Intel's Haswell NUC: D54250WYK UCFF PC Review
by Ganesh T S on January 3, 2014 4:25 PM ESTPerformance Metrics
The NUC was evaluated using our standard test suite for low power desktops / industrial PCs. Note that some of the benchmarks are pretty recent (such as x264 v5.0 and 3D Mark 2013). Loaner samples haven't been tested with these new benchmarks. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph are not the same.
Windows Experience Index:
Our NUC build clocks in at 5.3 in Windows 8's experience index. The weak point here is the HD5000 graphics, as expected.
Users looking for more graphics power within a similar form factor would do well to look at Gigabyte's BRIX Pro which comes with Intel's Iris Pro graphics.
Futuremark Benchmarks:
Miscellaneous Benchmarks:
These are impressive benchmark numbers when the size of the system is taken into consideration.
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elian123 - Sunday, January 5, 2014 - link
Definitely interested in thermals of Brix Pro. Where the Brix's U-series CPUs have 15W TDP, the Brix Pro's R-series CPUs have 65W.DanNeely - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
MY assumption is a combination of limited production capacity, and/or too much power consumption to put it anywhere except the top of the product range. It's currently only on 47W TDP models; estimating it's share of the total TDP isn't easy because the best match for the CPU in the fastest Iris pro is a 37W part while the best match for the CPU in the slowest IRIS pro is a 17W model. While there's probably differential binning going on, it suggests that a lower performing IRIS ram chip is a power pig.bobbozzo - Friday, January 3, 2014 - link
You can find fanless (aluminum) NUC cases.Unless Silvermont is much cheaper, I don't see the point as performance (CPU, maybe GPU too) will be much worse.
bobbozzo - Friday, January 3, 2014 - link
Patterson, there's lots of fanless NUC cases; many are quite small.see http://www.fanlesstech.com/search/label/TRANQUIL%2... for examples.
patterson32 - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
Ya but the ones I like cost too much compared to the total system cost. That's why I'm trying to see if there are any quieter fan replacements instead.jason64 - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
Many of the good small ones need to be imported for US customers which just adds to the already high cost. At least for me anyway. I don't mind going with a quieter fan solution as long as the noise doesn't annoy me especially when watching movies.bobbozzo - Friday, January 3, 2014 - link
Hi Ganesh,1. Any hope of this thing doing 4k video?
What about the BRIX with Iris Pro?
2. how loud is it when playing movies?
3. how loud is it idle?
Thanks for the reviews!
Alketi - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
It's silent at IDLE.It's unnoticeably quiet for me when playing 1080P bluray rips (sitting 8-10 feet away).
And, regarding 4K -- my best advice, which I read myself as I had the same concern -- buy a new $400 toy when 4K finally becomes mainstream and you have both the content, and a television, and an HDMI interface, and a receiver to play them with. Don't worry about future-proofing a sub-$500 item. :)
ganeshts - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
Yes, this can do 4K video to the extent of what other GPUs from AMD / NV can do. I am not so sure about very complicated 4K encodes. We plan to standardize our 4K HTPC evaluation in Q3 when HDMI 2.0 (4Kp60-capable) sources and sinks come into the market.Fan noise is only an issue if you are using it as an office machine and sitting less than 3ft away from it (and that too in a quiet environment). This issue is there at idle too.
If you are 3ft. or more away, I don't think it is even possible to hear the fan :)
chizow - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
Still too pricey imo for what it is and what it is limited in doing. I was wondering why a rash of sales popped up on the last-gen NUC with i3 + Thunderbolt today, on sale at a variety of places for $160. That is what I am looking to pay for one of these units given the fact you still need to buy RAM and an mSATA. I wonder if Intel would introduce a cheaper Atom version as Atom seems to be the cure for all Intel-price-related woes. :DI was hoping this updated version corrected the biggest downside of the original, the requirement of mSATA but it only looks like the pricier WYKH SKU allows for full 2.5" SSDs. I have plenty of those in the 120-128GB range so I'd rather not spend another $120 or so on a similar sized mSATA drive. Also, Intel still not including a mickey-mouse power cable is ridiculous, it really feels like they are doing everything they can to not sell these things.