LAN Rig Advice

[Wh1t3h34d]

I came across this awesome little PC by intel, in fact they make a range of them, from atoms to i5s. This is probably the best model they make, however I may be mistaken.

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-nuc-4250u-dual-core-13ghz-ddr3l-so-dimm-sata-iii-6gb-s-1-x-25-bay-intel-hd-graphics-5000-200mh

 

It's called NUC, and the idea is that you buy this base unit, and and your own RAM, storage (e.g. SSD or hard drive) and WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity. For a this base unit plus 8GB of RAM and a decently sized storage solution, you're looking £350-400, maybe a little cheaper if you don't need much storage.

 

This gave me an idea, it could be used for an extremely lightweight and portable LAN party PC. At 4x4x2 inches, it's pretty small. All I'd basically like to know if whether it would be capable at running most games at a half decent framerate. I'm not expecting 1000 FPS, but 30 would be nice, for most games. This model has a dual core i5-4250U clocked at 1.3GHz, however it boosts to 2.6GHz, with built in intel 5000 graphic - also, the chipset is Intel QS77 Express.

 

I don't want to go any buy this, and then it can't play any games; however, if I did buy it, and it worked, I think Linux would be a good option. It would almost be like a Steam Machine....Steam OS may even be an option.

 

Anyway....I just wanted to get some feedback. Me and my friends are always going on about having a LAN party, and this would be extremely awesome if it worked, as my gaming rig is too heavy to be carrying around. This little box, with a mouse and keyboard would work well.

 

Any thoughts are welcome!

[mapegl]

I wouldn't buy those small NUCs for gaming. They are great small PCs for office and multimedia, but gaming....not so much.

Most titles will be unplayable. Only really old titles or newer ones at very low resolutions, and even with low resolution many games will still not run or be too slow.

 

I would get a little BOX with the A10 7850K. Something like this. I mean you could save some money by only taking the 7700k and downgrading the HDD to something cheaper. You might actually get it down to 450$ and have something way better.

 

With the NUC you pay more because of the size, which is ok because you do get something extra. But if you don't really need the super small form factor......get something like the coolermaster elite 110 and build a system in there....

[LogicalDrm]

You are better off with $700 laptop or really nice mATX build. I you go lans often and game alot then laptop would be better since you don't need to carry monitor with you.

[mapegl]

Or do as I did. I just downsized all my components to an ITX-case. Looks good on my desk and very portable.