Best Server To Run Roon Core

I watched John Darko’s recent video on how to build an Intel NUC 

https://youtu.be/ZVm_tCoxqyg and thought that would be a nice quarantine project. So for $762.40 I ordered an i7 NUC, 32GB (16GB x2) RAM and a 250 GB SSD. It was simple to assemble. Updating the Bios wasn’t bad and loading Roon ROCK was a breeze. The kind of NUC I ordered has an external SMPS brick. Plus you can adjust how and when the fan operates in the Bios. But in my testing it doesn’t run much. So I tested it against my Innuos Zenith Mk3. The NUCs background is black. Roon Remote runs snappy and doesn’t crash. All my streaming runs great. I have a number of Roon endpoints on my network. Everything runs great. Soon I will attach my Innuos Phoenix after one of my UltraRendus and see. But I have been thrilled with the NUCs performance so far. I sold my Innuos server. I replaced a $5000 retail unit (2TB version) with an overbuilt $762.40 NUC! Now I have some $ to go out and get a good tube Integrated! Highly recommended. 

When I had my Zenith Mk3 and before the most recent Roon updates I was running my Zenith in Roon plus Squeezlite (experimental) and I agree Squeezlite and Squeezebox sounded really good. Maybe better than Roon. But I didn’t have to use iPeng thank goodness. I don’t think iPeng is very user friendly. But things went haywire with the Roon updates. I had to switch to plain Roon core, which was much better. But I sense that the Innuos strained with upsampling and DSD. So I sold the Zenith. I am going to experiment on the low cost end with an Azulle mini PC which will cost me $613.47 to build. If that doesn’t go well I plan to get an SGC SonicTransporter i5. 

So to make a little bit longer story shorter, I didn’t think I was getting $5000 worth of performance from my Innuos ZENith Mk3 2TB for Roon core. Plus I only stream and I don’t rip CDs. So I sold my Zenith and embarked on a journey to find where the sweet spot is for the same performance at a lower price. I think I may have found it with an Azulle Kaby Lake i5 Inspire Mini PC with 32 (16 x 2) GB RAM and a Samsung 250 GB M.2 SSD that I installed. The total cost of all of this was less than $614.00 inclusive of sales tax. The Mini PC is fanless as opposed to the NUC and obviates the need for an Akasa $169 Turing FX case. I already have a couple of Sonore UltraRendus. So my streamers are separate from my Core. So far, my SQ from my listening sessions is at least no worse than the ZENith. If interested here are the instructions on how to install ROCK on the Azulle Inspire Mini PC:

https://tr.cloudmagic.com/h/v6/link-track/1.0/1614639065722801-da92ff06-d7c2-b7c6-e435-c956aa1cdc11/1614639049/8f204384f210400d4f96e56413cb904b/ada5e8053ef19e4a287be3a01b3f4347/173161b1a613fac0e4b7eff6af1fa494?redirect_uri=https://community.roonlabs.com/t/azulle-inspire-mini-pc-instructions-for-installing-rock/148202

I hope this assists our community. Regards, RJ

Here is a recap and update on my post above:
I am running a DIY Azulle Mini PC with a Kaby Lake i5. I installed 32GB RAM and a Samsung 250 GB M.2 SSD. I have tweaked the BIOS to have the i5 run in Turbo when needed. I added a SGC 12V 50W linear power supply. The Azulle is connected to my SOtM sNH-10G network switch with a DH Labs Cat 8 Reunion Ethernet cable. Another Reunion connects to a Sonore UltraRendu with a linear power supply. My SQ is at least as good as from the Innuos Zenith Mk3 that I sold. Depending on the amp backgrounds are black, soundstage is wide and imaging is good. No regrets with money in my pocket to deploy elsewhere.