News - Exclusive: Intel to launch $139 Bay Trail NUCs in Q1 2014

[HEXUS]

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[MSIC]

Perhaps predictably, i'm thinking XBMC-HTPC.
I've built a few Rasp Pi-based now (usually OpenElec is my favorite) and they play back adequately, however the in-menu performance of Rasp Pi's leave alot to be desired, especially once you start looking at cool skins.
A 'proper' CPU for the menu, plus a decent storage subsystem (remember that Pi's also have to pull data off an SD card, which cant help) in a device that can still lean on GPU for video playback is very appealing.

The NUC's based on Core CPUs look lovely, but any time I begin to think about a build using one, price just makes it look non-viable.
These look, perhaps, to find a reasonable balance in a device that my parents etc wouldnt think looks "like a computer"

[mikolaj87]

I like the nuc idea. And considering this price this looks good. But still to pricey for what it is :/.

[sykobee]

Hey AMD, see this - this is what you could have been doing with Kabini if you weren't still searching for your elbow in a place the dark side of a sphincter.

[scaryjim]

Hey AMD, see this - this is what you could have been doing ....

With their lack of capital and budget? Hardly. Intel can throw money at designing stuff like this because they have money to throw. AMD don't.

OTOH, AMD could have been persuading their partners to build devices like - although the lack of traction that Trinity, Richland and now Kabini/Temash got in the mobile world suggests that AMD can't afford much budget for partner relations either - presuably they've blown that budget on developer relations for the graphics division (which they've actually been doing a very good job at, recently).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With their lack of capital and budget? Hardly. Intel can throw money at designing stuff like this because they have money to throw. AMD don't.

OTOH, AMD could have been persuading their partners to build devices like - although the lack of traction that Trinity, Richland and now Kabini/Temash got in the mobile world suggests that AMD can't afford much budget for partner relations either - presuably they've blown that budget on developer relations for the graphics division (which they've actually been doing a very good job at, recently).

It could also be AMD has its hands full with the production of the chips for two consoles,and the upcoming HD9000 launch.

I get the impression companies are also waiting for Windows 8.1 to release many Jaguar/Kabini/Temash based products.

Having said that I have seen at least 3 to 4 Jaguar and Kabini based laptops in the last month or so in PC World,so they are available,and all at £350 and under.

The Gigabyte Brix does also have a Kabini based version:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7011/c...ix-haswell-too

However,the Bay Trail NUC will probably cost £100 to £110 including VAT I suspect,so around £170 to £190 with a 4GB stick of RAM(around £30) and an HDD(£40 to £50). If you add Windows that bumps the price to around £240 to £260.

The thing is that is already the price for prebuilt nettops:

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pr...cat=433&page=1

This one costs around £270 and even has Windows and an optical drive too:

http://www.ebuyer.com/500388-acer-re...c-dt-smbek-009

It would have been nice,if the NUC was even cheaper,as I suspect Bay Trail CPUs and motherboards are cheaper to make. Remember,the Celeron 887 is a salvage part based on a much larger die,dual channel RAM,additional logic chips on the motherboard and probably a more complex PCB too,plus a bigger cooling system.

[scaryjim]

I dunno CAT - AMD keep claiming dozens of design wins for their mobility platforms, but very few of them ever get into channel, particularly in the UK. And while they've done a bit better with Kabini (there's at least 3 product lines at PC World using it: The Acer and HP 11.6" touchscreens, plus the 15" HP Pavilion with the A4-5000) I still think they could've done better. Perhaps Win 8.1 will bring more AMD designs to the fore, but we're still only hearing about then one at a time, whle you can guarantee that every major manufacturer will have several new Inte machines out for the Win 8.1 launch...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I dunno CAT - AMD keep claiming dozens of design wins for their mobility platforms, but very few of them ever get into channel, particularly in the UK. And while they've done a bit better with Kabini (there's at least 3 product lines at PC World using it: The Acer and HP 11.6" touchscreens, plus the 15" HP Pavilion with the A4-5000) I still think they could've done better. Perhaps Win 8.1 will bring more AMD designs to the fore, but we're still only hearing about then one at a time, whle you can guarantee that every major manufacturer will have several new Inte machines out for the Win 8.1 launch...

I do get the impression,the major marketing pushes are more in Asia,ie, China and India were cost is a bigger factor(and Intel might be relatively more expensive in comparison).
IIRC,during the time of Llano and Brazos,half of AMD APU sales were in China,for example. These markets are also expanding too,unlike the European and US markets which are probably relatively stagnant in comparison,and moreover where the Intel name has more of a halo effect.

[cjs150]

Cat: I think, sadly you are right about pricing.

However, this should run Windows Server. Perfect for home market with several pcs, laptops, tablets etc. Could be an active domain with roaming profiles. Admittedly a niche home market...but a market that will increase as homes get more connected

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Cat: I think, sadly you are right about pricing.

However, this should run Windows Server. Perfect for home market with several pcs, laptops, tablets etc. Could be an active domain with roaming profiles. Admittedly a niche home market...but a market that will increase as homes get more connected

Yeah,but I do think with the first of the 64 bit ARM cores starting to enter the market,the competition is going to become fierce over the next year or two. Intel might be moving into lower power form factors,but it appears ARM based products are moving upwards too!

Maybe we will soon have viable £100 desktops??

[cjs150]

CAT; totally agree about ARM. In an ideal world I would like to run a raspberry pi as home server for roaming profiles and active domain with a NAS as my file server. Very cheap (especially as I already have the NAS) but at the moment requires too much technical ability to set up properly. I am sure that will change. It will also blow apart the absurd notion that as long as you have the cloud you have all the storage you need (apart from when you are outside wifi range, when your ISP places caps on usage or, like me you have a couple of TBs worth a films and music)

As for £100 desktops, it depends on what you want to use them for. Web browsing, word processing, emails, media playback and very light (or old) gaming - and yes I can see a £100 desktop very soon. It will be slowish but usable - I have only just retired my 8yr old desktop which still worked for this. What I would miss from that though is the speed of my SSD, the extra power of a discrete GPU, but as I am currently running an i3 NUC as my everyday desktop and finding it very satisfactory, maybe I would not miss that extra power that much

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I personally think Q6600 level performance is more than enough for decent everyday performance,with a resonable IGP and a decent OS drive. I can see ARM based solutions hitting that level of performance with the new 64 bit cores,soon rather than later IMHO!