Intel Computing NUC5i5RYH Barebone PC

Having used a laptop for some time I thought it would be more comfortable having a computer with a little more "oomph" to run some spreadsheets, some statistical software, web browsers, web videos etc. Runs Windows 10 flawlessly.Windows 10 was just around the corner, and I wanted to take advantage of the Insider Program which awarded early testers of Windows 10 with a free copy upon launch - so I bought this little computer just in the nick of time and slapped Win10 Pro on it. I configured the purchase with some 16GB of RAM and a lightning fast Samsung SM951 512GB of SSD (that thing is ridiculously fast - c. 1.8GB per second Read and Write on the new M2 interface, versus previous maximum of around 0.6GB per second for the older SATA interface).My Little Surface 3 laptop although great on the move couldn't handle my 4k monitor (Dell P2715q) at 60hz (trust me, you want 60Hz, even for web browsing and Office apps) - the Surface could only handle 4k at 30hz. Good but not great. This NUC handles buttery smooth 4K at 60Hz with anything other than 3D games (I play those on a console anyway) with the benefit of being able to also drive my old 1080p monitor on the side too. I now have a TON of screen real estate. it looks like a trading desk.I wanted some more power (will come to that in a second) but without the classic desktop tower that takes a load of space, is noisy, and just looks plain awful (basically a big hard plastic box sitting there). This little Intel NUC basically has the footprint of a 1.5 wallets and sits on my desk with no fuss. It runs pretty silent by default, and even moreso if you turn down the basic fan speed in the bios from 40% to 15% - running temperature barely goes up as a result and you won't hear it except in the quietest of offices.I highly recommend this NUC - in particular this NUC5i5RYH (I think the last "H" stands for "High") versus the NUC5i5RYK (I think the last "K" stands for "Kompact"); they are both identical in performance except that the NUC5i5RYH can accommodate and 9mm SSD drive on SATA (which is slower, as explained above, but cheaper too) and will allow me down the line to add a second SSD drive in addition to the existing M2.The NUC5i5RYH is however about 2cm higher than the NUC5i5RYK but you would hardly notice unless you are trying to fit this thing in your car's glove box or something.

WOW for the size the performance is amazing, build quality is top notch too, like the old apple macs machined aluminium casing, almost silent in operation, the bios is a dream to work through and this model you can place an M2 hard drive and a 2.5" SSD in there too. I've used a micro SSD to 2.5" SSD converter in the SSD slot with a sheet of insulation between it and the case to utilise the LITEON micro SSD I had in a failed laptop and works perfectly. THis is blistering fast too even compared to the failed i5 laptop with dedicated NVidia Graphics card. Very impressed. comes with a PSU and all the bits to attach to the back of a TV if you desire. Bluetooth and wifi very reliable too. Just add an OS, memory drive (in this case you can add an M2 and an SSD!!!) and some DDR memory (I added 8GB 1600Mhz) Runs my CAD and Vray rendering, 3D printing software fine along with any of the MS Office packages you use too.

Has worked really well as a replacement for an old tower PC. Really low power usage yet still pretty fast. Not cheap though when you need to add your own RAM and storage - both of which are easy to install in a few minutes. I would give this 5 stars except for the following niggles.1) There is no audio output on the back for external speakers. The audio is carried via the HDMI socket, so you will need a monitor that can interpret audio via HDMI, or an AV receiver, or an HDMI splitter. Probably not a problem if you intend to use it as media centre, but is a problem for occasional music via the PC.2) The fan is a bit noisy - not as loud as the old PC but since this will probably sit on the desk rather than the floor it is closer to earshot.3) Installing Windows 7 is a real pain as it has USB3 ports which Win7 doesn't recognise during the install. WIn10 works really well though.

Highly recommended.I installed:- 1 x HyperX Impact 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L CL9 SODIMM 1.35V SODIMM Notebook Memory Module- Crucial CT250MX200SSD4 M.2 Type 2280SS MX200 250 GB Internal Solid State Drive.This boots Windows 7 in about 10-15 secs!I only brought this for my parents to use for general Internet, email, office tasks so didn't see the need to properly Benchmark it but it goes without saying that it scores 5(Max) on Windows Experience Index!I've left the 2.5" bay & 2nd RAM slot empty for now and may use it/them, if needed, at a later date when the larger SSD/RAM prices have dropped, for what they are using it for, I don't think there's any need right now.Just to clarify, you can install both/either/or drive types in this machine and your operating system can be installed and booted from either, this is configured in the bios.For general, everyday tasks, this machine is more than capable, it also comes with all you need to mount it on the back of monitor to keep it out the way. The only down side I can see to that is having to reach behind/over your monitor to power it on and plug in any USB etc...The HDMI is 'Mini-HDMI' as well as I didn't see that in the main description.

Using this with Samsung 120GB 850 EVO M.2 and HyperX Impact 16 GB (2 x 8 GB)1600 MHz DDR3L CL9 SODIMM Running Mint 18.1. Goes like the proverbial off a shovel - boots to desktop in 13 seconds. I had some issues when I first set this up which I think were associated with the Panasonic TV I was displaying through - apparently it doesn't like it if the display you boot to can't cope with the highest resolution the NUC can deliver. but has subsequently worked fine with my LG TV. Is fast becoming my main machine now as everything else is slow by comparison. Working well with Kodi.

Fantastic performance and build quality especially for its size. Hangs on the back of the monitor well.