How good is intel nuc mini PC good for Gaming?

**craigieaus** · August 22nd, 2020

Want to know if anyone is using intel nuc mini PC good for Gaming and how are they finding it? Was thinking of going for https://www.sovarup.com.au/product/i...-boxnuc8i7hvk/
Any suggestions? Not sure if it would be worth.

**TheFu** · August 22nd, 2020

The most important part of a gaming PC is the GPU.
NUCs are $200 too expensive for what you get.

Just how much performance and upgradability are you willing to give up just to be 3x smaller than an ITX solution?
What happens in a year when it is time for a new GPU?
What happens when you need to dbl the RAM?

**mastablasta** · August 23rd, 2020

they are good. gaming NUC are verz good though it is kind of weird the use Intel/AMD combo bu tit works really well.

the issue is the one TheFu mentioned. however i know that some people just replace the PC every couple of years, so upgrade limitations might not be an issue for you.

a bigger question is how much more would a similarly specced gaming laptop cost you? laptops come with a screen and keyboard attached and their upgrade options are about the same as on NUC.

i was checking out the older gaming NUC as a possible PC for myself and could see there are better gaming options for lower price in gaming laptops. NUCs are good but a bit overpriced compered to laptops.

**mastablasta** · August 24th, 2020

Originally Posted by skilletmeow

I agree that without a normal GPU you will not be able to play much. It is best to allocate a larger budget so that there is enough for several years ahead, if you are of course fond of new items.

the "gaming" NUC has a dedicated GPU chip with it's own RAM and CPU. they are on par with GPU card, however you can't replace them.

**TheFu** · August 24th, 2020

Folks, did you convert the AUD to USD?!!!! The OP is about a $1000+ NUC! That's just crazy! For gaming?

I NUC that size at that price would be something a business might need for their traveling sales team. Most places would rather pre-ship a $3000 server or just get the sales guys $1800 Dell XPS laptops instead.

Back when I was earning lots of money, blowing $1000 on anything wasn't a big deal. We don't know the OPs financial situation. Perhaps $1000 is nothing. To me, I'd not spend over $200 without careful consideration first - weeks of research about all the options. If this the NUC is for someone who travels and already takes a powerful laptop, but needs to leave the NUC behind somewhere, that's very different than a home user who just prefers a small form factor. Perhaps, if the OP lives in a van or RV full time, the size would make sense and a "Shuttle" PC wouldn't be small enough - though Shuttles are 50% less cost and sized to be about 1/3rd the size of a typical mid-tower PC case while still supporting swaps for the RAM, HDD and GPU. I inherited a Core i7 Shuttle PC from Mom which had an nvidia Quadro workstation GPU. Replaced it with a $400 MB+CPU+RAM upgrade to another system here - massively faster Ryzen.

US$1000! for a NUC?

**pqwoerituytrueiwoq** · August 24th, 2020

may as well build in a fractal node 202 with that kind of money if you want low profile it should fit in a backpack with other stuff and not be awkward like a cube shaped system
Part List:
* Board: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813157962
* CPU: https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-3-3...82E16819113649 (3300X is out of stock, you could get a 3600 for another ~70 US)
* GPU: https://www.newegg.com/asus-geforce-...82E16814126358
* RAM: https://www.newegg.com/corsair-16gb-...82E16820233859
* SSD: https://www.newegg.com/crucial-mx500...82E16820156178
out the door for about 700 US, not sure about AU availability or pricing

**TheFu** · August 24th, 2020

A few other ideas: https://www.newegg.com/Shuttle-Compu...dStore/ID-1465 for bare-bones sub-$500. They accept Celeron to Core i9 CPUs.
I've seen people with $10 wrap-around nylon "carriers" for the Shuttle cases to cart from place to place with a handle.

Putting PC parts like this into a system is like legos. Really easy and there are hundreds of how-to guides on youtube. Or you could take the parts to a local PC shop and have them built it for $100. Usually takes about 30 minutes from opening the 1st box to booting into an OS installer.

**mastablasta** · August 25th, 2020

NUC8i7HNK received good reviews. it had i7 + AMD Vega M GL combo and the "empty" one was sold for about 850 EUR here. so you would quickly go over or close to 1000 EUR with no monitor.

if you build ITX yourself you won't have get the CPU/GPU combo as you do with these gaming NUCs. however you will get a similar combo on cheaper or similarly priced gaming laptop.

sure the desktop box is cheaper and offers more upgrades, but it is not small. so if space is the issue... we though about getting something ITX like, but then i decided for a box, since i had some practically new components from the old desktop PC that became more and more problematic. with money saved we could afford much stonger components (GPU). though i still opted for slightly older, tried and tested, cheaper models (Ryzen 2xxx series).