Intel NUC N3700 Quad Core Pentium SBC

[Strider]

With the Raspberry Pi nearly impossible to find, the Atomic Pi is still available, and great for some projects, but not all, and my new found interest in small form factor computers, I just decided to try out an Intel NUC N3700 bare-bones SBC.



It's a quad-core Pentium 1.6GHz/2.4GHz CPU, up to 8GB DDR3L 1600, with Intel HD graphics. You can check it out in more detail below.

Basically, it's much cheaper than a Pi currently, much more powerful than the Atomic Pi, and has advantages of an x86 SFF desktop, like SATA storage. It can also run off anything between 12V and 19V, depending on it's configuration. Lastly, 3D printing a case for it would be easy, there are designs available, since it's a NUC board.

The best part... it's only $50.

Once it arrives, I'll play with it and share more. It's obviously more powerful than the Pi 4 and Atomic Pi, more on par with the Zotac ZBox Nano P I use as my bench computer, if not a bit more powerful than that too since it's one generation newer and can run the RAM at 1600MHz vs 1333MHz. Should be fun for the price.

I just wanted to throw it out there just in case anyone else may like such a thing. ?

eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/154964524587

Details: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/mini-pcs/nuc-kits/NUC5CPYB_NUC5PPYB_TechProdSpec.pdf

[Tatwi]

That is a good deal! My low-end laptop has the Celeron N3450 version of this SOC (with LPDDR4 2400MHz rather than DDR3) and I'm able to play Minecraft for Windows 10 in Win10 Pro on it at 1366x768. It runs Linux very well, apart from the battery life being poor compared to Windows. So the cpu/gpu alone on this board makes it a much better deal for computing than a Pi, but it also has a SATA port which is infinitely better than booting from an SD card or USB.

Would be neat to put one of these into a C64c case with a KEYRAH keyboard adapter and custom ports/covers for the rear. Add your favourite USB controller, OS, and emulators (probably up to Gamecube) and it would be a very capable retro-modern machine.

There are celeron/pentium mini-pc units on AliExpress that cost a bit more, but include the RAM and storage. Some are even tinier than this SBC. So that's another way to go if you're looking for a plug-in computer.

One thing this SBC doesn't have is simple GPIO pins, but a Pi Pico or Arduino UNO could be used for that kind of thing.

Any thoughts on what you will use it for?

[Strider]

On 8/22/2022 at 5:42 PM, Tatwi said:

Any thoughts on what you will use it for?

I got 2, one for a project for my wife, the other for me to play with.

To be honest, depending on its emulation capabilities, I may build a custom retro console around it.

I would LOVE to cram it in this thing... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZTDW238/ - But there just isn't enough room. ?

The Sega Saturn is a favorite of mine. Or, maybe I'll just see if I can find anyone local who has a dead one and gut it, or a Dreamcast.



 

That's the long way of saying, I not 100% sure yet. ?

[Tatwi]

That is a neat model! Kinda surprised there are model kits for old game consoles (says the guy who has a C64 mini and original VIC20 as desk ornaments, both of which are in storage, because I am out of desk space...).

[Strider]

On 8/24/2022 at 2:19 PM, Tatwi said:

That is a neat model! Kinda surprised there are model kits for old game consoles (says the guy who has a C64 mini and original VIC20 as desk ornaments, both of which are in storage, because I am out of desk space...).

Yeah, I just wish it was a bit bigger, but it would work for a Raspberry Pi if you really wanted to use it as an enclosure.

Also, one of them just arrived, as did the SSD and RAM I'm going to use for it. Now I just need to make a SATA power cable for it and get Ubuntu installed, but I'm also gonna try Windows 10 on it, just to see how it performs, even though I won't keep it on there, I'm just curious. ? 

[Strider]

 

Sketchy quick and dirty setup on my desk just to make sure it works, and I had to make a USB to SATA power cable becasue I failed to realize I didn't have the proper sized connector for this board... but....