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wrenxz
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Hello to all and thank you in advance for your expertise, I have just one questions
1) How good does the Mac Mini 2012 with Intel 4000HD, 2.5ghz I5 CPU run XBMC? ( I am really looking to watch streaming media from the Internet Via XBMC without stuttering or menu lag. Are there any other computers that consume less power and run just as fast or faster than this model. I would like to know the performance and if there is better with less power consumption.
Thanks
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Intel NUC is a candidate. It consume about 17w.
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wrenxz
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How does it compete in performance wise against the Mac Mini though?
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For a stricly HTPC functionnality... The same.
Both uses the HD4000 GPU.
The only difference is if you game on your HTPC then an i5 or i7 will be better than the i3, but otherwise there won't be any difference.
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wrenxz
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Well from what I can see, the NUC system draws 65 watts at max were the mac mini draws 85 watts max so the difference is only 20 watts. On top of this, you will have to buy RAM, HDD, wireless card for the NUC system and it also does not have a Ethernet LAN port which is extremely poor.
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It has a thunderbolt port... You only need an adaptor for the lan... Wifi is built in.
It also cost $260 less than a mac mini and you get to choose your HDD and Ram.
Of course if you like to pay the Apple tax then go for it. But for a media centric HTPC, the NUC is a better deal.
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2013-01-05, 04:47
(This post was last modified: 2013-01-05, 04:48 by Ned Scott.)
Yeah, unless you really want to run Mac OS X on the HTPC, the NUC will be the better option. Well, that and the MacMini can have more internal hard drive space since it can hold two 2.5 HDDs.
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wrenxz
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Can you explain how the NUC will be a better option? Cheers
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The only reason to buy a MacMini as an HTPC is because it's small and looks nice. The NUC is even smaller, looks nice, and costs less. If it was a general use computer then I would say the Mac Mini is not a bad deal, especially if you want Mac OS X, but if it's just XBMC then a 2012 MacMini is waaay overkill.
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USB 2.0 is more than enough for an HTPC. Anything more is only important for file copying speeds. That's why various little ARM based HTPCs only have 100 meg ethernet ports, because anything faster isn't used for playing movies, even bluray ISOs.
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2013-01-05, 20:58
(This post was last modified: 2013-01-05, 21:03 by Ned Scott.)
They're both general use PCs, but the NUC starts at $300 and is smaller.
EDIT: Granted the PSU isn't internal in the NUC.
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