Without checking on CPU Benchmarks, I couldn’t say. IIRC, the 8th generation is marginally better than the 7th and 10th generation, but TPD should also be considered.
The i3 has two cores, four threads whereas the i7 doubles up. Single thread performance for both are similar for the same generation.
Below a comparison between NUC 10 and NUC 13 - both i7:
Intel Core i7-1360P
Single Thread Rating: 3,557
Intel Core i7-10710U
Single Thread Rating: 2,345
Torben
I would check to make sure. Dust is the killer.
Will do. I was going to open it up to check the RAM and SSD anyway. Just hope having a dedicated server wired to my router will solve the drops I’ve been having on my mesh system.
Im also thinking about a NUC for ROCK.
But not sure what kind of NUC I would need really… I’m currently running roon server just fine on a M1 MacBook with 8gb ram , Ethernet and external SSD. A bit over 1 TB of music .
Processing speed stays at 3.6-5.4x with DSD256 upsampling while downmixing 7.1 files to stereo.
My daughter will get the MacBook for school early next year.
So im looking into a NUC option for roon and a M4 Mac mini for work related stuff.
Power efficiency is important to me 
You can include the M1 from your Mac in such a comparison as well and it will provide at least an approximate guide:
Looks like a core i5 13th generation would be about the same performance. A i7 would be the better option.
Kinda thought after all these years since the M1 was released, even a i3 should be up to the task… 
I’m running a refurbished Small Form Factor HP with 32GB Ram, 1TB SSD with a I7-9700 (8 core, 8 thread ) processor. I loaded it with Rock and run it headless. It cost me $445. Its been running flawlessly for several weeks now. I have about 10k tracks on a separate Asustor solid state (all ssd) NAS. Frankly its overkill, but like you i like a little headroom!
NUCs are great. But you don’t always need to go that far.
I had a ten+ year old Lenovo x220 i5 lying around. I installed Roon ROCK server software onto it, added an SSD, and now it runs as my dedicated server.
It has run flawlessly for about 18 months now. And it cost me the price of the internal SSD drive.
My Nuc is due for delivery today so I’ll see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just buy a used, M1 Mac mini I reckon.
Just to add to the discussion. I use a 7th generation i3 Intel NUC and I use it daily for Roon, Nextcloud, and Plex without any issues.
Well the NUC7i5BNH arrived yesterday. Installed Rock on it and it’s been quietly humming away happily as my new Roon core since then. Not as silent as my M2 Pro mini but quiet enough so you can’t hear it when the TV is on. Thanks for all the helpful comments and a special thanks to @Rugby
Why WiFi if using a Mac but wired for a nuc? Use wired for both. I’ve been using a headless Mac minis for over 12 years for music servers. I’m using an m1 Mac mini setup as a headless server for Roon and other things.
I’m a Linux guy and have written many white papers on how to configure Linux servers for best performance during my working years and I wouldn’t touch Rock. The main reason is Roon took all the diagnostic commands out of the OS so if you have any problems you can’t debug them. Plus, in the past I have put Roon and audirvana on both Linux servers and on Mac minis and nobody could tell the difference in sound. Up until a couple months ago, I was using Ethernet going to the dac so the servers were located in a different room. If I was to put Roon on Linux, I’d run it on Ubuntu, and probably as a virtual machine on a mX Mac mini, or if I ran into issues in a vm setup, I’d look at getting an arm computer to run Roon
That’s sorta the idea, ROCK is an appliance and YOU don’t need to debug anything. So why include extra baggage in the code when it will never be needed.
There are plenty of other ways of running Roon as clearly you know
Each to his own , I have no desire to debug issues rather than listen !!
I wouldn’t touch a Breville toaster. The main reason is Breville took all the diagnostic commands out of the toaster.
If I wanted a toaster I’d take the heating elements out of an electric fire and place them horizontally in a fabricated metal box with adjustable height shelves underneath, that way I’d have full control over how toasty my toast was.
À chacun son goût 
There are many posts on the net asking what’s wrong with their Rock server. Some complain Rock server is running slow for example, and there is nothing they can do.
Saving a few hundred MB keeping the diagnostic commands in the OS wouldn’t compromise any performance. Or keep a dozen commands in to check cpu, memory usage, disk performance, and a few others.
I agree about a toaster not providing diagnostics but a Rock server is quite a bit more money than a toaster. When your rock server becomes unusable because it runs slow, what are you going to do? Upgrade? Upgrade what? Since you don’t know if you need more memory, faster cpu, etc, what are you going to upgrade?
I understand appeal of an appliance-like computer running ROCK for those who are less technically inclined, however many Roon users have some technical chops. This isn’t a matter of ‘taste’ (goût) but ability and skill of the individual user.
If you plan to use any extensions on the server, don’t install Roon Rock as the os. Install headless Linux and docker on the server, the install Roon server as a Linux app. I found out the hard way so ended up with Debian 12 on a Nuc, headless, and using SMB to connect to my Nas for my music files. You can find the instructions for this.
I used this eBay NUC and it barely gets to 10% cpu or memory.
Intel NUC 11 i3 - NUC11TNKi3 (11th Gen Intel i3 / 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD)
Do not install Docker as that is not a supported environment. Better you use DietPi as the Linux OS which allows you to easily install both RoonServer and Roon extension manager.
I think the reference to Docker was just for the Roon extensions and/or Roon Extension Manager. @Ben_Lukas did actually say to install Roon Server as a linux app.
However, using DietPi and the dietpi-software script to install both Roon and the Roon Extension Manager avoids all of the worries in this regard - Just select Roon Server and, if required, Roon Extension Manager, and all dependencies (including Docker for Roon Extension Mananger) get installed as required. Very easy. No Fuss. Fantastic!