Intel NUC5i7RYH Broadwell-U Iris NUC Review
by Ganesh T S on April 20, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- HTPC
- NUC
- Broadwell-U
Final Words
The Intel NUC5i7RYH provided us with the opportunity to take a look at what a higher TDP CPU and Iris Graphics can bring to the table in the UCFF space. Intel is pitching the Iris NUC as a gaming and content creation solution. Based on our evaluation, the Iris NUC seems to provide the best performance per watt in this form factor. The BRIX Pro with the Core i7-4770R is a better all-round solution, but that comes with bad acoustics and higher power consumption. It is also slightly bigger in order to accommodate the necessary thermal solution. The Iris NUC doesn't suffer from those drawbacks, thanks to the use of a 28W TDP CPU in the system.
In terms of scope for improvement, we would like to see a full-sized HDMI port in the back panel. The BRIX PCs are able to accommodate full-sized HDMI ports, so there is really nothing on the technical side to prevent this. If a mini-HDMI port is non-negotiable, it would be good to have either a mini-HDMI to full-sized HDMI adapter or a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable in the package. The design for accommodating the 2.5" drive is better than what we saw in the Haswell NUC. However, the cabling and 2.5" drive slot in the BRIX H series is definitely better. Other improvement aspects that we suggested in the Broadwell-U NUC review are applicable here also.
Minor quibbles aside, the Iris NUC delivers what it promises - decent casual gaming credentials and optimal CPU performance while ensuring that acoustics and power consumption remain reasonable. In fact, it has the best performance amongst all the traditional UCFF PCs that we have evaluated so far.
The final aspect that we talk about today is pricing. The NUC5i7RYH seems to be available on pre-order for $480 on CDW (even though Intel indicated a street price of $500). M.2 SSDs (both NVMe and SATA AHCI) continue to carry a premium. For users wishing to keep the build cost down, the Iris NUC also supports a traditional 2.5" drive. This makes the Iris NUC mini-PC an excellent choice for all budgets.
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Pork@III - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
No reason for write for discrete desktop graphics in this article.JarredWalton - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
So, gaming on the Iris Graphics 6100 -- what gives? 48 EUs at up to 1100MHz should smoke the pants off the HD Graphics 5500 (24 EUs at up to 1000MHz), especially considering the 28W TDP vs. 15W TDP. BioShock Infinite and DiRT Showdown show at least a moderate bump in performance, but unless the chips are fully memory bandwidth bottlenecked I was expecting the Iris 6100 to be about twice as fast as the HD 5500. Disappointing to say the least. What drivers are you running?ganeshts - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Intel actually wrote about this to me right after the Broadwell-U NUC review.. maybe I should have mentioned it in this review.Driver version used for the Iris NUC: 10.18.14.4156
OrphanageExplosion - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
HD 6100 perf is really poor on my 2015 rMBP 13 under Boot Camp too. Really disappointing.JBVertexx - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Why would you not include gaming performance comparisons vs. AMD Kaveri?silverblue - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
I think you'd need to find Kaveri within the same (or similar) power space in the same form factor, first. I'd be intrigued, as well.JBVertexx - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
Run it against an A8-7600 and A10-7800 in 45W mode. I am running an HTPC/Steam Box using an A10-7600 (45W mode) in a Streacom F1C Evo case (http://www.streacom.com/products/f1c-evo-chassis/)... That's close enough to the Nuc form factor, and at least it would see how well AMD graphics hold out against Broadwell Iris Pro.JBVertexx - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
Correction - running an A8-7600.Galatian - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
So is the NVMe Version of the SM951 purchasable now? Or is this just one you had laying around?ganeshts - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
It is coming to the market very soon. Samsung has just now started sampling to the press.