• expired

Intel NUC 8 i3-8109U Mini PC $407.20 Delivered @ Futu_online eBay

121
PHONO

Needed to replace my current, overloaded NUC at home so it can go on to become my new full time Plex/torrent box. Been looking around trying to find a suitable replacement. This seemed to be good enough for a facebook/OzBargain/Reddit/Imgur/internet warrior terminal.

I also noted that it was about $50 cheaper than any of the other retailers on eBay, So, it didn't appear to be price jacked for the sale. They said "normal price $599" and this is $90 off that price $509. Take the further 20% promo price off that and it drops to a very respectable $407 delivered.

I'm just going to wait here for the inevitable "oh that one is rubbish, you should have bought this one" so I can wallow in my buyers remorse.

Only posted it because it was well cheaper than everyone else on the sale. Happy to be proved otherwise. That's what we are here for… the bargains, not the proving wrong thing.

Original PHONO 20% off Selected Seller on eBay Deal Post

Edit: Quick shout out to Leonidas for putting me back in my box and finding a cheaper deal at the Computer Alliance eBay sale. But be quick, as that sale ends tonight (15/5/19). You snooze, you lose!

Related Stores

eBay Australia
eBay Australia
Marketplace
Shopping Express
Shopping Express

closed Comments

  • +1

    is the cpu or igpu good enough for smooth playback of 1080p/4k 10 bit h265 video files?

    • +1

      Page 3 of the review seems to indicate 4K is okay. They didn't test h265, but Iris Plus Graphics 655 supports hardware decoding of h265.

      https://nucblog.net/2018/10/coffee-lake-nuc8i3beh-review/

      Despite being an i3, due to it being the 8th gen, it actually beats the 7th gen's i5 equivalent. Intel also took advantage that the chipset supports 4 USB 3.1 gen 2 USB ports, so all 4 USB-A ports on the NUC are USB 3.1 gen 2. Most people don't have USB 3.1 gen 2 devices, but it doesn't hurt. Thunderbolt 3 port is there. However, the down side is the HDMI port is still DisplayPort to HDMI via a bridging chip to achieve 4K@60Hz.

      The i5 model has 2x more cores/threads, but obviously cost more.

      • +5

        I'm only using mine to smash on the keyboard while I argue with internet morons. Works great!

    • The tests only tested hardware decoding support. If you need on the fly hardware transcoding support, then need to do your research.

  • +2

    I'd really love to know when/why/if the the Asrock Desk Mini will be readily available…. it's unbeatable with a Ryzen APU….

  • even my nuc7i5 cant properly transcode, plex should work on their transcoding rather than focusing on new features. Kodi runs on any lower end hardware.

    • i5-8259u ?

      • i5-7260u I think.. 7i5 - so 7th gen…
        Thing is.. even if it is 7th gen, I thought the GPU does support H265 decoding… But transcode could mean encoding…

        • yeah 7th gen, it does decode h265, but not fast enough

    • What are you trying to transcode though?

  • nuc8i5 seems good price too at about $494. but i am waiting for the i7 to discount a bit.

  • +8

    Not the best price, bought it for ~$375 during Computer Alliance ebay 20% sale. I am inevitable…

    edit:

    Sale still on

    slim version

    2.5 slot version

    Also good price for SODIMM DDR4 8GB

    • Good price on the SODIMM… wish I waited…

      • Yep same, bought one during their last sale for $71.2 which i thought was good. Tempted to go 16gb now

        • I bought two last time… :(

    • -1

      I gave up on CA after the last time I looked there for a NAS server and all of their prices were jacked for the sale. I guess some things did slip through.

      Nice find. (But get in quick, as that sale ends today!!)

      Dont forget at CA it's +$15 shipping, making their price $390. Still cheaper, and still buyers remorse! :D

      • +1

        Thats surprising, didnt think they did that. When I bought my NUC i was also considering a Synology which they had for a great price as well

        Have ebay plus so free shipping. Also delivery to Sydney from QLD was next day, so $15 might still be worth it.

        • +1

          Yeah, I got booted off the eBay Plus freebie wagon to "taking the piss" each time they had a promotion on. Either way, it's still between $32~$17 cheaper if people get on it today.

          Im happy to be wrong and if someone can find a better deal, it is only a benefit to the community…

          To all the people who don't read this until tomorrow… suckers! :D Y'all missed out…

          • @pegaxs: Only have ebay plus because i forgot to cancel the 'freebie' haha..

          • @pegaxs: So do I just need memory and SSD (or SSD M.2) to get this up and running?

            Looking to use it as home automation server, plex etc.

            • @tallmantim: It supports 2.5” SSD and M.2. And you will need some RAM. It needs 1.2v DDR4 2400 Sodimm RAM…

              And of course, it will need some form of operating system. :P

              For more info on this NUC, you can read exactly what it needs here

              • @pegaxs: Many thanks!

                Long time since I've had to "build" a PC. Things have move on a fair bit in about 9 years!

                • @tallmantim: It much building involved in these. Slot in the RAM and SSD, pop the lid on and you’re done. :D

                  • @pegaxs: excellent - got the Crucial 8GB for ~$80 and the Samsung 1TB SSD for $145 to go with it.

                    no postage, as my ebay plus freebie is still going!

                    $600 all up.

            • +2

              @tallmantim:

              Looking to use it as home automation server, plex etc.

              this is exactly what im using it for, works great. Running a headless unbuntu server with several docker containers hassio, plex, torrent, sonaar/radaar etc. Also super low power consumption

              • @Leonidas: Brilliant! :-)

                This is exactly what I'm doing after getting it all working on R Pi - and then have video playback stop the entire unit.

                Have enjoyed getting docker to work with the components on the R Pi - and should be simple to move everything over to NUC.

      • -1

        It's rare for them to price jack

    • Not sure about memory as most nuc need low voltage modules

  • +1

    I also noted that it was about $50 cheaper than any of the other retailers on eBay, So, it didn't appear to be price jacked for the sale.

    Except most of the seller's pricing (especially those that are part of the eBay sales) is high to begin with, so not really a fair comparison.

    It's $425 local pick up @ MSY, which makes this only ~$20 cheaper, so not exactly a 'good' deal.

    • Well, considering that my closest MSY is 3 hours drive away… and this one, I don’t even have to leave the house.

      • Of course, there's no doubt it's the cheapest price currently available, but is it worth of being submitted as a deal here? And if so, we may as well just submit a deal for every item listed on SE's eBay store as most (if not all) of their products are $10-20 cheaper than RRP.

  • +2

    wait here for the inevitable "oh that one is rubbish,

    My old Celeron N3050 NUC is still going strong on torrent/plex/samba/etc duty with VNC virtual desktop. Very reliable.

    So given that i3-8109U seven times the passmark, I think it will do nicely.

    How is your old one overloaded? You sure it doesn't just need more RAM?

    • Yep, my old DN2820 Celeron NUC has been on pretty much 24/7 since I bought it, still runs Kodi fine.

      Also running a 7th gen i3 NUC has a VM box, current has a Linux SQL server VM, Windows 10 VM, and Windows Server 2016 VM running on it and it works pretty well.

    • +3

      My old one is a NUC5i3RYH. It currently runs Linux Mint and serves as a print server, file server, plex server, ftp server, torrent box, p0rn errr, "video consumption terminal" as well as daily driver stuff, like remote access to work, spreadsheets, word processing and photoshopping work images.

      I have since moved some of the load over to a Qnap NAS server for file serving/storage. Having 4 USB external drives plugged into this poor NUC cant be good for it. But it runs faultlessly with all this going on.

      I want to use this one now to connect to the TV for Plex/Kodi duties. Semi retirement.

  • does this includes ram and hard disk?

  • Excuse the ignorance, does this need drives and ram and the listing is "barebones" ?

    • Yes, it will need a drive and some RAM.

      • So this is a good price for the same thing then
        https://www.amazon.com/Intel-NUC-Mainstream-Kit-NUC8i3BEH/dp…

        • +3

          WOAH! Hold the horses… Is this some buyers remorse I feel washing over me? Lemme go look (ie: make a new post :D )

          Edit: Crisis averted. That's $277US. It works out to about $480AU once postage and GST is added…

          • @pegaxs: The $375 deal is still on as pointed out by Lorindor. The SODIMM RAM deal is good too.

            • @netsurfer: pointed out by Lorindor Leonidas

              That is a good deal, but is only here for another few hours, so get on it!! (That sale ends today) and it's $390 if you refuse to pay for eBay Plus. :D

        • +2

          That's $US, put the order through and it's $487 with Expedited shipping

  • At computer alliance after 20% off discount, before shipping NUC8i3 - $367, NUC8i5 - $479, NUC8i7 - $599 , add $15 for shipping for get ebay plus.
    I think good price for i3 and i5. i7 is still bit expensive

  • As is tradition, better deal pops after i jump on the first deal (Computer alliance)

  • What does everyone do by way of operating systems? OEM Windows?

    • Linux, if it is a server, or for Kodi.
      I use Ubuntu LTS.

      What do you plan to use it for?

      • Mainly home/office, no gaming. Which Linux would be the easiest for a first time Linux user - Mint?

    • Gaming is the main use case that forces gamers to stay on Windows. For everything else, Linux works just fine. Personally favour Manjaro and Mint.

      • +1 for Mint. Moved over to Mint years ago after Ubuntu messed up their interface and never looked back. Works flawlessly on these NUC boxes.

        • Ubuntu is good again now.

  • What are people's thoughts on a refurb Dell laptop for HTPC? Would that be better value?

    • +1

      Depends on what you want to do with it and what form factor you car about. If you want a small form factor, headless server or a plex/Kodi media player, these are very good at that. These NUC machines are great as media/file servers. Their fanless design and small form factor makes them excellent to stash anywhere.

      I find old laptops are ok, but are just way too bulky to use like these. I think laptops make great laptops, but not great HTPC, where the NUC types almost feel like they are designed to be used as a media player/server.

      If you just want to use it to stream things like YouTube, Plex, Kodi, etc, and you want it to look like it belongs next to your home theatre setup, go the NUC. If you want something you can use while you travel, or move about the house and it needs its own screen and keyboard… get a laptop.

Login or Join to leave a comment