Test Methodology
Comparison Systems - Part One |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Model | N300 |
GB-BNi7HG4-950 |
GB-BSi5T-6200 |
GB-BKi5HA-7200 |
| CPU | Intel Celeron N3000 |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
Intel Core i5-6200U |
Intel Core i5-7200U |
| CPU Base Clock | 1.04GHz |
2.6GHz |
2.3GHz |
2.5GHz |
| CPU Turbo Clock | 2.08GHz |
3.5GHz |
2.8GHz |
3.1GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 2 / 2 |
4 / 8 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
| CPU TDP / SDP | 4W / 3W |
45W |
15W |
15W |
| Motherboard | ASRock N3000-NUC |
Gigabyte MKHM17P |
Gigabyte MKLP5BP |
Gigabyte MFLP5AP |
| Memory | Team Group 4GB DDR3 (2x2GB) |
Crucial 16GB (2x8GB) |
Samsung 32GB (2x16GB) |
Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 1,600MHz |
2,400MHz |
2,133MHz |
2,133MHz |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics |
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 4GB |
Intel HD 520 |
Intel HD 620 |
| Storage | Team Group 128GB mSATA SSD |
512GB Samsung 950 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Toshiba NVMe M.2 SSD |
240GB Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 SSD |
| PSU | Asian Power Devices (36W, external) |
Delta Electronics (180W, external) |
FSP Group (90W, external) |
Asian Power Devices (65W, external) |
| Chassis | ASRock BeeBox |
Gigabyte Brix Gaming UHD |
Gigabyte Brix |
Gigabyte Brix S |
| Operating System | Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| Date Reviewed | January 2016 |
October 2016 |
March 2016 |
November 2016 |
| Cost As Reviewed | £270 |
£1,300 |
£665 |
£630 |
Comparison Systems - Part Two |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Model | NUC8i7HVK |
NUC5i5RYH |
014UK |
001EU |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8809G |
Intel Core i5-5250U |
Intel Core i3-7100U |
Intel Core i5-7200U |
| CPU Base Clock | 3.10GHz |
1.6GHz |
2.4GHz |
2.4GHz |
| CPU Turbo Clock | 4.20GHz |
2.7GHz |
- |
3.1GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
| CPU TDP / SDP | 100W |
15W |
15W |
15W |
| Motherboard | Intel NUC8i7HVB |
Intel NUC5i5RYB |
MSI MS-B1421 |
MSI MS-B1581 |
| Memory | Kingston 16GB (2x8GB) |
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) (added) |
SK hynix 4GB DDR4 (1x4GB) |
SK hynix 4GB DDR4 (1x4GB) |
| Memory Speed | 3,200MHz |
1,600MHz |
2,133MHz |
2,133MHz |
| Graphics | Radeon RX Vega M GH |
Intel HD 6000 |
Intel HD 620 |
Intel HD 620 |
| Storage | 128GB Intel Opane 800p 512GB Intel SSD 545s |
240GB Crucial M500 SSD |
128GB Transcend MTS400 SSD |
128GB Intel 600p M.2 SSD |
| PSU | Intel NUC (230W, external) |
Intel NUC (65W, external) |
Delta Electronics (65W, external) |
Delta Electronics (65W, external) |
| Chassis | Intel HC NUC |
Intel NUC |
MSI Cubi 2 |
MSI Cubi 3 Silent |
| Operating System | Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| Date Reviewed | May 2018 |
April 2015 |
April 2017 |
October 2017 |
| Cost As Reviewed | £1,400? |
£535 |
£450 |
TBC |
CPU Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU. | |||||||||||
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. | |||||||||||
| HandBrake | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores. | |||||||||||
| Memory, Storage and System Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. | |||||||||||
| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance. | |||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
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| Power Consumption | Noted for system idling and under HandBrake video-transcoding load. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | Noted for CPU under HandBrake video-transcoding load. | |||||||||||
Notes
We have chosen to compare the latest NUC against a bevy of other small-form-factor systems to pass through the labs in the last two years. Many employ a U-series CPU, prioritising energy efficency over performance, so the obvious comparison, albeit 18 months old, is the Gigabyte Brix Gaming UHD that packs a Core i7-6700K chip and discrete GeForce GTX 950M graphics.