When comparing Intel NUC Kit NUC7i3BNH vs ASUS Tinker Board S, the Slant community recommends ASUS Tinker Board S for most people. In the question“What are the best single-board computers?” ASUS Tinker Board S is ranked 10th while Intel NUC Kit NUC7i3BNH is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose ASUS Tinker Board S is:
The Asus Tinker Board S is a more powerful single-board computer than a Raspberry Pi Model B since it has a more powerful microprocessor as well as larger and faster RAM memory.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Comes with appropriate case and mounting hardware for storage drives
While the cost may seem steep compared to other SBC options, seldom are those other options sold with a case that will also house your storage drives and provide adequate cooling for the entire setup.
Pro SATA III port and M.2 NVMe connector with on-board RAID-0/RAID-1 controller
The ability to harness the power of a standard 2.5" SATA III drive and an M.2 NVMe drive with four PCI Express 3.0 lanes means that sequential read rates in excess of 3GB/sec if both are SSDs. Add to that hardware RAID support and it's hard to imagine a more powerful digital storage platform anywhere near this size.
Pro Fair performance
The Asus Tinker Board S is a more powerful single-board computer than a Raspberry Pi Model B since it has a more powerful microprocessor as well as larger and faster RAM memory.
Pro Stays cool
The ASUS Tinker Board S doesn't have problems related to overheating because it comes with a massive heatsink that can dissipate all heat generated by the board's powerful microprocessor.
Pro Simple setup
All you need to do to set this board up and running is to upload the appropriate Android or Linux image. Both images can be obtained from the ASUS's official web resource in the form of downloadable .zip files. Simply download the files and drivers on your computer and use the Etcher to flash the Tinker Board S. Overall, the process takes around 10 minutes to complete.
Pro Has on-board WiFi and Bluetooth
You'll have no problem connecting to a WiFi network or Bluetooth peripherals with the Tinker Board S since it comes with an onboard 802.11 b/g/n - compliant WiFi and Bluetooth transceiver.
Pro Has some on-board storage
Unlike the previous version of the ASUS's Tinker Board, the model S comes equipped with a 16GB eMMC storage which means that you'll always have some space to store the computer's OS as well as some extra applications.
The eMMC memory performs on par with the more commonly known SD memory used on the majority of other single board computers out there since both of those are based on NAND.
Pro Fits the Raspberry Pi's case
You'll not have to tinker around finding the case for this single-board computer since it has the same form factor as the Raspberry Pi 3. You can find a variety of cases that start at around $6.50 here.
Pro Multi-OS platform
Right now, Tinker Board S can run both Android and Linux. Linux comes in the form of TinkerOS_Debian that is based on a well-known Debian distribution while the TinkerOS_Android is based on the Android 6.
Pro Outputs in 4K
This single board-computer has enough juice to stream the 4K media at the frame rate of 30Hz through its HDMI port.
Pro Less risk to fry a board with a cheap power supply
You're less likely to fry this SBC than some of the other ones because the Tinker Board S has the low-voltage detection circuitry which will shut down the computer if it detects inappropriately low voltage coming from the power supply. Usually, cheaper power adapters are the ones that fail to reach the needed 5V mark.
Pro Better build
Clear and colorful design.
Cons
Con Higher initial costs than most other options
It's clearly not a budget option for building a home NAS, but if you want performance and more importantly, scalability, then you'll reap the benefits of the extra upfront costs many times over as you upgrade the memory, add peripherals via USB-C and put that 7th Generation Core i3 processor to work.
Con Comes without a power supply
You'll need to spend some extra money on a power supply unit since this board doesn't come with the one.
Con Once eMMC gets stuck it’s a headache
Once you get the eMMc stuck with switching operating system it’s a real nightmare to fix it
Con MicroUSB power connector
Con Power-hungry
This single-board computer is quite demanding when it comes to power since it is recommended to be used with a 3A power supply.