Cheap, Non-Android, HEVC solution?
#1
At the moment, I'm not too sure if I want to build a $300-400 HTPC or just pop a GTX 950 in my current system. If I go the new HTPC route, I was hoping there's someone that can confirm Skylake Pentiums can indeed HW decode 8-bit HEVC videos.
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#2
1st question, do you really need a power hungry, expensive HTPC with noisy fans and a graphics cards ?

Silent small, low powered devices are the way everyone is heading and they are also pointing into the HDMI 2.0 and 10-bit direction for the best possible picture quality. A lot of us are being patient and playing the waiting game and not spending big $$ at the moment.

Skylake gear does 8-bit HEVC Hardware decoding.
Some good HEVC info here:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=232629

If you need a non Android platform with Hardware decoding of 1080p 8-bit HEVC right here right now, at the dirt cheap end of the market is the ODROID C1+ that runs OpenELEC.
Then you have the 4K HEVC decoders like WeTek Core running OpenELEC and the Intel Cherry Trail gear and the Braswell Celerons / Pentiums in the middle and the previously mention Skylake at the top. These are all limited to 4K at up to 30Hz due to no HDMI 2.0

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#3
(2015-12-01, 12:56)wrxtasy Wrote: 1st question, do you really need a power hungry, expensive HTPC with noisy fans and a graphics cards ?

Silent small, low powered devices are the way everyone is heading and they are also pointing into the HDMI 2.0 and 10-bit direction for the best possible picture quality. A lot of us are being patient and playing the waiting game and not spending big $$ at the moment.

Skylake gear does 8-bit HEVC Hardware decoding.
Some good HEVC info here:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=232629

If you need a non Android platform with Hardware decoding of 1080p 8-bit HEVC right here right now, at the dirt cheap end of the market is the ODROID C1+ that runs OpenELEC.
Then you have the 4K HEVC decoders like WeTek Core running OpenELEC and the Intel Cherry Trail gear and the Braswell Celerons / Pentiums in the middle and the previously mention Skylake at the top. These are all limited to 4K at up to 30Hz due to no HDMI 2.0

Oh, wow. Thanks for such a concise answer. My current machine has triple duty. I use it to rip/encode, store, and transcode a lot of my media. It runs mouse-quiet with 6 Noctua fans. The only thing it lacks is dedicated HW decoding. That's where the 950 would come in handy. I'm still probably going to build my own box, just because that's my prerogative. But I'm definitely gonna read up on the Odroid and OpenElec. I have no interest in 4k at the moment and probably won't for at least another 5-6yrs. I sit no more than 8ft away from a 65in Samsung that displays 1080p beautifully. I'm in the process of re-encoding my library to HEVC to keep from having to add more HDDs. I just need 3-4 PCs/boxes that play well with Windows SMB. If I can actually find some Odroid C1s in stock, I'll probably just grab 4 of those since it'd be cheaper than building a single HTPC.
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#4
+1.
HTPCs is so 2000s :-)

Just do a bit of research on this forum and will get plenty of options in the $200USD or less
AFTV (non-rooted + Kodi)
WD My Book Live NAS
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#5
(2015-12-01, 19:48)shabuboy Wrote: +1.
HTPCs is so 2000s :-)

Just do a bit of research on this forum and will get plenty of options in the $200USD or less

I still prefer HTPCs since I run emulators on all of my systems. Can OpenElec run a N64 or Nes emulator?
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#6
(2015-12-01, 19:49)RamboUnchained Wrote: I still prefer HTPCs since I run emulators on all of my systems. Can OpenElec run a N64 or Nes emulator?

sure, using the retroarch addon
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#7
(2015-12-01, 20:54)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2015-12-01, 19:49)RamboUnchained Wrote: I still prefer HTPCs since I run emulators on all of my systems. Can OpenElec run a N64 or Nes emulator?

sure, using the retroarch addon

Oh, cool. I need to look into that.
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Cheap, Non-Android, HEVC solution?0