I remember my first computer being an ‘assembled’ one – the components and peripherals were not from one particular company. Instead, we took a pick from a wide range of manufacturers and choose the product that suited our needs and budget. The most fun part, however, was assembling the CPU. Based on what we needed (rather, wanted) we chose the size of the hard disk drive, RAM and network peripherals. All these were then slapped on to the motherboard, and it was subsequently housed in a big cabinet with power supply that was chosen from a colourful lot.
But in a few years, manufacturers such as Lenovo, HP/Compaq, Dell, Sony etc started offering complete packages at almost equal to or just a wee bit more than the assembled PC’s cost. What came with the branded PC was the assurance of warranty and customer support under one single roof.
Obviously, the desktop soon got replaced by All-in-Ones and laptops in the personal space, but it never quite lost its stronghold in offices and institutions. But with Intel launching the Next Unit of Computing (NUC) and organisations opting for BYOD, will the tower PC be finally obsolete?
Future compact
The NUC is basically a tiny, barebones motherboard with a small casing for it. It measures just 4x4x2 inches. To put things in perspective, each side of the NUC is shorter than the iPhone 5. It’s just 2 inches thick, which is about the size of a regular paperback novel. Compared to the conventional tower PC, it is quite literally minuscule. Intel has achieved this compact form factor by shrinking the motherboard significantly, and using extremely small parts like mSATA Solid State Drives (SSDs).
But, there is still a problem with the NUC. The barebones motherboard and casing costs Rs 18,000 and 20,000 (depending on whether you opt for a Thunderbolt port), but the total cost of building a CPU with good performance will cost nearly Rs 43,000. Right now, a tower CPU with identical configuration, albeit with slightly bigger parts, can be bought for much cheaper. Even a Mac Mini with slightly better configuration and more ports can be had for Rs 39,990. So unless the user has a really dire need for a compact form factor, they would still go for a tower CPU over the NUC.
Gone with the BYOD?
Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is definitely the rage around the world. And why shouldn’t it be? It makes life quite easy for both organisations and employees alike by offering more freedom and flexibility. But one thing has to be kept in mind that as of now, adoption is seen mainly by the IT industry.
There are still millions of computers around the country in government and private offices, schools, colleges and homes that still have the conventional CPU cabinets. These institutions and offices too opt for the traditional packaged desktop system as buying from one manufacturer with just one or two different configuration types (based on the needs) is much more economical and easy to source than building a set of custom NUCs.
To give an idea as to how much would the price vary, Dell and HP’s desktop CPUs begin at Rs 25,000, and along with the monitor and peripherals this entire package would not cost more than Rs 40,000. All-in-ones too, considered to be the ideal computers for schools, can be bought for Rs 30,000 and above.
Gamers’ choice
But coming back to personal computing, the traditional CPUs have always been the first choice for gamers, and the world has a lot of them. PC gaming is significantly more popular than console gaming, because gaming CPUs are way more customisable than consoles to suit the gamers’ needs. So much so that some gamers even use emulators to illegally run console games on their PCs, but that’s another story.
With hardcore gamers, however, the price of putting together the CPU isn’t as important as getting the right components inside. The tower PC gives the gamer the space to go for the best processor, a good cooling system, RAM, as much storage as needed and dedicated graphics. The NUC, as of now, does not offer either space or the required processor, to whet gamers’ appetite. It also does not have space for dedicated graphics – gamers like to go way beyond Intel HD 4000 graphics.
For now, the NUC is available as only the Intel Core i3 processor soldered down to a board, with a limited number of ports and a plastic casing. There was no official word from Intel if the Core i5 and Core i7 variants will be released soon, but the spokesperson did confirm that the NUC’s compact form factor will be adopted and built upon by a few partners. If the partners decide to make these tiny CPUs powerful and inexpensive enough to replace the conventional CPU, it remains to be seen. Until then, the tower stands.