Intel (or other) NUC boxes? Anyone had any experience with them?

[miden]

I see quite a few advertised running the Celeron Chips and claiming 2.4+ ghz speeds from the processor? What do you guys and gals think about using a Celeron for VST and audio work? I always thought an i5 or better was the only way to go…but NUC boxes wtih 'i' anything in the name are really expensive for what they are IMO.
I think the prices are definitely inflated by popularity haha!
Im trying to ditch the laptop from the (live) setup and the NUCs look a lot smaller and less obtrusive. I run everything with the laptop lid shut anyway, so its not llike I need a screen or keyboard (qwerty) for live work.

Thoughts?

[UltimateOutsider]

I have an older i5-based NUC and I experimented with using it as a DAW system. It proved perfectly capable, but hardly stellar. I did a long write-up on it, with benchmarks, etc. in 2014.

Although I haven't seen benchmarks on the new Celerons (or the new i5s), I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with anything less than an i5 for music work. My projects tend to have a lot of CPU-intensive effects and instruments, though.

[miden]

cool thanks. I'll check out the link as well

EDIT: Really well written article there, kudos!

[.jon]

I haven't used them as daws, but I install and maintain them as part of our company product. The main issue for music use is fan noise under load, physics dictate that smaller passive cooling components can radiate less heat, and smaller fans need more rpm to move air. A combination which results in a very noisy little box compared to a bigger one with equal processing power.

They are fairly well built though, even cheaper models are reliable. SSDs are the weakest component but easy to upgrade if needed.

Celeron may fall a bit short, depending on your use scenario of course.