[Roosvelt]

Roosvelt, if 4k is optional, I would suggest going to buy a NUC (Haswell or Broadwell, Haswell has seen extensive use on these forums and by me personally) and that works like a charm.

You can get the i3 or i5 model, 4gb of Memory and a ~120GB SSD (or ~60 if you are on linux) and would be set for anything Full HD you can throw at it.

Using the Haswell-NUC (speaking from experience) is painless using Windows, and not very hard (with basic linux knowledge) using Kodibuntu - the only downfall of kodibuntu being that you have to manually
fix the driver for the IR remote, which takes about 10 minutes.

Thanks Kuldan

I think I'll buy the D54250WYKH2 i5 4250U with a 160 Go SSD and 4 Go and W7 pro 32 bits

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ID4HSBY/re...B00K0L4LE0


I think in 2 years I'll jump to skylake architecture with a real HTPC who will supports 4K and have HDMI 2.0

For you the i5 4250U will dot the job to stream through ethernet movies in 180P with W7 and 4 Go of RAM ?

Regards

[Roosvelt]

Yes I run into that issue as well, however if you just sleep the display after 1 minute and set the "Computer Sleep" to Never its not too big of an issue. Kodi still keeps streaming this way with the iMac screen off.

I just manually select Sleep from the Top left Apple menu after streaming to properly get everything zzzzzzzing.

But if you do that you always have your desktop with your wallpaper ?

Because at 1 meter from the TV you only see the 27" and not the 55" screen [LOUDLY CRYING FACE][LOUDLY CRYING FACE]

And when I point my trackpad in the back left iMac enter in sleep mode and Kodi stops.

I'll give a try and told you.

Thanks a lot

[wrxtasy]

That NUC is already obsolete, the new H265 / Intel Broadwell NUC's that will definitely do the job are:

These are the same BTW: (2.5 Ghz Core i3)

http://www.amazon.com/Boxed-NUC5I3RYKH-S...=broadwell

http://www.amazon.co.uk/INTEL-ROCK-CANYO...=broadwell

This is not a Ghz or i7 Core race, you want the most powerful graphics you can get if heading down this path and for that Broadwell wins.

[Roosvelt]

That NUC is already obsolete, the new H265 / Intel Broadwell NUC's that will definitely do the job are:

These are the same BTW: (2.5 Ghz Core i3)

http://www.amazon.com/Boxed-NUC5I3RYKH-S...=broadwell

http://www.amazon.co.uk/INTEL-ROCK-CANYO...=broadwell

This is not a Ghz or i7 Core race, you want the most powerful graphics you can get if heading down this path and for that Broadwell wins.

And the i3 will do the job to stream in ethernet mkv files 1080p h264 or h265 ?

[wrxtasy]

If your going to use Windows then you will likely have to set it up to use an external movie player to get the full benefits of Broadwell hybrid H265 decoding. This is where most of the H265 decoding is done in hardware and the rest using software decoding.

Kodi cannot do this itself currently that I know of. The GPU may do the Hybrid stuff straight out of the box. If not you can still call an external program and when that finishes get autoswitched back into Kodi.

1080p H264 it will do in a heartbeat. Even my ancient 2007 Core2Duo can do that is not an issue, you don't need a powerful CPU as its all done in the graphics hardware (GPU/VPU)

The i7 you were looking at is 4th Generation Intel Graphics Hardware, Broadwell is 5th Generation.
Kodi and video streamers love powerful GPU/VPU's, CPU specs do not matter as much.
I know which I would be buying.

Also sorry about the iMac sleep thing, this only works if you streaming to another device like a RPi2, then the iMac screen can be set to sleep not when your using it for Kodi.

[joelbaby]

Moreover I've got a Yamaha YSP 5100 sound projector and that's why DTS HD is important for me

Hi Roosvelt, I did some more testing today using OpenElec on each box. Results:

RPi 2: No HD Audio, 23.976 playback works
Cubox-i: HD Audio works, no 23.976
i5 Haswell (nuc) running OpenElec: HD Audio works, 23.976 works

If UHD h265 is important my advice therefore is get the Broadwell NUC. Model is NUC5i3ryk or NUC5i5RYK, and just beginning to be available from suppliers.
If UHD is not important, get the Haswell NUC.

Also you want 4GB RAM, and a small SSD, or just an 8GB USB3.0 stick.
Don't run Kodi over Windows 7 or 8.1, it made h265 playback a little worse, and stopped the HD Audio from working properly.

[Roosvelt]

Moreover I've got a Yamaha YSP 5100 sound projector and that's why DTS HD is important for me

Hi Roosvelt, I did some more testing today using OpenElec on each box. Results:

RPi 2: No HD Audio, 23.976 playback works
Cubox-i: HD Audio works, no 23.976
i5 Haswell (nuc) running OpenElec: HD Audio works, 23.976 works

If UHD h265 is important my advice therefore is get the Broadwell NUC. Model is NUC5i3ryk or NUC5i5RYK, and just beginning to be available from suppliers.
If UHD is not important, get the Haswell NUC.

Also you want 4GB RAM, and a small SSD, or just an 8GB USB3.0 stick.
Don't run Kodi over Windows 7 or 8.1, it made h265 playback a little worse, and stopped the HD Audio from working properly.

Thanks for your tests joelbaby.

I don't know if I'll take 4 or 8GB. I plan to use windows 7 pro 32 bits because I've got a license.

But I could use different players through windows 7 for H265.

Any suggestions for the player for H265 ?

[Wolf666]

Intel 5th (Broadwell) gen NUC have hybrid (software - hardware) H265 decoding capabilities. For full hardware H265 decoding, you need to wait Skylake CPU.

[wrxtasy]

Yes that has been stated already previously a number of times now in this thread.

@Roosevelt --->>> ask further questions over in the Intel Broadwell thread where someone may have one in their hands already. Software players like VLC get updated pretty quickly these days when new Hardware is released.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=214018&page=5

[joelbaby]

I don't know if I'll take 4 or 8GB. I plan to use windows 7 pro 32 bits because I've got a license.

Dual boot. You'll need to use OpenElec to get HD Audio to work properly. If you can't work out how to do dual boot, then just put openelec on this USB stick: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-Low-...B00LLEN5FQ

But I could use different players through windows 7 for H265.
Any suggestions for the player for H265 ?

Kodi/OpenElec plays H265. It is not a software issue, it is hardware. Get the now shipping Broadwell NUC:
http://www.amazon.com/Boxed-NUC5I3RYKH-S...B00S1IQHKK

Same price as the i3 NUC you said you were going to buy.

According to this report:
The firm claims H.265 decoding on Broadwell-Y is "fast enough for 4K" with no caveats, and it says H.265 encoding is sufficient for 4K resolutions at 30 Hz"

[Roosvelt]

I don't know if I'll take 4 or 8GB. I plan to use windows 7 pro 32 bits because I've got a license.

Dual boot. You'll need to use OpenElec to get HD Audio to work properly. If you can't work out how to do dual boot, then just put openelec on this USB stick: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-Low-...B00LLEN5FQ

But I could use different players through windows 7 for H265.
Any suggestions for the player for H265 ?

Kodi/OpenElec plays H265. It is not a software issue, it is hardware. Get the now shipping Broadwell NUC:
http://www.amazon.com/Boxed-NUC5I3RYKH-S...B00S1IQHKK

Same price as the i3 NUC you said you were going to buy.

According to this report:
The firm claims H.265 decoding on Broadwell-Y is "fast enough for 4K" with no caveats, and it says H.265 encoding is sufficient for 4K resolutions at 30 Hz"

Thanks for all your explanations joelbaby and wrxtasy

I'm going to buy the NUC5I5RYK with 8Gb and a M2 Samsung XP941

Anyway joelbaby where have you seen suppliers for this model NUC5I5RYK ?

The only one I found on Amazon doesn't ship to France.

[joelbaby]

http://www.amazon.fr/Intel-BOXNUC5I3RYK-...B00TJAAAKM
Not sure that you need the i5.
New review here: http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-ki...nuc_158261

[Roosvelt]

http://www.amazon.fr/Intel-BOXNUC5I3RYK-...B00TJAAAKM
Not sure that you need the i5.
New review here: http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-ki...nuc_158261

Thanks again.

I was talking about the nuc i5 for the suppliers

Don't you think I'll be quiet for longer time with the i5 rather to the i3 ?

And for openelec you just have to put in on USB and boot on ?

Which version I've to take 32 or 64 because my W7 will use 32 bits but it's when you boot that you ask the nuc to start from the usb flash drive ?

I'd read this review this morning at work and they've tested with the samsung that I plan to buy

[joelbaby]

1. i3. I think the real shortcoming for future proofing is inability to have HDMI2.0. Now that sounds stupid today, but you have a 112" screen, and it is possible that content will come out for it that requires this output. But this NUC is also a very powerful desktop computer for a home/business user so you can use it for that instead when the time comes. Check this thread to find out from users if i3 is good enough: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=214018&page=5

2. Yes. or you can install to the hard disk after installing windows

3. You don't need Windows to run OpenElec from a flash drive, so you can have 64bit openelec and 32 bit windows. In the BIOS you tell the NUC to boot from USB. Only install Windows if you want PC functionality (example to run MS Office). You'll need to install the Win7 drivers from the Intel website. Also you'll need your Windows install from a flash drive instead of from a CD. The nuc is smaller than a CD. Try out Win8.1, but don't run Kodi on windows (except for testing). I detest win8.1, but am getting used to it with the help of a download called Classic Shell which gives you a start menu. Consider using your Windows licence on a different computer. OpenElec won't need more than 8GB of space with all fanart stored locally. Put it onto a Sandisk Ultra Fit USB3.0 flash drive for $10 (careful they get hot when you remove them from PC but they look great). Also get a wireless keyboard mouse combo (logitech are good).

I just noticed there is a lack of CEC support. This allows you to use the TV remote to control XBMC. There is an adapter made by Pulse Eight for this, but check the forum.

[Roosvelt]

Thanks to you but I'm a little bit obstinate that's why I think I'll take the i5 to feel more " secure "

My screen projector is a 117" but the VP have "poor" connections ports

Two HDMI v1.4a, VGA-in,
composite video, two audio-in, audio-out, 3D VESA, RS-232C, USB-B
Audio: VAO audio out, HDMI VAO audio out supported (VAO in normal mode, fixed in Standby)

http://www.projectorcentral.com/pdf/proj...c_7723.pdf


I'll buy this NUC for Kodi only and I'll stream my movies through my iMac

So I don't need windows it's just for kodi so how to install openelec on the Samsung's M2 ?

I only have a license key for W7 32 bits pro ( I'd with my work )

If I'll install W7 can I use my Apple superdrive to ?

For the fanart I thought it 'll be stock on my iMac with the sql base does I'm wrong ?

The USB flash drive is only if I run Windows but if not I'd like to install openelec directly or in dual boot for the future update drivers.

Sorry I'm a little bit noob I've just discover Kodi and I don't know anything about openelec