Intel NUC D54250WYK Review

The Intel NUC D54250WYK is a great product for people who want to custom-build a digital jukebox, gaming machine or home entertainment PC. This is an ultra-compact kit with an impressive computing performance. There are many wonderful features that this small and neat half-built PC has to offer. In this review, I will go over the features and benefits of this system unit and some additional pointers you should know about before making a purchase.

Just wanted to say thank you to Intel for providing me this review copy.

What’s Inside and What Can You Do with This Kit?

It’s important to point out that the Intel NUC kit is not a complete PC, but a bare bone system. As a result, you will have to add a few additional components in order to start using the machine.

Intel builds the NUC D54250WYK kit with a 4 by 4 inch motherboard and a fixed 1.3 GHz processor. Inside the kit, you’ll find a heat skin, cooling fan, external power adapter and an enclosure housing the integrated Wi-Fi antennae. The CPU is a dual core 4th generation Intel® CoreTM i5 processor. There are two SO-DIMM slots which allow you to add up to 16 GB of DDR3 RAM. The motherboard is mounted with two sets of USB 3.0 ports on the back and front panel, and an additional two USB 2.0 connectors on the internal headers. You will be able to connect this kit to your home or office cabled router since it comes with a gigabit Ethernet port.

While the Intel NUC kit does not have a hard drive, you can install an mSata Internal SSD (solid-state drive) on the half-length PCI mini slot. You’ll not have enough room inside the case to install an IDE or SATA hard disk, but that’s not a problem anyway because you can always opt for an external hard drive which is extremely cheap these days.

Intel NUC i5 D54250WYK Haswell BackFor those wishing to build a home theater PC, the Intel NUC D54250WYK kit provides an infrared sensor that can work with a remote control. Entertainment junkies will also appreciate the stereo/microphone jack found on the unit. You can connect two displays on this bare bone at the same time since it is equipped with one HDMI connector and a Mini Display Port. Whether you plan to use this PC for gaming or to watch movies, Intel’s HD 5000 Graphics controller provides superior image quality. You can upgrade the bare bone with any compatible add on card since there is one free full-length PCI slot on the motherboard. In addition, the motherboard is well appointed with a power connector and SATA data port.

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Features and Benefits

The features that come with this bare borne allow users to enjoy the following benefits:

  • Ultra-compact Design
    The Intel NUC kit features sleek, ultra-compact form factor (UCFF) design. With a weight of only 2.6 pounds, you can easily transfer this unit from the entertainment room to your living or any other location that you intend to use it.
  • Advanced Intel Technology
    This Intel bare bone may be tiny, but big things come in small packages. The unit packs several powerful Intel technologies that boost performance. To begin with, you have the Intel® Core™ i5-4250U processor, which is equipped with the 2.0 Turbo Boost Technology. This allows the dual core processor to execute tasks safely above the normal frequency of operation over short periods, thus maximizing performance. With the Intel® Rapid Start Technology, you can start up this machine very quickly.
  • Superior Graphics and Processing Power
    With the Intel® Quick Synch and Clear Video HD Technologies, poor image quality will be a thing of the past. You can immerse yourself in games and movies while enjoying stunning graphics thanks to the amazing performance offered by the Intel® HD Graphics 5000 controller.

Customer Reviews

Package Accessories and Dimensions 

The Intel D54250WYK NUC kit is surprisingly small. It only measures 4.6-by-4.4-by-1.4-inches, rivaling even the most compact UCFF bare bones. With every purchase, you will get the following components:

  • One 19 Volt, 65Watts external power brick
  • A power cord, with options for type B, E and G connectors
  • One VESA mount bracket
  • An integration guidebook

Pros

  • Flexible bare bone that allows you to custom-build a high performance PC.
  • Versatile bare bone that makes it possible to build anything from a home theater PC to a gaming machine.
  • Efficient machine with high speed performance.
  • Excellent processing and graphics processing power.
  • The Ultra Compact Form Factor (UCFF) design of this bare borne makes it is very lightweight.
  • The Intel D54250WYK NUC kit has a Green Compliance Certificate/Authority.
  • It is also compatible with many operating systems such as Windows 7 and above as well as different versions of Linux like Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, and OpenSUSE.

Cons

Buyers have to get additional components since this system unit does not come as a fully built PC. While the Intel NUC kit is a bare bone computer, it provides a flexible system unit that can be customized with components that you would not find on standard off-the-shelf PCs.

Word on the Street: What People Are Saying About the Intel NUC D54250WYK

By doing a bit of research on customer reviews for the Intel NUC D54250WYK kit, you’ll find that the majority of users consider this bare bone to be a good buy. Among other positive aspects, buyers love the fact that this kit is speedy, conveniently small, feature rich, quiet, very powerful, and energy saving. On the other hand, some buyers say that between buying the main unit and additional components such as RAM and the mSATA hard drive, the final cost can be higher than what you pay for when getting a regular fully-built PC. However, a ready-built PC does not give you the option of choosing your components.
See what people are saying…

Closing Thoughts

If you want to build a powerful PC with just a few upgrades, then the Intel NUC bare bone is worth buying. Simply add memory chips, an internal mSATA hard drive and any desired add-on card and you are all set to use your PC. While some buyers say that this unit can be more costly than standard fully-built computers, you’ll be paying for smart Intel engineering prowess that makes it possible to custom build a high performance PC. For the price you are paying, you’ll definitely be getting your money’s worth considering the high performance, speed, flexibility and power saving that you get after making a few upgrades to this bare bore.

Intel NUC D54250WYK
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