Cirrus7 fanless i7, will it work?

These aren’t my words:

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All noted. If it runs the same BIOS, then some risk may be reduced. But if you had RoonOS issues, I wonder if Roon could tell from your diagnostics that it isn’t an Intel NUC and therefore won’t offer support?

And of course I agree, people can do their own research and decide for themselves - I would hope that goes without saying, all of the time.

Well, I’m running NUC7i7XXX. The only way to tell the difference is to come physically disassemble my unit. But I do understand and appreciate the hesitation, as I am a big skeptic myself.

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I got my Cirrus7 Nimbini v2 fanless with i7 and it is awesome!

It looks extremly well, is Lightning-fast, fanless and rock stable on heavy load.

The aluminium outside has about 30 degrees on idle or playing music with no or light conversion. On heavy load like first scan of music library and analyzing the music files it‘s getting really hot on the outside (around 40 degrees), but that‘s a good thing, because the heat is transported away from CPU.

I tested the original Intel NUC i5 too. In comparison the i7 is much faster and give a much better user experience using Roon. And I imagine the sound is better, probably because of the fanless case?

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seriously considering a Cirrus 7 :slight_smile:

question: does ROCK support Coffee Lake i7-8559U processors (Cirrus 7 Media Edition) or should I go, instead, for Kaby Lake R i7-8650U (Cirrus 7 Business Edition)? :no_mouth:

thanks

Just got this custom built to order i7 myself Just ordered new Roon Server - #10 by CrystalGipsy, an absolute steel, Runs ROCK.

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… is that a “Media Edition” with Coffee Lake i7-8559U running just ROCK? :slight_smile:

Yes, it is media edition with i7.
But for now im running Windows 10 on. Will try Rock if it works (have extra ssd at home).
I just need windows because of additional software, but Roon works super fast even on win.

The choice of CPU is related to performance needs (e.g. DSP) and TDP, especially if you use a LPS or a fanless chassis. ROCK compatibility, if I’m not mistaken, is more concerned with drivers especially Ethernet.

More on LPS: If one is intending to use a 36W LPS, then a 28W TDP is too high just for the CPU, since there are other things that need the power.

Put my other SSD in cirrus7 with ROCK installed, and it works.

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ROCK works.

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thank you @drsah :slight_smile:

@wklie don’t think I’ll do much DSP (… if any at all): mostly thinking about future-proofing
yes: I obviously do need working ethernet drivers :wink:

LPS… UpTone Audio JS-2: 5A continuous, 10 peak (powers a 4core i7 Mac Mini, at present)

From Cirrus 7 blog https://www.cirrus7.com/blog/cirrus7-nimbini-v2.5/

This looks very impressive - with the fanless beating the fan configuration significantly. They also beat Akasa in providing a released product earlier.

If you’re sure your LPS has enough power for it, and other people have verified ROCK on Bean Canyon works (Note: I counted two or three reports here only, and it is not officially supported yet), this looks nice.

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I have a NUC7i7DNHE in an Akasa Plato X7D case.

Running both Roon Server and HQP Embedded on the same machine (via Debian Stretch OS).

It handles HQPlayer up-sampling to DSD256 no issues, using one of the most CPU intensive filters. Below are the temperatures after a couple hours of music playing.

I believe Cirrus’ i7-8650U model is based on the same model NUC (double check with them to confirm). This NUC model is officially supported by Roon for ROCK. Right now, that would be my recommendation, until Roon officially announce ROCK supports NUC8 models.

06%20pm

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Yes and NUC7i7DNHE also has the advantage of being 15W TDP, which makes finding a LPS much easier.

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NUC7i7DNHE performance is even better than I thought… up-sampling to DSD512 with poly-sinc-lp-2s filter with Roon Server running on the same machine, running for a few hours.

Max individual core loading is 75%, average physical core loading (all 4 physical cores) is ~70%.

This is a good indication that I did a half decent job with building this particular fanless NUC - luckily ! :grin:

Actually a good indication that if you just carefully following the instructions Akasa provide with the Plato X7D, you should be fine.

46%20pm

Sean, I’m really interested in your fabless i7 build. Are the exact components you used listed anywhere?

Can I just double-check, yours is completely ROCK supported, right? But just in a fabless case?

Hi James

Firstly, my build is fabulous, not fabless! :grin: Just joking around of course.

Here is what I bought:

1 x https://www.mwave.com.au/product/intel-nuc7i7dnh4e-nuc-barebone-kit-core-i78650u-8th-gen-vpro-support-ac14743

2 x https://www.mwave.com.au/product/kingston-valueram-8gb-1x-8gb-ddr4-2400mhz-sodimm-memory-ac03997

1 x https://www.mwave.com.au/product/samsung-970-evo-250gb-nvme-13-m2-2280-3d-vnand-ssd-mzv7e250bw-ac13204 (not the one I have, but my older model is no longer available it seems)

1 x Plato X7D Slim Fanless 7th Gen NUC Chassis

Correct. Officially supported by Roon.

Hope this helps.

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Hi Sean,

Haha, what an awful typo, yes I’m sure it is fabulous!

That’s very helpful, thank you! :+1:

I’ll try to find the same components on Amazon UK, or see if any of the other suppliers here have them.

Did you transplant the motherboard from the original case into the Akasa?

James

Sean - seems that NUC model number is Australian specific - do you happen to know the UK variant which would be ROCK supported - I’m a bit confused at the naming scheme of those things.