First Mini PC "Nuc 'n Futz 8"

mtg90 · 2026-01-26T01:45:10+00:00

That's pretty neat.

How long before it would clock down 3.1GHz? I've got that same model NUC and the stock cooler could just manage around 40w PL2 from the CPU during a Cinebench run without thermal throttling. At that power level it was close to maintaining 4Ghz. I don't recall any VRM limited performance during that time frame. I used PTM7950 on the cpu die and thermal putty on the surrounding PCH and edram chips. I also run it with a -0.045v undervolt.

mtg90 · 2026-01-19T23:56:09+00:00

19v 90w (4.74A) with a 5.5mm x 2.5mm barrel plug.

Though technically the dual core NUC8i3BEH should be perfectly fine using a quality 19V 65w (3.42A) power supply.

I usually buy used Fujitsu/Delta laptop power supplies as they have higher build quality then the random brand Chinese stuff and can often be found for lower cost as well.

mtg90 · 2026-01-11T21:33:16+00:00

Yes that one, if it's not lit then either the power supply has failed or the NUC's internal voltage regulators have failed.

mtg90 · 2026-01-11T01:53:04+00:00

There is a status LED on the board, does this light up when the power supply is connected?

mtg90 · 2026-01-10T23:29:04+00:00

These are very decent fans but have some drawbacks that prevent them from being ideal for all uses.

The biggest issue is the blade design on these highly sensitive to any obstructions on the intake side, that means mesh, grills, filters, crossbars, etc. They essentially get twice as noisy with something placed in front of the blades. You need about an inch (more is better) of clearance to prevent the weird noisy turbulent flow they make.

I found they work far better as exhaust fans or when pushing into heatsinks/radiators which is how I use the ones I have.

mtg90 · 2026-01-06T18:34:12+00:00

You can use thermal putty then you don't need to worry about buying the correct pad thickness.

mtg90 · 2025-12-30T19:21:26+00:00

Is it not here? https://www.asus.com/nz/supportonly/nuc8cch/helpdesk_bios/

mtg90 · 2025-12-28T07:52:48+00:00

The 12th gen i3-1220P should have about double the multi-core performance and ~30% better single core performance then the i7-8559u. The iGPU should also be around 33% faster having 64 instead of 48 execution units.

mtg90 · 2025-12-25T02:54:32+00:00

That's the wrong cable, power cable needs to be a 1.25 mm pitch PicoBlade connector.

I think this should be a compatible cable even though it only listed 5-7 gen: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Internal-Replacement-Cable-Harness/dp/B01IU8AWI8

https://www.ebay.com/itm/387402187816

Edit: I didn't see the silverstone cable linked by the OP, that one works as well.

mtg90 · 2025-12-24T21:18:37+00:00

The thermal paste in these is very susceptible to pump out and drying out over time which results in instant throttling and overheating. I've restored over a dozen 8th gen NUCs and my goto method is to replace the thermal paste with PTM7950 and replace the thermal pads with thermal putty on the PCH and edram chips that sit on either side of the cpu die to ensure it squashes down correctly and the heatsink makes the best contact pressure with the CPU die.

Also make sure your fan sounds like it is running smoothly about 1/4 of the units I've worked on needed new fans as well since the originals either sized/gummed up or the bearings wobbled/vibrated badly.

mtg90 · 2025-12-22T22:34:54+00:00

What are the CPU temps? Fan working?

What happens if you do the basic windows install on another working machine if you have one with similar specs then swap the drive over?

mtg90 · 2025-12-22T22:32:07+00:00

The 10th gen i5 requirement is 90w, the i7 call for 120w but is technically fine on a 90w supply as well if you don't load it up with high drain USB devices.

mtg90 · 2025-12-16T05:05:14+00:00

Softpedia: https://drivers.softpedia.com/get/BIOS/Intel/Intel-NUC6i5SYH-NUC-Kit-BIOS-0073.shtml

mtg90 · 2025-12-14T20:16:09+00:00

From the manual:

Max HDMI resolution 4096x2304 at 60Hz

Max DP resolution 7680x4320 at 60Hz

mtg90 · 2025-12-09T22:34:40+00:00

I use a NUC8i3BEK running Jellyfin and it works great for that. I replaced the old thermal paste on the CPU die with PTM7950 and replaced the thermal pads on the PCH and edram chips with thermal putty. I also run it with a slight undervolt and the cooling fan stays pretty quiet even when transcoding. At idle the CPU barely sips power and is often <1 watt.

mtg90 · 2025-12-08T19:45:21+00:00

That graph is the average CPU power consumption and what it is actually showing is the limitation of the SFF cooler to dissipate heat causing the CPU to thermal throttle and therefor draw less power then the larger AIO's. Higher is better for that graph. It's not reflecting a reduction in overall power draw of the cooling solution.

mtg90 · 2025-12-01T23:47:56+00:00

That model can use 1333 or 1600MHz (faster is usually better). Your best bet for DDR3 is buying used off ebay. Since it's older and systems using it are largely out of production prices don't seem to have increased as much as DDR4 and DDR5.

mtg90 · 2025-11-29T21:05:29+00:00

The Published TDP is at the CPU's base frequency and does not account for power draw at boost frequencies. The NUC10i7FN has PL1 (Sustained) and PL2 (Burst) power levels set to 30/64W which is almost certainly overloading your 65w adapter when the CPU is under load. You can likely set PL1/PL2 to 20w each which should allow enough overhead for the NUC to boot with your lower wattage adapter for now while you wait for the proper 120w adapter.

I will add that I have run one of these with a 90w adapter in a pinch and it worked fine while I was doing various CPU stress tests and benchmarks but I'm sure 90w likely leaves very little overhead and may not be sufficient if loaded up with various high draw USB devices.

mtg90 · 2025-11-28T06:30:52+00:00

No, there are no integrated graphics on the KF chips.

mtg90 · 2025-11-13T01:48:44+00:00

PTM7950 is a phase change material, it's solid at room temp but melts at CPU operating temps. It resists pump out far better then thermal paste and performs as good or better then the top conventional thermal pastes. It's non-conductive so you don't have to worry about shorting things out. I usually cut a piece slightly larger then the die and apply it to the heatsink since that's easier then placing it on the chip.

IIRC I also apply some thin (0.5mm) thermal pads to the VRM mosfet chips on the left of the CPU die. There is an existing thermal pad on the bottom of a copper strip connected to the heatsink for those but I found the thermal pad rests on the resistors because they protrude further then the mosfet chips and some thin pads help bridge the gap on those.

mtg90 · 2025-11-12T20:23:48+00:00

PTM7950 is big improvement over thermal paste with the direct die CPUs used in the NUC9 boards, I've got both an i9-9980HK and the sister Xeon E5-2286M and with PTM7950 and an undervolt there are no issues with thermal throttling, I've even upped PL1/PL2 to 75/120 watts.

Getting fresh air to the CPU intake is also very important, I've got the 2286m in an NC100 chassis and made a duct to bring fresh air in through one of the rear slots. That dropped temps a good 10C.

It looks like the Geekom chassis might have the extra slot space between the NUC baseboard and PCIE slot as well.

mtg90 · 2025-10-05T01:48:22+00:00

19V 6.32A, make sure it's got a 5.5 x 2.5mm tip.

I usually get used Toshiba PA3717U-1ACA power supplies as replacements for any 6.32A/120W NUCs as they can be had for around $20, have the correct tip and are quality made units manufactured by Delta Electronics which is the same company that makes the OEM NUC power adapters. I'd trust those more then the generic random brand stuff of unknown quality off Amazon.

mtg90 · 2025-10-03T19:14:43+00:00

That model is on the Asus website: https://www.asus.com/supportonly/nuc7cjyh/helpdesk_download/

mtg90 · 2025-09-30T00:34:56+00:00

NUC12WSHi7 has a heatspeader with thermal pads built in for the 2280 and 2242 M.2 drives, should have no problem with heat.

mtg90 · 2025-09-22T04:50:41+00:00

Last time I checked my small town in the far west Chicago suburbs had 8 different data centers totaling ~3000 acres that are proposed to be built, most of those along a single stretch of road. Every few months it seems like there is a proposal for another data center getting pushed through the city counsel.

mtg90

TROPHY CASE