Kodi Community Forum

Hahahaha...with all the hardware options available, I don't know what to do these days and it's making my head hurt!

Right now, I am using OpenELEC with a full-blown htpc with, albeit older, re-purposed (c2d e6600, passive gt630), hardware, in a SilverStone Lascala SST-LC13 case. While, it is working adequately, it is a pretty large footprint and I do get quite a few frame drops/skips during playback (although, this could be setup-related). I would like to update this and make it smaller, but I'm not sure in which direction to go. My main viewing habits right now are, dvdr (.iso), 720p, 1080p (.mkv). I stream these via gbit ethernet from a QNAP nas. I had read about HD audio and framerate issues with sandy bridge, ivy bridge...have these been fixed with haswell?


I am very torn between these 3 choices, atm:

MSI Nightblade z97 Mini-itx: with a Haswell i5, and a dedicated nvidia card...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167081

Pros: 100% capable hardware, no sound or frame rate issues, can add internal BD drive for disk playback, which would be nice.
Cons: largest of the 3 options, desktop i5 has hd4600 graphics (but I'd use dedi gfx card)


Intel NUC: D54250WYKH...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856102054

Pros: smallest footprint, Haswell
Cons: integrated video (what are the limitations of kodi with hd5000 grahics?)


Gigabyte Brix Pro...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164012

Pros: small footprint, Haswell, more capable than NUC due to Iris Pro graphics 5200 gfx?
Cons: most expensive of the 3 options

I really think I need a little guidance. Thanks!

if you don't mind not having disc playback (and honestly, playing back Bluray discs is pretty miserable on a PC), then I'd recommend a celeron ChromeBox running OpenELEC. It will handle all of your stated playback needs perfectly, does perfect 24p, HD audio, etc. See the wiki link in my sig

(2014-12-21, 00:12)Matt Devo Wrote: [ -> ]if you don't mind not having disc playback (and honestly, playing back Bluray discs is pretty miserable on a PC), then I'd recommend a celeron ChromeBox running OpenELEC. It will handle all of your stated playback needs perfectly, does perfect 24p, HD audio, etc. See the wiki link in my sig

What he said.
You cannot beat it for the price vs performance standpoint. The only "extras" you need to buy for it is a remote (if you don't already have one)

NUC's, HTPC's and bulky boxes are so 2014 for just streaming purposes, the game has changed dramatically.
Small, power efficient, fully capable media boxes/sticks combined with cheap NAS storage is where its at for 2015.

Anything more is a waste of money for Kodi - streaming purposes only.

Hmmm...veddy, veddy interesting!

Thanks for the responses. guys. Frankly, I hadn't even considered anything that wasn't 'proper' pc hardware, out of fear that it would be neutered in some way and wouldn't be fully functional. So, am I to understand that Haswell has solved all of the issues that were plaguing ivy/sandy (with respect to xbmc/kodi) and that the integrated graphics in even the Celeron versions are perfectly capable nowadays?

What are any limitations with the Chromebox?

Cheers!!

(2014-12-22, 04:37)wrxtasy Wrote: [ -> ]NUC's, HTPC's and bulky boxes are so 2014 for just streaming purposes, the game has changed dramatically.
Small, power efficient, fully capable media boxes/sticks combined with cheap NAS storage is where its at for 2015.

My i7 3770K w/ Radeon HD 6950 XBMC box challenges you to a fight!

(2014-12-22, 18:01)imagamer2k Wrote: [ -> ]Hmmm...veddy, veddy interesting!

Thanks for the responses. guys. Frankly, I hadn't even considered anything that wasn't 'proper' pc hardware, out of fear that it would be neutered in some way and wouldn't be fully functional. So, am I to understand that Haswell has solved all of the issues that were plaguing ivy/sandy (with respect to xbmc/kodi) and that the integrated graphics in even the Celeron versions are perfectly capable nowadays?

What are any limitations with the Chromebox?

Cheers!!

read the wiki

I got the Chromebox and love it. If you are wanting to do 4K, get the i3 version..... if not the normal version works great!

I know the feeling... I had finally set on the Asus Chromebox, then the day I was about to order it, the AFTV was on sale for $79. So decided to get that instead and give it a try. Then today there was this sale I could just not pass on it.

Its pretty interesting how the traditional HTPC is now pretty much defunct. I suspect next year when v2 of Fire Stick/Chromebox comes out, and Android gains support for things its missing (24p, decoding all audio formats) then there really will be no need for a traditional pc even in a small form factor. At least not for playback, there are people who do use these as computers and run media server etc on them.

OK...I'm in!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6883220572

(2014-12-22, 19:49)Human_USB Wrote: [ -> ]I got the Chromebox and love it. If you are wanting to do 4K, get the i3 version..... if not the normal version works great!

Sorry but you don't need an i3 to play 4K@24/30p if it is encoded in H264/MPEG-2/VC-1. HEVC/H265 different story, i3 or greater CPU then. But then only at lower bitrates as the H265 video is decoded via software only.
Read the Wiki properly.