Intel NUC NUC5i5RYH with Intel Core i5 Processor and 2.5-Inch Drive Support

We use these to prototype network appliances that we build commercially, and they've been a godsend. We do our development work on the Intel NUC platform, and when we get all the kinks worked out, we specify the same motherboard/disk/memory, built into custom fanless cases. This is our third generation of NUCs, and all have worked extremely well for us. We like that this particular one allows for both SSD and a 2.5" conventional drive - we use a 256GB SSD plus a 2TB drive, making for quite a potent package in something that fits in the palm of your hand. We like the i3 version as well, but the i5 chip in this puppy gives us a little more flexibility for debugging and so forth. It's as fast as any similarly configured system, and unless you know you're on a small form factor system, you'd never figure it out from the performance you get out of it. One thing that's noteworthy is the issue around Linux and the video hardware in this particular NUC. Our normal build starts with a Ubuntu 14.04 image, but it turns out 14.04 lacks kernel support for some of the features needed by the video driver. We spent a few days trying to get the system working on 14.04, but there seemed no way to get stable video without upgrading to a newer kernel. Rather than building an updated kernel by hand and worrying about whatever incompatibility issues that might cause, In the end, we bit the bullet and upgraded to the (then) beta version of Ubuntu 15.04. We held our breath, but with some minor upgrades, we've been able to get everything working at least as well as 14.04 did, and now the video works fine. Windows users and folks running other Linux distributions shouldn't have any of these issues, but it's something to be aware of if you hope to run Ubuntu on your NUC. One other issue to be aware of is that the input voltage for this particular system is an unusual 19V. The included power adapter works fine, of course, but if you have the need to run it in a mobile setting (say, off a 12V motor vehicle power supply, which is what we do), you'll need a bit more than a simple 12V adapter. Otherwise, nothing bad to say about the NUC...it's met or exceeded our expectations in every way, including price, performance and ruggedness.

First off: I recommend buying a 7th-gen (Kaby Lake) or later NUC unless you want to run Windows 8.1 or earlier (most likely for Media Center DVR). Kaby Lake NUCs (e.g. NUC7i5BNK or BNK) have better graphics, can output 4K at 60 Hz, and (in the case of the 7i5 but not the 7i3) come with Thunderbolt ports, which can be used for a variety of peripherals (from high-res monitors to external GPUs). Second: If you buy a tall model (which usually ends in H) to add a HDD for data, make sure the HDD is 7mm tall or less. Some 2.5" HDDs (such as the 3TB or 4TB models) are 15mm tall and therefore won't fit in this machine. Now: I decided to buy a NUC for my home theater PC (HTPC) and settled on this unit due to its price (on sale at the time) and its compatibility with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, which still run Media Center. (I previously bought a Kaby Lake model, but only Windows 10 is supported on it.) I've had it running 24x7 for several weeks with 8 GB of RAM, a 250 GB SSD, a 2 TB HDD (2.5", 7mm height), and a USB-attached tuner box installed, and its performance has been excellent. The IR feature is particularly cool; it works with RC6 remotes without any configuration whatsoever (although I've read that you can install programs that will let you remap keys). The biggest downsides of this unit are: - Mini-HDMI port is only HDMI 1.4 -- that means 4K at 30 Hz, not 60 Hz, which is fine for video but kind of unbearable for navigating Windows or an Internet browser. (You can purchase an adapter for less than $30 to convert the DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0, but see my second bullet.) - While the mini DisplayPort can supply 4K/60 and (active) adapters are available to convert that to an HDMI 2.0 port, it doesn't appear to work with the DRM that Windows Media Center employs (PlayReady), preventing CableCard-based tuners from working. I'm not sure whether this is a limitation of DisplayPort or the adapter. (My TV doesn't have a DisplayPort, so I can't test that.) - Occasionally the display will turn to snow -- like a bad analog channel, except more digital -- while we're watching a recorded show. I don't know whether this is an issue with my TV or the NUC (possibly a video driver issue), but I never saw this with my previous HTPC and this TV. I haven't tried a different mini-HDMI to HDMI cable or tried different display drivers, but those would be the next things to check. It's very infrequent (less than once per day) and I fix it by changing the HDMI input on the TV to a different one and changing it back, so I live with it. That's it, though. Everything else about the box is great. If you want to do more than what a TV stick or set-top box provides (like run a DVR or Plex server or play games with relatively low graphics intensity), then I highly recommend this NUC.

This little computer is amazing! I installed 16 gb 1600 RAM and installed a 250 gb PCIe M.2 card to use as the hard drive. With ubuntu, the computer boots in 1 sec and is much faster than even the big memory boxes that I use at the office. Fantastic performance. But my wife wanted Windows 7, so now it still boots reasonably quickly but is burdened by the overhead and other BS that plagues all Windows computers. Using a SSD instead of a spinning HD for the operating system is a good choice, and you still have room to install a 2.5-inch drive for data storage. Maybe the best thing about a bare bones computer like this is you install whatever operating system you want and are not burdened with the useless bloatware that comes on HPs or the trashy computers you buy at a big box store. Anyway, 2 months of use and all is well. Note: some people have commented on the fan. On our unit, it is barely audible. The audio output is very good quality. Highly recommended. This is an efficient way to replace the standard refrigerator-size floor-standing computer with its big power supply, cooling propellers, and wasted interior space. Change rooms or go on a trip: unplug your NUC and take it with you.

This is probably the best mini PC on the market right now. * What's good: - Price is competitive. - i5 5th generation computer that can rest on your palm. Running 24/7 with minimal of heat issue, low power usage, great performance. - Good display adapter with HDMI video AND audio out; Displayport output is also supported. - 802.11ac Wifi built-in, gigabit Ethernet port. - 4 USB 3.0 ports. - Room for 2 DDR3L memory up to 16Gb. If you buy one bar 8Gb, install it in the lower slot. Room for 2.5" hard drive. I put Samsung SSD EVO 850 and it is perfectly fit in. - Latest drivers are up to date on Intel's web site, supporting latest Windows 10. * What I don't like: - Mini HDMI instead of regular HDMI. I have to buy an adapter just to convert it back to regular (standard) HDMI. Most people are having existing standard HDMI cable at home. - DDR3L memory only. It would be great if it also supports DDR3 which will save laptop-convert buyers some $, but this is acceptable for the benefits of its size and performance. - This is what I hate: Product description should be clearer: (maybe just Amazon.com) + Model ended with RYK and RYH. Most people will overlook the differences. If RYH clearly states supporting 2.5" HDD, RYK should be states ONLY mSATA is supported to avoid wrong order. Most people who need 2.5" HDD support may just look at the price and slimmer profile of RYK and placing a wrong order because of that. + Product title should clearly state the generation of its processor so buyers won't place a wrong order of previous generation by just looking at the price and processor type (i3, i5, i7...) + Intel (or Amazon.com) delicates a whole big section of "From the manufacturer" to introduce stuffs that I think most potential buyers of NUC will just not interested at all. Where is the detail technical specification section? The spec will save buyers from unnecessary hassles. Take my case, I ordered the NUC and later on found that it only supports DDR3L, Amazon Prime Now was helpful and saved my day to put DDR3L memory order in. All items were arrived as plan within hours and I thought it should be all set. When I opened the box at night, I found that it's a mini HDMI, not standard HDMI port. Stores are all closed at the time. It sucks throwing the toy back to the box and have to wait for a darn HDMI adapter purchase tomorrow, it just ruins all the fun.

I was in the market for an energy efficient HTPC that still offered decent performance. I narrowed down my choices to the 2014 Mac Mini and this Intel NUC. I ended up choosing the Intel NUC because of how difficult Apple made the 2014 Mac Mini to upgrade or replace components. It was very easy to open the Intel NUC to add RAM (not included) and a 2.5" hard drive. You remove 4 screws from the bottom and you're in. You could also use a M.2 SSD if you wanted, even with a 2.5" hard drive. Unlike previous generations of the NUC, this model now includes the power adapter and WiFi card standard. I installed Windows 8.1 Pro via USB without issue and downloaded a convenient ZIP file of all the latest drivers from Intel's website. Performance is great, especially considering how energy efficient the NUC is. While it struggles to multitask more than the 2nd Gen Core i7 in my Macbook Pro, it uses considerably less energy (15W TDP vs 45W TDP). It is by no means slow however; this is plenty fast enough for everyday tasks. I've yet to try any gaming but from the sounds of other reviewers, I may be surprised to how well Intel HD 6000 integrated graphics performs. I work in the infosec industry and having a TPM chip was a requirement in my book. This model does indeed have TPM 1.2 and works with Windows Bitlocker.

Got this and installed a nice M2 drive and a Seagate 7200 rpm...no problems except for a screw which holds down the M2 drive. Finally had to use a piece of scotch tape to hold the screw so I could line it up and get it started. Other than that install went fine. My main complaints at this point are: Video Display......was unable to get any video output from the NUC and spent a total of over an hour with Intel support in two days trying to get it to work. Well........turned out to be a cable problem. Didnt find this out until I returned the first unit to Amazon and had the same problem with the second unit. Love Amazon return. Again this presented a major problem trying to get another cable as the NUC uses a mini hdmi output and if you try to purchase locally it costs about $39 at Best Buy and didnt even want to go 20 miles to Frys. So had to wait for three days to get new cables from Amazon and had to order three different cables in case one did not work. Had to get one with mini to regular hdmi and two others using mini dp out from the NUC. Why oh why didnt Intel use a regular hdmi cable which every one has at least 10 lying around instead of the mini hdmi which is hard to get and expensive? Boot beeps......can you believe that Intel in its wisdom eliminated the tiny little speaker on the MB? Must have saved them what.......2 cents on each unit? While trying to diagnose the problem you either have to have a speaker you can attach or headphones or ear buds....else you can not tell what beeps are happening and whats going wrong. Another two days....was installing this for my Dad and I had to go back to my house to pick up some buds so I could hear the beeps, Intel diagnosed it as a defective unit. Which in fact it was not it was the cable not the CPU. Windows 7.....was installing for my Dad and didnt want to go beyond Windows 7 or would have a major training issue. But.......the Nuc only has USB 3 and Windows 7 does not so unless you are comfortable with making a bootable USB drive and transferring an image from the Win 7 disk to the bootable USB drive....dont even consider Win 7. Then you will have to download USB 3 drivers from Intel and run a wizard to install them on the Win 7 bootable USB. So.....other than that...like the unit. Will write a follow up after we have had the unit running for a couple of months.

I didn't like Windows 8 and wasn't wild about not having Win 7, but for what I needed this system for (basically a little media server) it didn't really matter which version of WIndows I used, and I didn't want the hassle of trying to find Win 7 drivers for everything. I put in two 4GB RAM modules and a 480GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD, and used a USB stick with Windows 10 to install. It all worked perfectly the first time, using the drivers that were built into the Win 10 install, including the network driver. (Just FYI, I've also booted Linux from a USB-attached DVD drive with no problem and without having to change BIOS settings.) Once I'd done that I downloaded and installed the most recent BIOS and a few of the Intel-written drivers (their Ethernet driver and their "chipset" drivers and one other I'm forgetting) and that got rid of the one warning in the Device Manager. As is the case with most of these very small systems, things run fairly warm even when nothing is going on - I just notice it because when I build computers the temps are much lower because I use more cooling than absolutely required. One very nice thing is that while the fan always seems to run at a minimum of 3000 RPM, and often ramps to 5000, I have yet to hear it. Granted, the room where it's located isn't completely noise-free, but even closing the window (I live on above a city street) and listening carefully it's minimal enough that I don't hear it without really listening for it. I know that this has been an issue for people, and perhaps I just lucked out, but I like it. Performance-wise, it's fine, though the two-core i5 laptop chip isn't very powerful. But with enough RAM for what I'm doing, and using a good SSD, it's fine. It's more horsepower than I need (the i3 would have been more than enough), but I wasn't absolutely sure how I was going to use this system and I wanted a little bit of headroom.

After having this unit for several weeks, I have given up on making it work. Driver updates, BIOS settings and more make little difference: The product is simply too unreliable to use. As far as I can tell, it probably overheats if subjected to any non-trivial use (like using its 3D graphics or simply leaving it on two hours at daytime room temperature), causing problems with WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth devices and even booting from the SSD. (After letting it rest/cool for a few hours, it's always fine again for some minutes at least.) A very compelling idea for a compact PC, but apparently Intel were unable to make the form factor work. Returning mine. ----- Update after 5 months of use: I didn't return my unit because Intel wanted me to pay for shipping and insurance of the defective product, and I realized that the problems were likely in the Intel software anyway: After several driver (for Windows 10) and firmware updates from the Intel support site, most of the issues above have been resolved. Boot issues are now completely gone and I rarely experience WiFi connectivity loss. For that, I should add back one star for a product that mostly works, even if it is of unacceptable that it takes months of updates to function as anyone would reasonably expect out of the box. The almost weekly updates to the Intel WiFi drivers seem to indicate that known problems still abound and are possibly being slowly addressed. I have to take back that one start again though for a new issue affecting the NUC: Display output not working after resuming from suspend mode. This practically means that every time the system suspends, there is about a 1 in 3 chance that the monitor won't come back on. This problem is well documented (as are all of the above ones) in the Intel support forums, but with no resolution. I fully expect that a future grapics or other driver update will solve this too...

Desde que lo compré hasta que le puse los componentes y lo hice funcionar ha pasado mucho tiempo y vamos, el "ordenador" (lo pongo entre comillas porque ya no parece un ordenador) va como un tiro. Digo que no parece un ordenador porque es ínfimo, Si organizas bien los cables no ocupa espacio apenas y encima no hace prácticamente nada de ruido. Me compré dos SSDs (uno para el de 2,5'' y otro para el hueco m.2) y un blister de 8Gb de RAM y me sobra para jugar, editar/ver documentos (Word,Excel,PDF,PPT... que por cierto los abre a una velocidad de vértigo) y como HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer). Que más decir... le he puesto Windows 10 y va de lujo. Eso y un teclado/ratón (véase el Logitech K400) inhalámbrico y ya tienes un ordenador perfectamente funcional para casi todo (menos para renderizar vídeo, maquetar y diseñar gráficos 3D que ya pide mucha caña).

Great Value. No clutter. Responsive and quiet.

Windows7 + SHDD + メモリ8G にて使用中、主な用途はウェブ閲覧。（一ヶ月使用） それまで、ほぼ同じ環境で、DN2820FYKH を使っていて、主に作動が遅い（ブラウザでの縦スクロール時の表示や地図の表示が遅い / USB経由でメモリやプリンタ接続したときにすごく待たされる場合がある）などが不満で、こちらにアップグレードしました。NUCはケースが小さいこと、HDMI/電源のケーブルがスマートなことが気に入っていたので、迷わずまたNUCを購入。 # DN2820FYKHと比較して利点 １）作動が速い（CPUの差やその値段の高さを考えれば当然ですが）すべてがキビキビしていてストレスがほぼなくなった ２）DN2820FYKH ではうまく機能しなかった 内蔵のBluetooth が機能するようになった ３）USBの差し込み口が 3個から4個に増えた（DN2820FYKHでは USB一個は後付けのBluetoothが占めていたため、自分にとっては 2個増えたことになる→これは影響大） ４）ACアダプタもさらにスマートになった # 欠点 １）作動音（ファンの音）が大きくなった（自分の感覚では、深夜以外では気になるほどではない） ２）2.5インチHDDの設置が少し難しくなった（取り出すとき大変そう） ３）すべてが USB3.0 のため USB2.0しか対応していない Windows7 の移行時にかなりはまった DN2820FYKHに比べてかなり値段が高い、表面上の機能だけで言えば同じものに、３倍以上の値段を払うことにかなり躊躇しましたが、それだけの価値があると思います。（ Core i3 版でもよかったのかなーというのはありますが... ）

CドライブにM.2 SSDを入れたこともあってか、ともかく速い。 起動なんか10秒程度。 LenovoのCore i5のデスクトップを使っていたが、比べ物にならない。 心配した発熱も、普通に使っている分にはほとんど気にならない程度。熱くなってもノーパソ程度。 それにとても静か。キーボード前においているが、ほとんど音がしない。 性能的には予想以上で満足している。 この機種からは無線LANとBluetoothは最初から入っているので、キーボード、マウスをワイヤレスにすれば、ケーブルはHDMIと電源のみ、すっきりしている。 また付属のプレートとねじを使うと、モニターの後ろにあるアーム取り付け部分に、設置することができる。こうすると、モニターとの一体型パソコンになる。ただ、この機種はHDD搭載型なので、HDDまでつけるとそこそこ重量もあるし、形もその分少し大きくなっている。だが、NUC5i5RYKのシリーズだと、HDDがつかない代わりにもっと薄型になるので、モニター裏につけるなら、そちらの方がおすすめだろう。ただ、HDDがつけられないためM.2 SSDにある程度の要領が必要になる。 私としてはモニターの後ろに手を伸ばすのがかえって面倒なので、すぐ手の届く、机の上に置いている。それでも小さくて場所をとらず、静音設計だから、音も気にならない。 今までのパソコンの概念を一変させてくれる商品と言っても過言ではないだろう。 もちろんこれは、半完成品であるから、この他にモニター、ミニHDMI→HDMIケーブル、マウス、キーボード、メモリー、ストレージ、OSは、別途購入しなければならない。これを全部買いそろえたら、少なくとも8万円台にはなるので、おそらく普通のノートパソコンが買える値段になるだろう。 従って、初めてパソコンを買う人や、ノーパソのメモリーを増設するのに、お店の人にやってもらわないとできな人などは、おすすめできない。 しかし、メモリー交換くらいの経験はあり、実は部品とかをいじってみたい気持ちがあり、わからないことはネット検索で自力で調べようという意欲のある人なら、十分に手の届く範囲にある。自作PC初心者にもお勧めできると思う。 実際、私は初めての自作で、十分構築できた。インテルのサポートは意外と親切だったし、マイクロソフトはOSのインストールくらいなら無償でサポートしてくれるので利用したらいいと思う。部品の選び方なども、丹念にネットを検索すれば結構情報がある。動画配信などを探すと、組み上げ課程を映したものがあるので、参考にできると思う。 デスクトップの性能と、ノーパソ以上のすっきりした机周りを目指すなら是非おすすめの一品。 追記 持ち歩きの必要が出たので試してみたところ、本体、電源、キーボード、マウスで、A4ノーパソより全然軽い。後はモニターだが、行き先にデジタルテレビが使えればそれで代用可能。もし持って行くなら、小型モニターがいる。ただ最近物色してみたところ、7インチ辺りならかなり簡素なものがあり、重量も軽いので、結局ノーパソもって歩くより軽いかも知れない。（Raspberry Pi関連で探すと液晶と基板だけと言うのまで売っている。そこまで行かなくても、非常に簡素な作りのものがあるので、それだと軽いと思う。工作が得意な人なら、本体と上手く組み合わせて作れるかも知れない。確かNUCのHPにNUCの天板を外して、小型モニターと組み合わせ実例があった気がする） 追記 2016年になって、内部のBluetooth端子に異常がでて、使えなくなる。インテルのサポートに電話したところ、丁寧に指示が出て、指示通りに本体のみを梱包し送る。付属の電源やACアダプターなどは送らないように支持され、本体のみを送る。後日代替品を送ってくれる。サポートは迅速で丁寧で良かった。現品交換なので、修理より早い。

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