Help Me Setup a Media Player (Intel NUC) - Questions

[steelydave]

I know this thread is kind of old, but I'm just putting this here for anyone who has a 7th gen NUC like mine, which is model 7i5BNH.

If you're sensitive to noise, the stock cooling fan that comes in these machines is really annoying. Like a lot of small fans, it produces a high-pitched whine, even at lower speeds - I'm not sure what kind of bearing is in the stock fan but it isn't a good one, that's for sure. The good news is there is a replacement from a company called Sunon that uses MagLev (magnetic levitation) technology which means it basically floats frictionlessly when it's spinning, and the reduction in noise is such that you can't hear it at all, except when it's running at top speed.

I was reminded of this because the one I installed in 2018 finally gave up the ghost last month (after 7 years of 24/7 use) so I had to replace it.

If you want to get one of these, the model number you're looking for is GB0555PDV1-A - I got mine off AliExpress for about 5 bucks, but you can find them on eBay as well for $10 or so.

There's a YouTube video here that walks you through removing the old fan and installing the new one - fair warning that you do have to disconnect/reconnect a few small connectors to get the circuit board out of the chassis, but if you're computer repair-savvy at all, it's very straightforward.


(Old dirty fan on the left and replacement on the right.)

 

[HomerJAU]

I can’t hear any of my i3 NUC fans at all. Not even when sitting next to me when playing on my desk (when I’m testing something).

But you are the 2nd person reporting fan noise with an i7 NUC. The higher processor specs obviously mean they run hotter.

The i3 NUC11 and i3 NUC12 have many cores but very efficient heat design with modern cpus and gpus.They are incredibly fast too. So fast I’m still using them for Kodi music and my two Ugoos AM6B+ just for Movies as they do Dolby Vision (and with FEL). Intel doesn’t do DoVi. But the UI on the NUCs is full 4K and snappy as. The Ugoos is sluggish when navigating a heavily graphic UI like scrolling through album covers of movie posters. The NUCs are silky smooth.

 

[HomerJAU]

It turns out that this isn't a 'bug', but a 'feature' of Pulseaudio,

PuldeAudio? You don't use HDMI? Any specific reason?

 

[HomerJAU]

Yes Windows 10 Home 64-bit, I can see & hear everything when I connect directly to the TV, Windows start screen, payback via foobar2000. I don't even see the Windows Screen when going via the amp, I suspect that the amp & NUC HDMI talk to each other and then something happens, as I unhooked from the amp and connected to a monitor, no video being o/p from the NUC. I hope to have another go when I get back at the weekend.

Reading through this old thread and seeing this again:

Sometimes when a NUC has been connected a PC at a non-standard TV res/framerate the NUC seems to 'remember' those setting. When plugged into a TV the TV cant sync to that.

Solution can be set your PC monitor to a standard TV res (e.g. 1920x1080 at 60Hz), shutdown now, plug into the TV or AVR, on, All good.

 

[marpow]

I can’t hear any of my i3 NUC fans at all. Not even when sitting next to me when playing on my desk (when I’m testing something).

But you are the 2nd person reporting fan noise with an i7 NUC. The higher processor specs obviously mean they run hotter.

The i3 NUC11 and i3 NUC12 have many cores but very efficient heat design with modern cpus and gpus.They are incredibly fast too. So fast I’m still using them for Kodi music and my two Ugoos AM6B+ just for Movies as they do Dolby Vision (and with FEL). Intel doesn’t do DoVi. But the UI on the NUCs is full 4K and snappy as. The Ugoos is sluggish when navigating a heavily graphic UI like scrolling through album covers of movie posters. The NUCs are silky smooth.

I know that Garry and I have discussed the noise issue before, I had two NUC's and just was too noisy for me whereas he never has had a problem.
The fans do pull dust as that is the nature of a fan.
THESE WORK GREAT for cleaning the little NUC's I use mostly for my car.

My choice, not Garry's, was a FANLESS PC, I have absolutely loved it. Just last week they are offering the new Windows 11 versions. This company Silent PC are pro to work with.

 

[steelydave]

PuldeAudio? You don't use HDMI? Any specific reason?

This was a problem in 2019 when I made this post originally, there were no pass-through HDMI drivers for Linux. It's subsequently been solved in pretty much every Linux fork there is.

 

[HomerJAU]

Thanks Dave. That explains it.

The LibreElec guys must have patched their Linux version, my LE NUCs where always HDMI Passthrough.

 

[HomerJAU]

I know that Garry and I have discussed the noise issue before, I had two NUC's and just was too noisy for me whereas he never has had a problem.
The fans do pull dust as that is the nature of a fan.
THESE WORK GREAT for cleaning the little NUC's I use mostly for my car.

My choice, not Garry's, was a FANLESS PC, I have absolutely loved it. Just last week they are offering the new Windows 11 versions. This company Silent PC are pro to work with.

Hey Mark, with your i7 NUCs Windows contributed to the heat. There are a huge number of backround service running, not just the media player app. You are using. Look at your normal PC. My Windows 11 PC I use for day to day programming etc can be sitting there, no user loaded programs running and it’s disc led is flashing as it’s being read by windows services, look at the task managers’ performance monitoring, there are always multiple services active, consuming CPU and power.

My LibreElec (Linux) NUCs have nothing active/running except Kodi. The disc activity led never flashes if Kodi is on any screen and I’m not playing music.