NUC or Mini ITX

vramanan

What's an ITX?
Original poster
Nov 21, 2017
1
0
Hi,

I have the following components and I am looking to setup a small form factor PC by reusing the components as much as possible. Could you suggest me a setup?

Components I currently have:
1 x Samsung 850 EVO - 500GB - M.2
1 x Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-Inch
2 x 8GB DDR4 2133 MHz SO-DIMM 260 pin
2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 MT/S SO-DIMM 204-Pin

My current option is to get NUC7i5 for $299. By this I will essentially get a decent mini-PC for $299 (including tax). Just wanted to find if you can think of a better Mini ITX setup that I can build and reuse my components that would cost in the $300 - $350 ballpark that would offer me better performance for the money. This is for use as home PC. Other than basic browsing and stuff, I will be occasionally running Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom. I might occasionally use it as a media streaming device to 4K TV in the future. Please suggest me if NUC should be the way to go or a Mini ITX setup.

Also, if reusing those RAM modules are going to result in considerable performance hit then I wouldn't do so.

Thanks in advance..
 

jtd871

SFF Guru
Jun 22, 2015
1,166
851
If you've got SO-DIMMS and want to re-use them, then you should be looking at maybe thin mITX.
The following site appears to offer a boutique case with integrated PSU and will sell you a motherboard and CPU if you don't want to source separately. https://luna-design.org/dnk-h#design Let Google do the walking to find other options.
 

gffermari

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jan 7, 2017
91
91
You may see the Asrock Deskmini (GTX or not). It offers more upgragability and it can even host an i7 cpu (65W).
Also i would search for a used Intel Skull Canyon. It could become a high end pc by using the right parts.
 

TheDreamingMonk

Average Stuffer
Sep 17, 2016
62
48
If just for a basic home PC like the tasks you listed, the NUC is the way to go. Super cheap and super small in comparison to anything you could build.

I've got several of each generation that have been used for media centers around the house. Love them for what they are. Some can even handle some low end gaming anymore without much problem. The newer Intel CPU's are pretty awesome with the performance you get for not a lot of money, so I'd say if you can, wait for the NUC8's to get released ( likely soon, if trends for the others continue ).