So forget overpaying for a Pi, buy a used NUC instead—it’s a much better value.
We love the Pi, and over the years, we’vewritten lots of tutorials about it.
I’ve used Pi boards for media centers, home servers, hobby projects, you name it.
So it’s safe to say we’re big fans.
But shortages that started in 2020 and remain ongoing have changed the landscape.
excitement goes right out the window, and you should consider spending the money on something else instead.
Intel
Enter the Intel NUC.
Let’s take a closer look.
We’re talking a lilliputian 5x5x2 inches or so.
If you hit up eBay, the place is just drowning in used NUCs.
All day, every day, there is a constant flow of old NUC models.
The screenshot above highlights the specs of the 2015-era NUC5i5MYHE.
Intel
They’re selling them “as-in,” but that doesn’t usually mean broken.
That means the seller has neither the time nor inclination to test every single one.
Even a mid-2010s NUC with a better-than-Celeron processor will outperform a Pi by 200% easy.
Here’s the link to theNUC5i5MYHE vs. Pistats seen in the screenshot above.
There is also a benefit to the machine running an x86 processor in terms of power and flexibility.
The NUC, on the other hand, uses more traditional storage.
it’s possible for you to, however, upgrade the memory and storage.
Same thing with storage.
You could power them off a good quality cellphone charger.
A Pi 3 would consume about 1.5W at idle and about 3.5W under heavy load.
The Pi 4 consumes about 4W while idling and 7W under load.
NUCs do consume more energy, but not as much as you’d think.
Most NUCs consume around 5-10W at idle.
So, realistically, your NUC will likely hover around 10-15W most of the time.
