Nuc Pc, Anyone got any thoughts? Options

[Phil66]

Hello folks, I'm thinking of upgrading my music laptop. I don't really need a laptop but I don't have room for a second desktop tower. I've come across these and wonder what your thoughts are.

Any advice/opinions gratefully received, thanks.

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/p...s-kits/nuc.html

I would likely purchase from HERE something like THIS spec but with 512gb SSD and 32gb ram.

I just want to be able to swap it with my laptop, for the record, my laptop only has 3 usb ports and an hdmi out.

It needs to come in at around £850 before tax.

Thanks in advance of your help, I keep wondering if I'm missing something that is staring me in the face as to why I can't just swap it over, obviously there will be the set up but I'm hoping there is some quick way of cloning the hard drive from one to the other, somehow, maybe

Cheers

Phil

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[Phil66]

Thanks Todd,

Well it's here and it's a beast. They have left all of the burn-in test results and everything like that on the desktop for viewing. I got a separate box with a mug, a lovely big mouse mat that is very high quality, it will make a great backdrop for small ebay items I got an A4 size hard(ish) plastic A4 wallet with full build details and QC reports. It's a great bit of kit, glad I waited and the big kid in me loved the way the keyboard scrolled through various colours when booting

I'm currently syncing what I need from my OneDrive account, then I'll remove any software I don't need and hopefully, by the weekend it will be integrated into my system. Just need to check all usb connections as I think at least one is C so may have to get some cables. I've upgraded my USB switcher, I have a powered USB 3.0 hub which hasn't ever given a problem even with my Helix going through it which they say is a big NO NO. That was going through an old USB 2.0 switcher which was obviously a bottleneck.

Why do you say to switch off Windows Update?

Cheers

Phil

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This post has been edited by Phil66: Sep 18 2019, 09:06 PM

[Todd Simpson]

Typically, for any audio production rig, one turns off auto updates for the simple reason that one random system update can cause various parts of your computer to no longer function properly in terms of software/hardware that you use for audio productions. E.G. Windows runs and update, you sit down and turn on your daw and all of the suddent you get a few pop up warnings that your existing libraries are no longer compatible. Or one of your fave plugins will no longer load. Etc.

When a system update is released, it's a good idea to google it to see if people are having issues rleated to audio production. In pro studios updates are often done on schedule a few months behind release to allow for bug fixes and to allow time to find out what the release might break.
Then again, in pro studios the main production computer is often set as a 'stand alone"(no active connection to the internet) so that it can't get infected from the internet/web, and can't accidently update itself and break itself right before a session. A machine can still be connected to another machine via ethernet for the purpose of backup/restore, without being on the web.

However, in most home studios, the main production rig is also the main rig in genearl for games/email/brosing etc.

I don't run my main rig "Stand Alone" as I am online too often with GMC etc. So I'm very careful about updates. I have updates set to download but not install. I research each update carefully before I install it.



Todd

Thanks Todd,

Well it's here and it's a beast. They have left all of the burn-in test results and everything like that on the desktop for viewing. I got a separate box with a mug, a lovely big mouse mat that is very high quality, it will make a great backdrop for small ebay items I got an A4 size hard(ish) plastic A4 wallet with full build details and QC reports. It's a great bit of kit, glad I waited and the big kid in me loved the way the keyboard scrolled through various colours when booting

I'm currently syncing what I need from my OneDrive account, then I'll remove any software I don't need and hopefully, by the weekend it will be integrated into my system. Just need to check all usb connections as I think at least one is C so may have to get some cables. I've upgraded my USB switcher, I have a powered USB 3.0 hub which hasn't ever given a problem even with my Helix going through it which they say is a big NO NO. That was going through an old USB 2.0 switcher which was obviously a bottleneck.

Why do you say to switch off Windows Update?

Cheers

Phil

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[Phil66]

As far as I can see,you can't switch off auto updates now, you can pause them for up to thirty days, "Ahaaaaa", I hear you say, "Just keep pausing for thirty days", once you've paused and got to the end of how ever many days you paused for, you can'r pause again until you've updated.

I will dig deeper though.

Typically, for any audio production rig, one turns off auto updates for the simple reason that one random system update can cause various parts of your computer to no longer function properly in terms of software/hardware that you use for audio productions. E.G. Windows runs and update, you sit down and turn on your daw and all of the suddent you get a few pop up warnings that your existing libraries are no longer compatible. Or one of your fave plugins will no longer load. Etc.

When a system update is released, it's a good idea to google it to see if people are having issues rleated to audio production. In pro studios updates are often done on schedule a few months behind release to allow for bug fixes and to allow time to find out what the release might break.
Then again, in pro studios the main production computer is often set as a 'stand alone"(no active connection to the internet) so that it can't get infected from the internet/web, and can't accidently update itself and break itself right before a session. A machine can still be connected to another machine via ethernet for the purpose of backup/restore, without being on the web.

However, in most home studios, the main production rig is also the main rig in genearl for games/email/brosing etc.

I don't run my main rig "Stand Alone" as I am online too often with GMC etc. So I'm very careful about updates. I have updates set to download but not install. I research each update carefully before I install it.


Todd

I'm hoping this one lasts a loooong time. I don't think audio software is getting much more demanding at the moment, it seems to have plateaued a little.

Maaan, I'm envious! My PC still runs great, but it's 3 years old. I'm hoping it can last another 3 years. That seems to be the span for my PC's. Each one has lasted about 6 years so far. Maybe in 3 years I'll have money for a new one!

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This post has been edited by Phil66: Sep 19 2019, 08:16 PM

[Todd Simpson]

Yup. Windows stopped letting you just click a check box a while back. They sorta force you risk wrecking the stability of your rig. However, you can do what lots off folks who use windows for audio are doing which is to dig under the hood a bit and put a stop to the windows force fed updates.
You can stop windows 10 from force fed updates. Just takes a bit of doing.
https://www.easeus.com/todo-backup-resource...lly-update.html

quote name='Phil66' date='Sep 19 2019, 03:15 PM' post='771346']As far as I can see,you can't switch off auto updates now, you can pause them for up to thirty days, "Ahaaaaa", I hear you say, "Just keep pausing for thirty days", once you've paused and got to the end of how ever many days you paused for, you can'r pause again until you've updated.

I will dig deeper though.



I'm hoping this one lasts a loooong time. I don't think audio software is getting much more demanding at the moment, it seems to have plateaued a little.




[/quote]

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[Phil66]

Yup. Windows stopped letting you just click a check box a while back. They sorta force you risk wrecking the stability of your rig. However, you can do what lots off folks who use windows for audio are doing which is to dig under the hood a bit and put a stop to the windows force fed updates.
You can stop windows 10 from force fed updates. Just takes a bit of doing.
https://www.easeus.com/todo-backup-resource...lly-update.html

I'm a little worried about this, I would like to just install the security updates. I'm going to have to dig around unless anyone here knows how to do that?

Cheers

Phil

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[Todd Simpson]

It's a pickle to be sure. Without virus/security updates, your rig is vulnerable. For most folks at home who use their primary computer for everything from audio production to email, it's not practical to turn of updates. Which is sorta why I use a mac. Macs are not immune to everything, they are just such a small part of the market, less than %10 that hackers don't create for the platoform the same way they do for windows. some mac folks don't even run virus software as the operating system itself stops anything malicious from installing typically. I run AVAST on both my macs just as a precaution. I've turned off auto updates on my mac as I've had this very issue cause problems.
There was an update os x that caused firewire support for audio interfaces to just stop working as apple was moving away from firewire. Another time, an os x update stopped my thunderbolt output from carrying video. This is a huge problem as my video out runs to my big HD monitors. Without that, I have to use the laptop screens which are quite small.
You'll probably be fine with auto updates turned on now that windows pretty much requires it in order to function and you have to really hack in to the system to stop it and then you don't get security patches. I probably should have just not mentioned the auto update thing to be honest. If you are using this new rig as your "everything" rig, then you don't have a lot of choice, sorta need updates to keep the rig secure if it's on the web.

I'm a little worried about this, I would like to just install the security updates. I'm going to have to dig around unless anyone here knows how to do that?

Cheers

Phil

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