Intel D54250WYKH Haswell NUC Kit with 2.5" Drive Slot Mini-Review
by Ganesh T S on May 18, 2014 10:15 AM ESTConcluding Remarks
Coming to the business end of the review, we can say without doubt that the Haswell NUC kit with the 2.5" drive slot presents much better value for money compared to the pure mSATA version. Not only are 2.5" SSDs cheaper than mSATA for the same capacity, they also don't create a point of thermal concern near the Wi-Fi module. Pretty much the only downside of the unit over the mSATA-only NUC is the thicker chassis. Our choice of a faster DDR3L memory also improves quite a few benchmark numbers, but not all workloads.
Haswell UCFF PC Options
(From Top Left / Clockwise - Intel D54250WYK, BRIX Pro, BRIX - H, Intel D54250WYKH, BRIX)
The only aspect that Intel could improve from a board perspective is the replacement of separate SATA data and power ports on the motherboard with something similar to what Gigabyte has done for their BRIX boards. In that way, the complicated contraption put in place to support placement of the 2.5" drive slot could have been hugely simplified. They could also include the horizontal SATA power / data cable with the pure board kit so as to simplify things for chassis builders as well as DIY consumers. It is obviously too late to do anything for the Haswell NUCs, but something to consider for the future generation.
In another minor detail, Intel also provides a power cord with this version of the NUC, something that was absent in the D54250WYK and previous generation NUC kits. Given all this, consumers interested in a Haswell NUC would do well to opt for the D54250WYKH with the 2.5" drive slot compared to the D54250WYK unless chassis height or availability of a spare mSATA drive is a major factor in the purchase decision.
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ganeshts - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
The Wi-Fi drivers used for testing were installed by Wireless_17.0.0_De164.exe downloaded from Intel's AC7260 downloads site on 29th April.I believe the driver version is: 17.0.0.34
I have also seen some strange behaviour with the AC7260 card -- it performs worse than Realtek's 1x1 in some cases, and much behind Broadcom's 2x2 solutions in the PC space. Not sure how much of that is related to the presence of Broadcom in the Nightjawk platform (will present exact numbers in the upcoming reviews)
I have not used WPS on the Nighthawk, but it is entirely possible -- I too had some issues of slow network speeds with certain clients when using the Nighthawk for the first couple of months, but one of the recent firmware updates made it much better
tipoo - Sunday, May 18, 2014 - link
I'm curious about that 250 dollar AMD Brix APU based system in this same form factor. Seems like a lot of compute for that much money.ayejay_nz - Sunday, May 18, 2014 - link
Are you referring to the GB-BXA8-5545? I'm really looking forward to seeing a review on that unit! Could be a really well priced 'HTPC' streaming box.tipoo - Sunday, May 18, 2014 - link
I think it might be, it's the one detailed here. I'd love an Anandtech review of it toohttp://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/04/review-giga...
It helps that I get free windows licences, but it seems like an awefully competent computer for 250, especially with an SSD, quad core, and 8GB RAM.
nirolf - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
I'm hoping for a Kabini BRIX. With some form digital audio output it would be just great.skiboysteve - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
I just ordered the top of the line mSATA Intel NUCs for a work demo system. Was perfect size and had mounting bracket. I didn't need WiFi either and it had all the ports I needed. Great deal.Hilarious though, when you open the box it has a speaker that goes off with the Intel inside sound. "dun.... Dun dun dun dun"
wintermute000 - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
Where are the dual nic models? Would be over them like a rash (quiet always on low power esxi, vcenter+pfsense+ad in a box)fackamato - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
Use VLANadityarjun - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
Instead of writing "Habey BIS-6922" and "Logic Super Sayian ML320" , just write the relevant configuration or something.Habey whatever doesn't mean anything to me and I just wanted a quick look at benchmarks to see how it would compare to say an i3 or i5 base model cpu.
I wanted to see whether it was about as powerful as a i5 4440 or i3 3220. Please include relevant configurations in your charts!
ganeshts - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
Benchmark numbers depend on CPU as well as DRAM configuration (CAS latency / speed). I have been down that path before and the graph just gets too cluttered. That is why we have the table at the bottom of the first page where the dropdown indicates what configuration and price each of the compared systems is.