I had wanted a version of NUC without fan for some time. The reason is that I don't like mechanical (moving) parts inside a computer, except perhaps the power-on button. With SSD, and a fanless CPU, it would be ideal. I do have a laptop (Dell mini 10) that meets the requirement, but it is only good for mobile computing and not for desktop use because of the speed.So I bought this NUC, hoping to buy a fanless case later when available. At first, I ordered the wrong type of memory, a DDR3, which uses 1.5V. The little rascal refused to boot and keep giving me three blinks indicating an error. After some searching I realized that the problem was the memory type: it should be 1.35V DDR3L instead of 1.5V DDR3. So I ordered a Crucial 8GB
  
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    which is dual (can work both with 1.35 and 1.5V). After that, the machine gave up and started to boot.So I installed a ArchLinux on it, and the fan was audable. Better than my previous tower, but still less than ideal. Finally I was able to use lm_sensors, with the right module as suggested by sensors-detect, nct6775, loaded. With fan control, I can set the fan to be quiet almost all time. The temprature is about 50 degrees C most of the time with fan not spinning.I did stress test it using the command 'stress' and the fan was able to start at my specified temperature (70 degrees C), and stablize there.So now I am all satisfied. Having a fan inside does not bother me that much - it is even a feature because it can prevent overheating when needed.As for the performance, I think for desktop use, it is sufficient. I cannot notice any difference between this and my other computer that has 8 cores. Actually, due to the larger memory, it starts some programs such as firefox faster.So if you want a low-noise (quiet) machine, this may be a good choice provided you can temper with it to control the fan to be quiet most of the time.