Hardware Opinion - Fastest Kodi OS Experience?
#1
I recently worked with my in-laws on changing their home setup. They're no longer uses cable boxes, and are now using an HDHomerun with a cablecard, along with a Raspberry Pi 3 with OpenELEC in the living room as their client device. One of the office computers is running mythbuntu on a Virtual Box.

Everything works, but the Raspberry Pi can be a bit flaky. It'll freeze up occasionally, can be slow to open the guide, slow to change channels, etc.

Their audio/visual setup is very simple. An older plasma 720p television, and a 3.1 sound system.

Their primary goal is to have a system that is rock solid, that doesn't freeze up , and that runs smooth and quick. The majority of what the use Kodi for is to interact with the mythtv backend and display live/recorded television. We are also working on setting up Plexbmc so they can access my plex media server.

The instances of Kodi on their computers work lightning quick, so we know everything with the back end is setup properly.

I personally run an Asus Chromebox at home and find it to be quite responsive.

They're looking in the $150-$200 range for a unit. Would the Chromebox fit this criteria best? How about the NVidia Sheild? They don't need 4k support, or any HD Audio support. Just a rock solid GUI experience.

Thanks for the suggestions!
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#2
SSD
Fast RAM
Powerful GPU for Kodi GUI operation.
Plus don't forget either Bluetooth or RF Wireless remote control for fast responsive Kodi operation.

This all points to a Chromebox running LibreELEC Kodi if you ask me, especially when you consider you get Top of the tree, really excellent quality deinterlacing for TV viewing from Intel.

Shield only if you need Android Apps. Deinterlacing is badly broken on it at the moment and I would not call it as rock solid as a Chromebox for a Kodi only media player.

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#3
(2016-07-18, 19:26)wrxtasy Wrote: SSD
Fast RAM
Powerful GPU for Kodi GUI operation.
Plus don't forget either Bluetooth or RF Wireless remote control for fast responsive Kodi operation.

This all points to a Chromebox running LibreELEC Kodi if you ask me, especially when you consider you get Top of the tree, really excellent quality deinterlacing for TV viewing from Intel.

Shield only if you need Android Apps. Deinterlacing is badly broken on it at the moment and I would not call it as rock solid as a Chromebox for a Kodi only media player.

Yeah, that's the direction I was leaning. Do you think LibreELEC would make any improvement over OpenELEC on the Pi 3? Is this something worth trying before buying a chromebox?
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#4
No you are hampered by relatively old Hardware constraints, trying to get more out of a RPi3.
See this post here that details what is holding it back:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2375975

Performance will be near identical between between OE and LE.

Storage R/W speed
RAM speed
CPU and GPU/VPU GHz clock speed
All these things add up in the end to produce a speedy Kodi media player.

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#5
Running a i7 chromebox it is unbelievably fast ...LE kodi 16.1..
baught off ebay $200
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#6
12 core i7, it will never let you down Smile
MrMC Forums : http://forum.mrmc.tv
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#7
How much bitrate you looking for ?

The Nvidia shield handle videos up to 1000Mbps (ps: Ultra hd blu-ray specs requirements will be about 128Mbps)

(2015-12-09, 08:12)wesk05 Wrote: Kodi on SATV struggles only with the 1000Mbps clip. Interestingly, Kodi didn't even open this clip from SATV's internal flash, but it opened the clip from an external USB 3.0 SSD. The native Android video player cannot open anything above 100Mbps. I also couldn't get any of the videos to play from my NAS that is on a gigabit network. That was strange.
Anthem MRX310 | XTZ 93.23 DIY 5.1 (Seas Jantzen Mundorf) | DXD808 | Oppo 103D | LG OLED 55EC930V | Nvidia Shield | ATV3





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#8
Personally I would go for the Himedia Q10 pro. Now that it is switching to correct framerate etc and they do not need 4k (at the moment) its perfect. Also if they upgrade to a 4k tv at some point then the Q10 will handle it ( and by that time the firmware for 4k will be fully fixed)
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#9
(2016-08-02, 09:30)PJDavis1970 Wrote: Personally I would go for the Himedia Q10 pro. Now that it is switching to correct framerate etc and they do not need 4k (at the moment) its perfect. Also if they upgrade to a 4k tv at some point then the Q10 will handle it ( and by that time the firmware for 4k will be fully fixed)

Over an x86 system? No way. I'm a huge ARM fan, but there's no way I would recommend any ARM device over what OP is looking at. When people start spending $200-300 USD on HTPCs for raw power, and they don't need apps, then x86 is still the king.
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#10
(2016-07-18, 19:26)wrxtasy Wrote: SSD
Fast RAM
Powerful GPU for Kodi GUI operation.
Plus don't forget either Bluetooth or RF Wireless remote control for fast responsive Kodi operation.

This all points to a Chromebox running LibreELEC Kodi if you ask me, especially when you consider you get Top of the tree, really excellent quality deinterlacing for TV viewing from Intel.

Shield only if you need Android Apps. Deinterlacing is badly broken on it at the moment and I would not call it as rock solid as a Chromebox for a Kodi only media player.

Howcome the Odroid C2 is not a viable option?
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#11
(2016-08-03, 14:05)esloan Wrote:
(2016-07-18, 19:26)wrxtasy Wrote: SSD
Fast RAM
Powerful GPU for Kodi GUI operation.
Plus don't forget either Bluetooth or RF Wireless remote control for fast responsive Kodi operation.

This all points to a Chromebox running LibreELEC Kodi if you ask me, especially when you consider you get Top of the tree, really excellent quality deinterlacing for TV viewing from Intel.

Shield only if you need Android Apps. Deinterlacing is badly broken on it at the moment and I would not call it as rock solid as a Chromebox for a Kodi only media player.

Howcome the Odroid C2 is not a viable option?

I finally installed and get working Odroid C2 using android as OS and Kodi 16.1 The performance is great and quick.
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#12
(2016-08-03, 14:05)esloan Wrote: How come the Odroid C2 is not a viable option?
Read the title of the thread again , do you think for one minute think eMMC equipped 2GHz ODROID C2 is faster than a SSD Equipped 2GHz Intel machine, both running LibreELEC?

Of course the C2 a great option in many Kodi respects, but not the ultimate fastest device.

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#13
(2016-08-03, 15:56)wrxtasy Wrote:
(2016-08-03, 14:05)esloan Wrote: How come the Odroid C2 is not a viable option?
Read the title of the thread again , do you think for one minute think eMMC equipped 2GHz ODROID C2 is faster than a SSD Equipped 2GHz Intel machine, both running LibreELEC?

Of course the C2 a great option in many Kodi respects, but not the ultimate fastest device.

it's cute the way ARM users equate eMMC and fast Smile
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#14
(2016-08-02, 13:35)Ned Scott Wrote:
(2016-08-02, 09:30)PJDavis1970 Wrote: Personally I would go for the Himedia Q10 pro. Now that it is switching to correct framerate etc and they do not need 4k (at the moment) its perfect. Also if they upgrade to a 4k tv at some point then the Q10 will handle it ( and by that time the firmware for 4k will be fully fixed)

Over an x86 system? No way. I'm a huge ARM fan, but there's no way I would recommend any ARM device over what OP is looking at. When people start spending $200-300 USD on HTPCs for raw power, and they don't need apps, then x86 is still the king.

Sorry I disagree. The Q10 pro can play any media content that any x86 system can.
However the Arm chip draws less power. in Short cheaper to run.

If you are using the OS for other things then yes maybe x86, however if you only ever run Kodi on the box then go for the cheaper to run system that can handle anything you throw at it.
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#15
I have 2 setups, a shield TV and an x86 machine:
i3 4th gen
8GB
750ti GTX
librelec on USB drive (because the main drive has windows on for gaming)

I'd say they are roughly the same speed for UI navigation, responsiveness, switching channels etc. The shield might actually be slightly ahead but I've never benchmarked it.

They are both way way smoother than anything else I've had, pi3, n54l x86, fire TV 4k, fire stick etc etc.

Got to say the shield is a better all rounder if you have a separate DVB server as you get the extra apps and and the android TV GUI is nice. Setting up plex is a piece of cake on it.

I like my x86 machine though as it doubles up as the tvheadend server and a gaming machine as well.
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