Which Intel NUC? (or similar)

[Jetpac]

I want to build on a NUC as i want tiny and i already have an ssd and free access to different types of laptop ram.

I am also on a budget so will probably be buying second hand so want to know which model would be best for my needs.

My current hackintosh uses an i5-4400 (haswell)

• Used for day to day web browsing, music, microsoft office suite and occasional light bits of work on photoshop.
• Must support dual monitors (Displayport Ok)
• Must hold a 2.5" SSD
• Will install high sierra
• Not too expensive (probably second hand)
• Doesn't have to be a NUC, but must be a similar product.

I do not need all singing all dancing brand new tech, rather something that will have a similar performance to what i already have.

Thanks for any help!

 

[linhldz]

The absolutely best deal you can get right now is Gigabyte Brix Pro i7-5775R which is on sale for $249 before sales tax (AMZ). The processor is very powerful 65W Core i7 Broadwell with about 11K Passmark score (mind you it's in the same league as the brand spanking new CoffeeLake Core i5 8400 and almost double your venerable 84W i5 Haswell at 25% lower power consumption ). The integrated GPU is Iris Pro 6200 with 128MB Crystalwell L4 cache (about the same horse power as nvidia's GTX750 dedicated GPU) and play very nice with 4K@60Hz over DisplayPort, over HDMI it supports max 4K@30Hz I believe.
The machine supports both type of SODIMM DDR3/DDR3L at various speed from 1333-1866, works with both mSATA and 2.5" SSD/HDD. The only obstacle of any notice is the includeint miniPCIe WiFi/Bluetooth combo card with Realtek chipset that OS X doesn't work with, but nothing 15 bucks and a diligently seach on fleabay can not fix. I'm typing this from a similar machine with lesser CPU (Brix Pro i5 5575R) but basically the same package. After very little work I've got a dream Mac Mini that Apple have steadfastly refused to update. FIY, the things that matter like Graphics, Sound, Ethernet, WiFi/Bluetooth, Handoff-Continuity, Sleep/Wake...all work.

 

[Jetpac]

The absolutely best deal you can get right now is Gigabyte Brix Pro i7-5775R which is on sale for $249 before sales tax (AMZ). The processor is very powerful 65W Core i7 Broadwell with about 11K Passmark score (mind you it's in the same league as the brand spanking new CoffeeLake Core i5 8400 and almost double your venerable 84W i5 Haswell at 25% lower power consumption ). The integrated GPU is Iris Pro 6200 with 128MB Crystalwell L4 cache (about the same horse power as nvidia's GTX750 dedicated GPU) and play very nice with 4K@60Hz over DisplayPort, over HDMI it supports max 4K@30Hz I believe.
The machine supports both type of SODIMM DDR3/DDR3L at various speed from 1333-1866, works with both mSATA and 2.5" SSD/HDD. The only obstacle of any notice is the includeint miniPCIe WiFi/Bluetooth combo card with Realtek chipset that OS X doesn't work with, but nothing 15 bucks and a diligently seach on fleabay can not fix. I'm typing this from a similar machine with lesser CPU (Brix Pro i5 5575R) but basically the same package. After very little work I've got a dream Mac Mini that Apple have steadfastly refused to update. FIY, the things that matter like Graphics, Sound, Ethernet, WiFi/Bluetooth, Handoff-Continuity, Sleep/Wake...all work.

That looks great! Although im in the UK so will have to look it up to see if i can get a similar deal! Not so fussed on wifi as i hardwire anyway.

Is it easy to setup and critically does it support dual monitors?

 

[Jetpac]

The absolutely best deal you can get right now is Gigabyte Brix Pro i7-5775R which is on sale for $249 before sales tax (AMZ). The processor is very powerful 65W Core i7 Broadwell with about 11K Passmark score (mind you it's in the same league as the brand spanking new CoffeeLake Core i5 8400 and almost double your venerable 84W i5 Haswell at 25% lower power consumption ). The integrated GPU is Iris Pro 6200 with 128MB Crystalwell L4 cache (about the same horse power as nvidia's GTX750 dedicated GPU) and play very nice with 4K@60Hz over DisplayPort, over HDMI it supports max 4K@30Hz I believe.
The machine supports both type of SODIMM DDR3/DDR3L at various speed from 1333-1866, works with both mSATA and 2.5" SSD/HDD. The only obstacle of any notice is the includeint miniPCIe WiFi/Bluetooth combo card with Realtek chipset that OS X doesn't work with, but nothing 15 bucks and a diligently seach on fleabay can not fix. I'm typing this from a similar machine with lesser CPU (Brix Pro i5 5575R) but basically the same package. After very little work I've got a dream Mac Mini that Apple have steadfastly refused to update. FIY, the things that matter like Graphics, Sound, Ethernet, WiFi/Bluetooth, Handoff-Continuity, Sleep/Wake...all work.

Damn it looks like this is not a common model here. In the UK! We have a. Lot of celerons but not a great deal of i series!

 

[Jetpac]

The absolutely best deal you can get right now is Gigabyte Brix Pro i7-5775R which is on sale for $249 before sales tax (AMZ). The processor is very powerful 65W Core i7 Broadwell with about 11K Passmark score (mind you it's in the same league as the brand spanking new CoffeeLake Core i5 8400 and almost double your venerable 84W i5 Haswell at 25% lower power consumption ). The integrated GPU is Iris Pro 6200 with 128MB Crystalwell L4 cache (about the same horse power as nvidia's GTX750 dedicated GPU) and play very nice with 4K@60Hz over DisplayPort, over HDMI it supports max 4K@30Hz I believe.
The machine supports both type of SODIMM DDR3/DDR3L at various speed from 1333-1866, works with both mSATA and 2.5" SSD/HDD. The only obstacle of any notice is the includeint miniPCIe WiFi/Bluetooth combo card with Realtek chipset that OS X doesn't work with, but nothing 15 bucks and a diligently seach on fleabay can not fix. I'm typing this from a similar machine with lesser CPU (Brix Pro i5 5575R) but basically the same package. After very little work I've got a dream Mac Mini that Apple have steadfastly refused to update. FIY, the things that matter like Graphics, Sound, Ethernet, WiFi/Bluetooth, Handoff-Continuity, Sleep/Wake...all work.

Actually i may be able to newegg it for cheaper!

How is the fan noise, ive seen quite a lot about how loud it is :S

 

[linhldz]

The raw power of desktop CPU & GPU does come with baggage - that's the fan noise under heavy load (like playing graphics intensive games or playback 4k YouTube clips). Surely not whisper quiet but it's not really excessive - with aircon on I can't hear it in my home office and after a while, doesn't notice it anymore than my other small form factor PCs. I've not a second monitor to test so I don't know for a fact if it supports dual monitor or not, however I don't see why not (OS X correctly detects graphics-related hardwares and perform beautifully).

It's about as easy to setup as any other modern PC. Tweaking around UEFI/BIOS a bit then you choose a correct SMBIOS and some patches with Clover, load essentials kexts and install as usual. IIRC, post installation mainly revolves around audio, WiFi/Bluetooth and power management.
And one more thing to keep in mind, I'm currently running it with 16GB RAM in 2 sticks but this 5th gen Brix Pro supports maximum of 32GB DDR3 - something only newer models NUC with Skylake and later CPU can boast with wildly expensive DDR4 SODIMM.

 

[Jetpac]

The raw power of desktop CPU & GPU does come with baggage - that's the fan noise under heavy load (like playing graphics intensive games or playback 4k YouTube clips). Surely not whisper quiet but it's not really excessive - with aircon on I can't hear it in my home office and after a while, doesn't notice it anymore than my other small form factor PCs. I've not a second monitor to test so I don't know for a fact if it supports dual monitor or not, however I don't see why not (OS X correctly detects graphics-related hardwares and perform beautifully).

It's about as easy to setup as any other modern PC. Tweaking around UEFI/BIOS a bit then you choose a correct SMBIOS and some patches with Clover, load essentials kexts and install as usual. IIRC, post installation mainly revolves around audio, WiFi/Bluetooth and power management.
And one more thing to keep in mind, I'm currently running it with 16GB RAM in 2 sticks but this 5th gen Brix Pro supports maximum of 32GB DDR3 - something only newer models NUC with Skylake and later CPU can boast with wildly expensive DDR4 SODIMM.

I mean im not going to be gaming on it.

Casual photoshop use occasionally and some youtube is as big as it gets i think.

How loud is it when it ramps up? (without aircon as i dont have it!)

 

[kdvlr]

The raw power of desktop CPU & GPU does come with baggage - that's the fan noise under heavy load (like playing graphics intensive games or playback 4k YouTube clips). Surely not whisper quiet but it's not really excessive - with aircon on I can't hear it in my home office and after a while, doesn't notice it anymore than my other small form factor PCs. I've not a second monitor to test so I don't know for a fact if it supports dual monitor or not, however I don't see why not (OS X correctly detects graphics-related hardwares and perform beautifully).

It's about as easy to setup as any other modern PC. Tweaking around UEFI/BIOS a bit then you choose a correct SMBIOS and some patches with Clover, load essentials kexts and install as usual. IIRC, post installation mainly revolves around audio, WiFi/Bluetooth and power management.
And one more thing to keep in mind, I'm currently running it with 16GB RAM in 2 sticks but this 5th gen Brix Pro supports maximum of 32GB DDR3 - something only newer models NUC with Skylake and later CPU can boast with wildly expensive DDR4 SODIMM.

Hi. I do have the 5775 that I got at Fry's for $249 which is an amazing deal. Do you have 10.13.2 up and running on that? I could get 10.13.1 running and this thing flies. But unable to update to 10.13.2.

 

[kdvlr]

How loud is it when it ramps up? (without aircon as i dont have it!)

I know I am not the one you asked, but when stressed the fan is pretty loud. Normally, I am sensitive, but for the price and what it offers, I figured I would keep it.