(Part 2) Top products from r/intelnuc

Both items limit the models you'll have to choose from, but the most restrictive is the memory. Since it's 1.5v it will only work in first gen NUCs. For an i5 you're going to be limited to the DC53427HYE, which is out of production.https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Computing-BOXDC53427HYE-Desktop-Black/dp/B00C5K8FRI

As older models go, it's pretty well configured. It comes with 1 HDMI and 2 mini displayport for video, so you can run up to 3 monitors. it looks like your monitors are loaded up with ports, so that's good. But you'll need either mini displayport to HDMI or mini displayport to displayport adapters to connect. Good luck!

Does she HAVE to have Word and Excel? If those aren't hard requirements, a Chromebox and Google Docs might serve her better and be simpler to administer.

For what it's worth, my wife runs a NUC (not sure of exact model) and plays WoW on it without issue.

I can confirm that the 6i5 will indeed work for your purposes. I have one myself which runs hyperspin, rocketlauncher, and a SHIT ton of emulators including Dolphin, MAME, Saturn... I f'ing love this thing.

One piece of advice - Since the NUCs use an onboard GPU, you will need to configure most of your emulators to use Direct 3D instead of Open GL. Also, with regards to Dolphin, each game has specific graphics settings that you'll need to tweak. Mario Kart Wii was one game that I had to spend some time troubleshooting and tweaking to get working just right. But it runs great now!

Speaking of Dolphin - If you need a sensor bar, get this one. It works perfectly with the official Wiimote controllers.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZWEB74/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi Retropug, I have a Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK 8809G hooked up to an Apple Thunderbolt Display using USB C.

The cables I'm using are:

1. Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
   
2. Apple Thunderbolt Cable
   
   Some notes:
   
   

• The Thunderbolt Display did not work the first time it was plugged in. Used a HDMI monitor to find this driver: Thunderbolt™ Bus Driver for Windows® 10 64-bit for Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7HNK, NUC8i7HVK to get it going.
  
• After installing the Intel Thunderbolt driver and getting the Thunderbolt Display working, there was a notification "this Thunderbolt device is not certified for PC use" each time I started up Windows 10. The notification can be switched it off using Notifications & Actions under "Thunderbolt Software".
  
• If the Thunderbolt cable is disconnected from the Thunderbolt Display it may take a few cable reinsertions into the display to get it to work again.
  
• Volume adjustments work fine, but I cannot figure out how to adjust screen brightness. The default brightness is not unpleasant though.
  
  Hope that helps!

Alternatively to your battery backup idea, you could wire up an external switch and run it somewhere in your vehicle. I'm assuming the reason for asking about this is because you're going to put your NUC somewhere out of reach.

The subject of external power switch for NUCs comes up from time to time in various applications and there are solutions that come with varied degrees of cost and complexity. It all centers around supplementing or replacing the internal wires connected to what is called the "header" (located on the mainboard) and running them to an exterior switch. If you want to investigate this route go to Intel's website and find the "technical product specifications" for your model. This is not the users manual. Its a long technical document and in it will most likely be a section with the pinout specs for the header that controls the things on the front panel such as the power button, the reset button, and activity lights.

With the knowledge of what each pin does you can then go hunting for something like this or this (btw I'm not saying these will necessarily work for you, they're just an examples). Of course that solution depends on the ability to remove the original connectors from the header. I don't know how every NUC model is designed and so I cant say for sure that there doesn't exist an NUC model where these pins are soldered to the header and that you own such a model. If that be the case then the concept is the same except now you're faced with the task of soldering.

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It is a kludge but could use something like this with any NUC: https://www.amazon.com/Signstek-Coaxial-Converter-Convert-Analogue/dp/B00FEDHHKE

There are two main varieties of NUC: short and tall. The short one only can accommodate a single M.2 SSD (example); the tall version can also accommodate a single 2.5" drive (SSD or HDD, but no taller than 9.5 mm -- 2.5" HDDs bigger than 2 TB are almost certainly taller). So, you can install one (but not both) of your 2.5" SSDs as your boot drive and forgo using the M.2 slot, if you bought the tall variant.

All modern systems will boot off USB, so you don't need to copy the installation files off of the thumb drive onto the SSD. Just install the SSD, plug in the thumb drive and boot off of USB to install Windows 10. It shouldn't even require a BIOS change to boot from USB.

I recommend doing a UEFI install.

Do you mean something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1537671071&sr=1-1&keywords=external+drive+enclosure+bay&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A2886967011

Hmm.. they say they are. Good info as I now see 2.0 is needed for 60Hz at UHD/4K.

After more googling last night I was considering ordering some ferrite cores. Will try my 7i5 box today if I can too.

Latest cables I bought are:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FX6KO8Y
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I0ZI9FA

• I had at least six other spare ones already (three or four different types)
  
  
  

I took the plastic lid off today and monitored the heat of the metal chassis underneath while I rendered some video. I was hot right where you'd expect it - over the CPU and also over the fan.

I'm thinking of buying this heatsink, attaching it with some thermal paste to the metal chassis (with a little bit of thermal adhesive too to hold it in place but not too much to make removal a PITA) and see how that works. It won't be as good as attaching right to the heat pipes but there already is some heat conduction going to the metal chassis which I'm guessing is part of the overall thermal management. And I'm not willing to cut through metal just yet.

I know that you want your NUC silent, but for my purposes I may also get this USB fan to turn on when rendering.

We'll see how it goes...

If you have room in the chassis, that might work. I've used these in the past in thin laptops to cool m.2 SSDs:

Phobya Thermal Pad Ultra 5W/mk, 120mm x 20mm, 1.5mm

I am not using a splitter., I am using a USB C to Display port Cable, an HDMI 2.0 Cable, and a Mini Display Port to Display Port Cable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7RJQPY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EXKDRAC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014I8SSD0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2.0 x 3mm (CM2x3-3.3).

https://www.amazon.com/Phillips-Alienware-keyboards-components-base-plastic/dp/B00BW3QQRA

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM003/dp/B00MPWYLHO/

My Logitech keyboard and mouse came with a little extender that I use with my NUC. It's about the length of your thumb.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/615G%2BPRFK3L._SX425_.jpg

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-USB-Extender-Male-Female/dp/B008KE085U

I have no idea but if you get desperate you can buy a USB sound device fairly cheaply.

Something like this should work: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492396473&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+sound+device

(I haven't used that one myself though, so do some research first.)

I ordered this cable, mini-DisplayPort male to HDMI male, and it works with my HDMI 2.0 switch + Yamaha RX-A1020: http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-DisplayPort-Thunderbolt-Compatible/dp/B00VMFPJPS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

It's not a solution, but I do now have functional 5.1 bitstreaming out of the NUC6i7KYK.

A warning: I also bought this mini-DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0 adapter and it gave me graphical glitches--both in Windows and in the UEFI BIOS / UEFI loading screen. I didn't test bitstreaming because of the graphic glitches, I simply gave up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B702YTG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1