Hi, I’m considering building a Roon Core on a NUC. The Roon recommended NUC for large libraries (NUC10i7FNH) is unavailable in the UK at present. What do Roon recommend as an alternative. My library is circa 130k songs with potential to grow and is 1.7TB currently so it feels like I need something that is pretty powerful. All help appreciated.
Thanks
Stuart
You could get the smaller unit and add external ssd?
Thanks for coming back so quickly Ged.
I’m new to this Intel NUC thing, so when you say “smaller”, in what way? I’m assuming that it is the 64GB limitation to run ROCK.
I thought the SSD for the ROCK was internal rather than external. If I am adding it externally, is that a problem?
“Smaller” in this context means physically smaller - the 10i7FNK model isn’t as high, and doesn’t have space to fit a 2.5" SSD internally. It’s not a problem to add music storage externally using a USB drive (either SSD or HDD will work)
ROCK will get installed on the M.2 SSD that you still need for the NUC
You could get a used one from CeX?
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=sdesintnuc10i7fnh36a
Although if buying one used it seems you might be better off with a NUC 8 and saving yourself some money?
Thanks Geoff. My comment was that for large libraries, the Roon help page recommends a minimum of 128GB. Is this just to store music on or do I need it for the Core to function?
You can’t store music on the SSD used by ROCK. Large libraries have a large Roon database - hence the recommendation. And these days, you’d be hard pressed to find M.2 SSDs smaller than 128GB in any case. When ROCK was first made available, 64GB SSDs were common.
That’s what I thought, hence the question. I’m just nervous that the 64GB might be limiting for the operation when Roon themselves recommend 128GB.
So do you put the larger SSD into one of the external slots and boot from there? i.e. connect it to a USB
Why can’t you just get a bigger (larger capacity) M.2 SSD?
Because the blurb on the model you suggested has a maximum of 64GB RAM.
And therein lies the answer. I think I may have confused the RAM with the memory (searches for faceplant emoji).
I think you may have solved it! Thanks
As I said - I’m a first timer at this but have watched John Darko’s video on it and it seems straightforward. Just trying to avoid spending £2500 on a Nucleus Plus.
RAM - Random Access Memory
SSD - Solid State Drive (a.k.a Storage)
You think I’d know after all of these years! Cheers
Out of interest, have you built and run the system on a NUC yourself? Are you happy with the way it works?
Stuart
Just looked at my database storage on a 256GB M.2 drive that I bought and as you can see it’s 98% free.
I struggled to get a smaller drive at that time.
It’s just wasted space but what else can you do.
I have a 50k+ library
So you’re suggesting that 128GB is well within the capacity requirements.
Have you built and run the Core on the NUC yourself? Are you happy with it?
Yup - bought an Intel NUC i5 7th gen some years back (2017?) and transplanted it into an Akasa fanless case. Been running it 24/7 ever since. Very happy.
Great thanks. I think I’ll take the plunge. It looks like a really helpful forum if I run into difficulties!
I have built 2 and think they are a wonderful and simple one use device. Only Roon, all the time.
I did build a Ubuntu based server for more flexibility but went back to the Nuc running Rock as I wanted it to 100% available and only running Roon
Thanks Michael. That’s good to hear. I’ve heard people comment regarding the fan noise. Where do you keep yours and is it excessively loud?
