    Moonlight doesn't like the resolution changes which is a pain to try work around…

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