Reddit reviews Intel NUC 7 Mainstream Kit (NUC7i5BNH) - Core i5, Tall, Add't Components Needed

Intel NUC. They are a bit pricey tho. You just need to add an SSD (or HDD) and RAM and you have a computer that fits into your hand.

i3 https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOXNUC7I3BNH-NUC-Kit-Components/dp/B01N4EOJNG

i5 https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOXNUC7I5BNK-NUC-Kit-Components/dp/B01N2UMKZ5

i7 https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOXNUC7I7BNH-NUC-Kit-Components/dp/B01N0RL8Q4

If you don't need AMD/Nvidia graphics, you might consider a NUC. It's really hard to find a smaller form-factor PC than that. You still would need to pack a monitor (although you could mount it to the back), mouse, and keyboard, but the PC itself would be super-small. You could get (e.g.) a 7i5 for less than $350, then add 8 GB of RAM ($80), and an M.2 NVME SSD for (Samsung 960 EVO M.2) for $115. Obviously you could choose to spend more on RAM, or the SSD, or add a 2 TB HDD (for the tall version).

I have this model as the family PC and it handles the likes of Guacamelee and Grow Home without issue. I haven't tried anything more demanding on it.

I got this NUC i5 with this 16GB RAM (though it was on a sale when I got it), and this SSD which is crazy fast.

As far as storage space goes, I have only used about 6gb of storage space on my SSD because of how incredibly lightweight the ubuntu server .iso is and that is while I'm running all of the things I mentioned. I have a Synology DS918+ that houses all of my media files for plex and I would be able to use that as an offsite storage by mounting it in ubuntu if I ever needed more space (which I doubt I will).

The NUC that I linked is the tall version which means that you can add in that SSD as the bootdrive for lightning fast speeds and then it also has space for a 2.5" drive as well so you could add a 4TB HDD or whatever else you would choose, and you could also use external storage through USB 3.0 (I keep a 128gb USB backup plugged in at all times that I use to backup important files (automated through home assistant to get my entire config every night) in case of any failure.

If you don't want to build a PC an Intel NUC might suit you very nicely.

Just get a cheap SSD and some RAM and install windows 10 and you're golden.

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-mini-NUC7i5BNH-Core-version/dp/B01N2UMKZ5/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1519574259&sr=1-3&keywords=intel%2Bnuc%2Bi5&th=1

Edit: Clarity

> So I would buy a PC, buy one of those, install it into a PC, and plug the cameras directly into that. Then I'd film everything on vMix, and don't even need to use the Roland?

Yeah.

> Is there a specific kind of computer you would recommend that could handle this kind of production? Should I look for any kind of specs?

I use an I5 NUC for single-camera HD streaming with vMix and it works quite well.

At best case scenario you will have one NVMe drive, one SSD, and some potential external USB drives. Are you interested in adding a JBOD?

Your options for RAID are going to be limited to mirroring and rather low capacity as well unless you add external storage.

If you are adding a JBOD and only using it as a NAS I would go with a NUC8i5BEH. You can save $100-$200 vs buying the NUC8i7BEH. The 8i5 are plenty capable for this machine and will even leave headroom to spin up VMs or containers.


All of this is assuming you are dead set on using the NUC platform. There are many other options that would make a more robust NAS.

i5 nuc is 9 of them. I have 3 i7 of that same type as well. Mac mini is mostly 6,1 and 6,2 models.

I have no personal experience with this technology but have you looked into a NUC? Amazon, Wikipedia.