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Intel NUC for cabinet


DerHof2007

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Hey,

Not a noob here but didn't really know where to post this.
Thinking about getting rid of the desktop PC in my cab... anyone running their setup with an Intel NUC?
I was considering one of these... really like the small form factor.
Trying to decide how powerful to go if I do... basically need to run MAME, C64, ScummVM, Daphne, and maybe a few consoles.

Anyone have any experience with this things?

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3 minutes ago, DOS76 said:

well here is the thing an Intel NUC can have anywhere from a Celeron to an i7 in it so without knowing which specific NUC its hard to say.

Well, that is kind of the answer I was looking for... specs... processor and ram specifically.

I was thinking i5 8 meg minimum... I'm thinking this should be more than adequate...
This is a dedicated cabinet so it wont need to run any more than I mentioned.

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I mean for what you have listed you might be able to get away with a Celeron but I think an i5 is a great place to start I'm sure an i3 would suffice but you may just get a better experience out of the i5 I'd go with the 16GB or RAM personally but 8 might do the job since its a cab and won't be running a bunch of stuff at once.

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10 hours ago, Lordmonkus said:

Just my opinion but I would go for as fast of a CPU as you are willing to spend money on. More CPU power means you can use higher quality emulators and if you use Retroarch or GroovyMame you can use higher Frame Delay settings to reduce input latency.

Well, I was actually considering one of the i7's but thought that would be excessive overkill. Those little NUC's get expensive in the i7 16GB ram level... at that price point I might be able to just get a new mobo, cpu and ram for the existing desktop I have inside that would be more powerful and cheaper... Guess I have to decide how important that smaller form factor is.

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3 hours ago, DerHof2007 said:

i7's but thought that would be excessive overkill.

An i7 would be overkill but a nice i5 with a high clock speed would be very good. i7s are more for productivity and has less impact on gaming, what you want for emulation is high clock speed and single thread performance though some of the newer emulators such as RPCS3, CItra and Cemu do take advantage of multiple cores now.

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Just checked my cabinet now. I was assuming I had 8GB of ram in it but I was mistaken. I'm currently running an i5 with 4GB and it runs everything I mentioned with zero problems.

So, not sure how far I will go with this now... I can get a NUC with the same specs and 1TB hard space for for $520... stepping up to an i7 with 8GB and 2TB is $675

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8 minutes ago, DOS76 said:

Install a ryzen 2220G in there. You should check out ETAPrimes YT channel he test it out for a bunch of emulators and the thing is truly impressive. This is just one of the example videos for the chip

 

I checked that out... he said he had about 350 into that not counting some parts he already had. If you would add everything he did purchase like the case, PSU, HDD, Windows 10 then he's probably close to the i7 NUC price... which I assume will run just as good.
And the most important part... I don't have to do anything. I've probably built every computer I've had for the last 20 years but honestly I don't want to be bothered with this... the build, installing windows etc. I have too many other projects going on at the moment and just want this cabinet done.
I just want to start it up... install some telemetry blocking software (even though I may not even run the wifi) and get my cabinet running fully ... clone the HDD and never have to worry about it again.

I appreciate the suggestion though.
 

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Continuing from above... I have never used Win10 before (still running 7 on my main PC)... so I could use suggestions on the telemetry software... watching some youtube videos as we speak...

Looking at 'Destroying Windows 10 Spying 2.2' ... Saw another for 'Spybot Anti-Beacon'

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18 minutes ago, DOS76 said:

well if you were building it in an arcade machine you probably wouldn't need a case just mount it inside but I understand you have a budget and don't want to bother with it.

 

It's more of a time thing than money.
I want to get this cabinet done already. Spent a crap load of time eliminating over 100,000 files from when I thought I 'needed' a complete MAME rom set with all accompanying artwork. Stripped MAME down to 195 roms! Don't want to finish this project so I can enjoy it more. Once its done its done... Nothing to upgrade or change.
Also just started taking a pinball machine apart for cleaning and replacing all the rubbers... a process that will take way longer than I anticipated.
And other hobbies and projects as well.

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Current Machine
  AMD A8-7650K Processor
  AMD-R7-250 Graphic Card 
  8GB RAM (2015)
  64GB SSD
  2TB 7200 HDD,  

New Build (HDD and SSD or being ported from existing computer)
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/NJDave71/saved/HQ3D8d
image.thumb.png.ab2b1f32d7d94fe5f9d6b11eb545d0f0.pngOption 1 can anything be done to Improve existing machine? 
Option 2 Go with New Build?

Edited by NJDave71
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1 hour ago, NJDave71 said:

Current Machine
  AMD A8-7650K Processor
  AMD-R7-250 Graphic Card 
  8GB RAM (2015)
  64GB SSD
  2TB 7200 HDD,  

New Build (HDD and SSD or being ported from existing computer)
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/NJDave71/saved/HQ3D8d
image.thumb.png.ab2b1f32d7d94fe5f9d6b11eb545d0f0.pngOption 1 can anything be done to Improve existing machine? 
Option 2 Go with New Build?

 

Is this for a dedicated cabinet?
You could always just upgrade the CPU, RAM, and MOBO.
Anything wrong with your existing case, PSU, and OS?

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