Build/Installation

Before I dive into the details on the Hades Canyon NUC I really should get it all put together. That is because this is officially a barebones system, a lot like the old kits you could get from Tiger Direct back in the day only a fraction of the size and with a lot more power. So basically to get it up and running you are going to need three things at a minimum. You will need memory and it uses DDR4 SODIMMs like a laptop would use, well laptops that actually let you upgrade the memory. You will also need a storage device. The Hades Canyon NUC only supports M.2 drives and has two spaces so depending on the configuration you are looking for you could run two drives one NVMe and another high capacity drive, a single drive, or maybe a cheaper SATA based M.2 drive to keep the costs down. The third thing you will need is a windows key.

So as I mentioned earlier Crucial was kind enough to contribute the hardware needed for this project. They sent over a 32GB 2x16GB DDR4 kit from their Ballistic Sport line. Then for storage a 1000GB MX500 M.2 SSD. Sadly they currently don’t have a crazy fast NVMe drive, as that would be the fastest configuration but the MX500 with its high capacity is a more realistic solution for a device like this. It is SATA based so speeds are limited, of course, they are still fast but not in the crazy NVMe numbers. But without a 2.5-inch bay, you will need room to install games and other software so this should do well.

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So the Ballistix Sport kit is great looking, this isn’t something you can normally say about SoDIMMs really. Because they almost always end up hidden inside of a laptop most are green and have no heatspreaders. It also doesn’t help that the limited space allowed in laptops doesn’t really allow for the big heatspreaders that normal memory can sometimes have. They did fit a really thin silver one on though with the Ballistix branding and a digital camo background print. Each stick is 16GB and truth be told a 2x8GB kit would do the job just as well and save some money but I plan on using the Hades Canyon NUC and didn’t want to have to replace the memory later so went with the 32GB kit, model number BLS2K16G4S26BFSD.

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So the MX500 doesn’t have the same fancy styling but it does at least look good with the Crucial logo and I like that they mention that this is SATA based right on the drive. A lot of people think M.2 automatically means NVMe like speeds so it is best to be clear, not to mention a lot of motherboards only support SATA M.2 drives on specific slots so it is important to know.

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Okay, to get everything installed I did have to get out my small screwdriver kit, this isn’t a situation where that one Phillips head screwdriver you use for everything will work. Officially Intel includes an Allen wrench but I prefer something a little more solid so I used the hex head adapters for my kit to remove the six top screw to pull the plastic top cover off.  With it off, I got a cool look at how the hidden skull looks from behind as well.

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Speak of that, the lighting panel is cool too. They used a white panel for the outer skull with what looks like 8 LEDs along the side to spread the light out. Then under that for the eyes is the second layer but it doesn’t have a white backing. To be able to get the rest of the way into the NUC you also have to remove this panel. It was held in with just one screw and they have an arrow stamped into the metal to point it out. Be careful because there are other screws that don’t need to be removed. On the underside of that metal panel, you will see two thermal pads. These are to help transfer heat from both M.2 slots out into the metal panel. There are also pads all around the edge to help hold this panel up away from the motherboard, you don’t need anything getting shorted out.

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With the motherboard exposed, we can see a few things from this side. For starters, the CPU/GPU combo is mounted facing down away from all of the rear and front I/O, the memory, storage, and WiFi slots. This allows the bottom half of the NUC to be exclusively for cooling. The backside bracket for the CPU/GPU also gives us an indication of its size. As for layout, the two SoDIMMs are over on the left side of our picture (back of the NUC at the bottom). Then over on the right side, the wireless adapter is mounted under one of the two M.2 slots. Over on the edge, I found it interesting though that there is a SATA power connection and there are two internal headers, one with a USB3 label on it. As for installing the M.2 and memory, it was very easy. The M.2 drive slides in and then you just attach it with the one screw. The SoDIMMs don’t even need that, you slide them in (bottom slot first of course) and then there are clips that hold them in.

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