I've been running Roon with three Windows-based Cores since 2016; first with a dedicated but very underpowered Asus mini pc I stuffed myself, then with an i5-based desktop that was used for general home office work as well, and - for the past year - with a powerful i7 laptop designed for gaming, but which I use for photo storage and editing (it has a 8TB internal drive and 32GB RAM).
But I've always been annoyed by Windows' updates and restarts, and with the multiple demands on the laptop, it can be just plain inconvenient. Additionally, the fan on my laptop has recently been driving me nuts during music listening. So I decided to buy a NUC and configure it for and with Roon's ROCK to serve as my Roon Core.
I could have done it a bit cheaper, but I watched this video and bought the same NUC from Amazon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djzWU_gA07MRather than buying the M.2 drive and RAM separately, I just bought the NUC already loaded with a 512GB M.2 and 16GB of RAM for $639. Not exactly cheap, but only 1/4 the price of a Roon Nucleus+. I overspec'd it a bit to allow for a bit of extra margin for future Roon resource demands that may arise. I didn't need any internal music storage because the Core controls an NAD M50.2 digital vault/player that houses all my tracks.
Anyway, I'm very happy. It took me about an hour to get it up and running, and it hasn't hiccupped at all, including with DSP demands. I don't fully understand all of the tech, but it can happily play 352.8kHz HD tracks. And...according to just about everyone, it just quietly sits there, running and not shutting down and failing to automatically restart and relaunch like happened so often with Windows. It sits near my equipment rack, and either the thermally-activated fan isn't running or it's vewwy, vewwy qwiet.
If you're thinking about a dedicated Roon Core, it's definitely worth checking out.