Archive:Intel NUC

Devices

Intel NUC

Read this page and still need help? Check out the NUC thread on the XBMC support forum.

The Intel NUC is a series of small, awesome, x86-based PCs that works fantastically as an HTPC. Can run a full desktop OS if desired. Reasonable starting price considering size and power. Uses Celeron to Core i5 CPUs. Can run fanless with a replacement heatsink case.

About the Intel NUC

NUCs are available with either Celeron, Core i3 or Core i5 processors. You will need to purchase your own DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM, mSATA SSD, and if desired, MiniPCIe WiFi card. All current NUCs have 2x DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, allowing a maximum of 16GB of RAM (8 GB per slot).

All NUCs are x86 and x64 OS capable. You can install Windows 7, 8 or just XBMCbuntu or OpenELEC. It doesn't matter. But if you don't need Netflix, SkyGO, then stick with OpenELEC or XBMCbuntu. They even have the internal pin headers for extra USB ports, but also for power switch, LEDs etc. More on this later.

Celeron

Model Number	DCCP847DYE
CPU	Intel Celeron 847
RAM	Dual-channel DDR3 1066/133 MHz, 2x SO-DIMMs, 16 GB total max.
Chipset	Intel QS77
Display	2x HDMI 1.4a, full-size
Ethernet	1x RJ45, 10/100/1000 Mbps
Audio	Intel HD Audio; 7.1 digital audio via HDMI
USB 2.0 Ports	2x rear, 1x front, 2x internal pin via headers
MiniPCIe Slots	1x full-length, 1x half-length
Included in-box	Fan/heatsink, 19VDC 65W AC adapter, VESA mount

Technical Documentation Latest BIOS and Drivers

The Celeron-based NUC can play everything XBMC can including 1080p SBS 3D. It will struggle with full frame packed 3D. Boot up time direct into XBMC is less than 10 seconds. It is entirely possible to create a system with an 32GB mSATA SSD and 4GB RAM, which will be overkill when you want to run OpenELEC but might be interesting in case you are considering a Windows build. For a cheap alternative with upgrade potential, you could use the internal USB headers to run the entire system from a USB stick. If you read the NUC thread, there are screen caps of prices to help you compare to today's prices.

Skinswise, Confluence, Ace or Bello are wonderful to use and very fluid. Once you start using the heavier skins that utilise many addons, such as Aeon Nox, MQ3, MQ4 you will notice they run smooth but not as fluid as what can be enjoyed on the i3 & i5 models.

i3

i3 - has intel HD4000 graphics. Can even software decode most formats if needed. Does everything the Celeron can do and full frame packed 3D. Good for an HTPC that also needs light gaming and maybe some more heavy Windows applications. If you don't need those things, then you might want to stick with the Celeron to save some money.

i5

Coming soon?

FUTURE

NEW HASWELL MODELS COMING IN OCTOBER. i3/i5/i7

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-d54250wyk.html

Mixed chassis colours, USB3 ports front and rear, built in IR, headphone/mic jack and full sized SATA..

Known issues

Missing internal USB header on some early models

If you have a NUC and want to know if you have the usb header installed or not:

Look at the bottom of your unit, and locate the SA number (System Assembly) on the bottom of the NUC.

http://www.treasure-cove.net/nuc_sa.jpg

If you have:

SA ######-101 --> NO USB HEADER installed

SA ######-102 --> has internal USB HEADER

SA ######-103 --> has internal USB HEADER

SA ######-104 --> has internal USB HEADER

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-034370.htm

If your unit is still under warranty, visit - http://www.intel.com/support/mailform/desktop/nuc/emailsupport.htm

Send them all of the info about your unit,... Model# Serial# SA# , etc.

Be sure to fill in the description box, that you have a unit without the usb header, you want to use the headers as they were part of the reason you bought it. [For instance to fit your IR receiver inside] You've contacted the place you bought it from and they told you to contact Intel.

They'll arrange courier and you'll organise the where/when they'll collect it. Only send the mainboard, no case/accessories/etc.

Within 2 weeks. You'll have a factory fresh replacement and most likely in full retail box. So you might end up with a spare case!

Windows

• Having graphical UI corruption with a NUC that uses Intel HD4000 graphics? Try these beta graphics drivers: 32-bit • 64-bit. [1]

Hi10P / 10bit

Main page: Hi10P

The first stable version with Hi10P support is XBMC v12 (Frodo). Multi-core software decoding is essential on the Celeron NUC, which is available in normal OpenELEC builds and development builds for Windows.

The Celeron 847 NUC can play most 10bit anime near flawlessly (as shown here ). Frames might start dropping at around 18Mbps, but common anime releases seem to have no significant issues. For more info, see this thread on the XBMC forum.

Mods

Here are some mods the community has done.

IR mods

Here's one user's mod to add IR: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=166886

He added http://www.simerec.com which is ON/OFF capability via remote, and added in IR from a Microsoft USB RC6 IR receiver. Plenty of pics and detailed description. Even the holes were covered with LightDims, which worked fantastically.

Fanless cases

There are several fanless cases available for the NUC.

You can also buy fanless cases for these NUCs: http://www.impactics.com/d1nu1-b/

White model with RC6 USB receiver plugged into front of it: http://postimg.org/image/klk0h6yp3/

Other tips, tricks, and advice

Linux bootloader

info on what you choose when installing archboot when you do a UEFI install?

I used a GPT layout with GRUB as bootloader. Here's my partition info:

$ sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.7

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 125045424 sectors, 59.6 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 783A3002-626F-49A1-85D1-12225885803E
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 125045390
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 4062 sectors (2.0 MiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
   1 2048 6143 2.0 MiB EF02 BIOS_GRUB
   2 8192 1056767 512.0 MiB EF00 UEFI_SYSTEM
   3 1056768 3153919 1024.0 MiB 8300 SWAP
   4 3153920 125045390 58.1 GiB 8300 BTRFS[/code]

The BIOS_GRUB partition is not really needed, I just added it in case I wanted to install to MBR and still use GPT. The UEFI_SYSTEM partition is mounted to /boot/efi. Look at the GRUB page in the Arch wiki, it has pretty good instructions.

Links

• http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/nuc.html - Intel's NUC product page
• Wikipedia:Next Unit of Computing - Wikipedia page on the NUC
• http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=140534 - XBMC NUC resource thread
• http://www.impactics.com/d1nu1-b/ - impactics fanless NUC case
• http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=166886 - Celeron NUC with mods
• http://www.simerec.com - install IR on/off capabilities (NUC can sleep/wake without mods)

Random notes

Feel free to place various notes, tips, and links here. As this section of the wiki gets more organized, those notes will be properly sorted. Consider this like a dumping ground for when you're not sure where to put something.