New Intel NUC could be the Perfect ROCK Platform? Silent and Passively Cooled Out of the Box

I can’t really see why Roon would officially support the Austin Beach NUC, surely it would reduce sales of Nucleus? I hope that it is supported though.

It doesn’t look like. On that site (no affiliation) the base prices with the less expensive (expandable) chassis and an i3, i5 or i7 (no vPro) CPU including 4-8 GB of RAM and 128 GB M.2 SSD are $698, $849 and $952 respectively. Way less than any of the Nucleus prices ($1399 and $2499). Also it is safe to guess that the costs may come down even more if one source and put together the components.

http://simplynuc.com/austin-beach-chandler-bay/

I bought a ruggedised i7 pc for little over £500 and it had everything fitted. You can run a car over it apparently. Not that I will ever be in a position to do such a thing.

They are different market segments. Nucleus owners usually prefer to avoid any DIY, even the minimal amount required to setup ROCK.

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You’re right. I was throwing in a 2TB M.2 and that drives up the cost a lot. Neither Nucleus comes with that preinstalled.

If you were to go this way would you need an OS or will Rock install without an existing OS?

You don’t need a pre-installed OS. Assuming that those NUC models become supported ROCK OS will install from an USB flash drive.
If you are not familiar with the installation procedure here is the official guide:
https://kb.roonlabs.com/ROCK_Install_Guide
The official guide can be confusing but member @Rugby wrote an easier to follow guide. I could not find the link to it but perhaps he will see this post and add it.

What is involved for ROON to support it? Do they need to modify the ROCK OS installer to allow installation on this particular NUC?

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My guess is that they need to get one, check that the drivers in ROCK are appropriate for any new hardware and update ROCK if needed.

The installer itself would only need modification if a new BIOS were implemented, which I don’t understand to have occurred.

Users are free to attempt ROCK on any gear, including unsupported NUCs.

Yes, just because it is unsupported does not mean it won’t work. You will however have to take on more troubleshooting responsibilities.

Thanks! If anyone is interested send me a PM and I’ll send ya back a dropbox link.

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Is it possible to install a 4tb hdd? 15mm height!
Thanks

I don’t think the NUC Elements chassis is designed to take a 2.5" form factor drive. As far as I can see, it’s designed for M.2 form factor drives.

Thank you Geoff

Would greatly appreciate link mentioned here.

Continuing the discussion from New Intel NUC could be the Perfect ROCK Platform? Silent and Passively Cooled Out of the Box:

Correct me if I’m am strong however once these start shipping someone will have to be a guinea pig and test it out as I have the impression the ROON boys are in no hurry to certify this.

I am located in the States. Are there any vendors selling completely built fsnless NUC’s which can run ROON? Onlogic??

I have seen on the web the fanless Cyrus from Germany. Do they have ROON approved NUC boards in them? Do they ship to the States?

Wow. Cool! I am totally excited about these Intel Austin Beach NUCs. It would be great if Rock could be certified on these sooner than later. SimplyNuc has a great video on them at youtube.com Gary at Provantage.com has them for sale on his web site but he said because of Intel shortages because of the CoronaVirus they may not be up for sale for a few months yet which is very disappointing! PCNation.com also has them for sale so does TigerDirect.com. If Roon will buy me the Austin Beach NUC (their chassis element) and their Chandler Bay (their computer element) I will volunteer to be their guinea pig in getting ROCK up and running! I have tons of experience doing embedded software development! – Tim

Ribbed PC cases have been out for many years before the Nucleus.

Yes, I know. I have one. Akasa Turing A-NUC45-M1B Compact Fanless Case.

Since last May.

It isn’t their first fanless design but it is the first that encompasses all specs of processor in that range. Previously it only covered the 5w designs.

I have this case for my NUC since a month now and i am very happy. No more noise dead quiet en ROCK solid.

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