Table of Contents

Build Your First PC

A NUC is the perfect choice for building your first PC. It's small, few pieces to assemble, and only requests a couple Phillips screwdrivers.

What parts will I need?

New NUC

A new NUC kit comes as a bare-bones system. You will need to provide RAM and storage

Used NUC

Used NUCs purchased off eBay have often been stripped and are missing the power supply, RAM and storage. Sometimes the wifi card and even some screws are missing.

How to Assemble

There are a number of great videos to refer to:

You should also locate the model number from the bottom of the NUC (for example “BOXNUC7i3BNK”) and search for the terms NUC and that model number, and then add the keywords “user guide”. Official instructions and information about what components are compatible with your particular NUC are found there.

Connecting Your NUC

NUCs have the usual PC connections:

Installing an Operating System on Your NUC

Whatever operating system you choose, the process is basically:

See https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005471/intel-nuc.html

Ubuntu Desktop

Ubuntu offers great documentation.

Windows

With Windows, a special tool for creating installation media is provided.

IMPORTANT Windows requires a product key. If you don't have a product key, you can still use the unactivated device for one month without any restrictions

Other Options

What's Next

Congratulations! You have built your first PC and installed the operating system yourself!

Now it's time to seek new adventures for your and your NUC. From running your own Minecraft server to Donating CPU time to science, enjoy the journey!