Almost 2 years ago I bought a NUC i7 mini-workstation computer (see https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/review-intel-nuc-i-7.351071/#post-2744295). This little 4x4 inch box sat on the back of a monitor doing exactly as I intended for it to do: run a whole bunch of radio programs for about 20 scanners and a Radarbox. Never had a problem with it that I didn't cause.
My only problem with it is that the graphics on it would not provide the amount of screen real estate I would need for some of my projects. I needed a third display as I could not view all my radio programs and the RadarBox at the same time without overlapping windows. The little NUC only had 2 graphics ports, a mini-HDMI and a mini Display Port. I could have daisy-chained a third monitor thru the MDP port but none of the monitors I have support that.
I have been a good boy recently and the CFO of N9JIG Industries (AKA the wife) allowed me to spend a little money. I considered a new monitor to support a daisy chain but that would have been clunky. I have some other plans down the road involving a 50 inch screen above my desk that has yet to be approved but one never knows...
I did a little research into the more current NUC's and found that our local Fry's has a NUC Mini PC in stock with an 8th gen i7 at 3.1 GHz. that supports up to 6 displays, 4K video, 32GB of RAM and has 2 M.2 SSD slots. Since Frys matches competitors (including Amazon) I could get it there and not have to wait the few days it would take to get it from Amazon. I went to the store and got the computer, an SSD (.5 TB M.2) an 32GB of RAM (2 16GB SO-DIMMS). The NUC itself was $700 with a price match from Amazon, the SSD was $100 and the RAM 200 for a total cost of $1000 even plus sales tax. I thought about springing for a larger SSD but I didn't want to push my luck as I had told her I planned on spending less than $500.
I came home and put it all together, installed Windows, ran all the updates, downloaded all the stuff from Intel like the graphics drivers etc. and after a half dozen restarts and a couple hours of waiting for installations and downloads it is all set up and ready to go.
The build was simple, 6 small Allen screws hold the cover on, then a small Phillips screw holds down a shield. Pop that off and then I installed the RAM and SSD then put it all back together. I plugged in my Windows 10 bootable USB drive and installed Windows, ran the updates and installed the drivers. All in all it took about 2 hours.
Tomorrow I will install all the radio programs, like Pro96Com, ProScan, ARC-XT, ARC500, ARC15, ARC536 and ARCPatrol, Pro96Com and the RadarBox software. I will also set up the 2nd and 3rd monitors and try it on my current 50inch 4K TV in the office for grins and giggles (and to see if the wife will let me get another just for this...)
I run 8 BCT15, 4 BCT15X and 2 BCD996XT along with 4 PSR600's in my radio cabinet as well as the RadarBox and a couple other scanners (BCD996P2, BCD536HP, HomePatrol1, HomePatrol2, SDS100 and an SDS200) on my desk and all use one program or another for virtual control and logging.
My initial observations are great. The system was easy to build and set up. It has tons of I/O in a case that measures about 9x5 inches about 1.5 inches tall. On the back there are 4 USB3, 2 Thunderbolt, 2 MDP, 2 1-Gig Ethernet and a full size HDMI port as well as the power and an audio port. The front has 2 USB ports (one with charging current), an SD Card slot, a USB-C, headphone jack and the IR sensor. The processor is an i7-8705G with 4 cores and I supplied 2 16GB RAM SO-DIMS and a .5TB M.2 SATA SSD. I will probably add a second SSD down the road but for now half a TB is more than enough.
After I get all the radio programs installed I will see how the performance is compared to the older NUC or my iMac 5K. This specs out better than both so I am expecting good things. I am not a gamer but I need the horsepower to run a whole bunch of stuff at the same time and support a lot of screen real estate and I think this is going to be the ticket.
More to come!
My only problem with it is that the graphics on it would not provide the amount of screen real estate I would need for some of my projects. I needed a third display as I could not view all my radio programs and the RadarBox at the same time without overlapping windows. The little NUC only had 2 graphics ports, a mini-HDMI and a mini Display Port. I could have daisy-chained a third monitor thru the MDP port but none of the monitors I have support that.
I have been a good boy recently and the CFO of N9JIG Industries (AKA the wife) allowed me to spend a little money. I considered a new monitor to support a daisy chain but that would have been clunky. I have some other plans down the road involving a 50 inch screen above my desk that has yet to be approved but one never knows...
I did a little research into the more current NUC's and found that our local Fry's has a NUC Mini PC in stock with an 8th gen i7 at 3.1 GHz. that supports up to 6 displays, 4K video, 32GB of RAM and has 2 M.2 SSD slots. Since Frys matches competitors (including Amazon) I could get it there and not have to wait the few days it would take to get it from Amazon. I went to the store and got the computer, an SSD (.5 TB M.2) an 32GB of RAM (2 16GB SO-DIMMS). The NUC itself was $700 with a price match from Amazon, the SSD was $100 and the RAM 200 for a total cost of $1000 even plus sales tax. I thought about springing for a larger SSD but I didn't want to push my luck as I had told her I planned on spending less than $500.
I came home and put it all together, installed Windows, ran all the updates, downloaded all the stuff from Intel like the graphics drivers etc. and after a half dozen restarts and a couple hours of waiting for installations and downloads it is all set up and ready to go.
The build was simple, 6 small Allen screws hold the cover on, then a small Phillips screw holds down a shield. Pop that off and then I installed the RAM and SSD then put it all back together. I plugged in my Windows 10 bootable USB drive and installed Windows, ran the updates and installed the drivers. All in all it took about 2 hours.
Tomorrow I will install all the radio programs, like Pro96Com, ProScan, ARC-XT, ARC500, ARC15, ARC536 and ARCPatrol, Pro96Com and the RadarBox software. I will also set up the 2nd and 3rd monitors and try it on my current 50inch 4K TV in the office for grins and giggles (and to see if the wife will let me get another just for this...)
I run 8 BCT15, 4 BCT15X and 2 BCD996XT along with 4 PSR600's in my radio cabinet as well as the RadarBox and a couple other scanners (BCD996P2, BCD536HP, HomePatrol1, HomePatrol2, SDS100 and an SDS200) on my desk and all use one program or another for virtual control and logging.
My initial observations are great. The system was easy to build and set up. It has tons of I/O in a case that measures about 9x5 inches about 1.5 inches tall. On the back there are 4 USB3, 2 Thunderbolt, 2 MDP, 2 1-Gig Ethernet and a full size HDMI port as well as the power and an audio port. The front has 2 USB ports (one with charging current), an SD Card slot, a USB-C, headphone jack and the IR sensor. The processor is an i7-8705G with 4 cores and I supplied 2 16GB RAM SO-DIMS and a .5TB M.2 SATA SSD. I will probably add a second SSD down the road but for now half a TB is more than enough.
After I get all the radio programs installed I will see how the performance is compared to the older NUC or my iMac 5K. This specs out better than both so I am expecting good things. I am not a gamer but I need the horsepower to run a whole bunch of stuff at the same time and support a lot of screen real estate and I think this is going to be the ticket.
More to come!
