Kodi Community Forum

What hardware do you recommend with the lowest power consumption for XBMC ?

Mobo + CPU or integrated CPU ?

Thanks

Alda

Lowest possible? Raspberry Pi Model A?

You may want to balance low power consumption with acceptable performance based on the media content you will be playing.

I said this in another post,...you should build what you can afford based on what you're trying to achieve (use it for),...you'll then be very happy.
If you start trying to purchase the lowest power consumption parts,...you'll probably waste a lot of time,..and the result will probably only be something that might save you a few dollars per year to use. Did I say dollars,..I meant pennies.

If you truly want something low power, read Ned's post above.

In my measurement, at least of what I've tried, the Celeron 847 and D25x0/GT610 combination mini-ITX motherboards satisfy both the low-power consumption and good performance criteria. However, that said, neither of these might do what you want them to do based on your usage. Like the last two posters, I would start by telling what you want to do and then you'll get the best results.

Yes, you are right. My specification wasn't clear. Also performance is important. I want play media files like mkv hd video, divx with good performance on good hardware with best consumption. Also good is compability with Linux/win.

We still need more information.

What kind of hardware do you have? AV-receiver? 5.1 surround set? 2.0 audio? a crappy TV ?
Do you want to be able to play video with DTS-HD MA 7.1 ?
Do you want to be able to play uncompressed bluray backups ?

(2013-04-17, 23:51)Kibje Wrote: [ -> ]We still need more information.

What kind of hardware do you have? AV-receiver? 5.1 surround set? 2.0 audio? a crappy TV ?
Do you want to be able to play video with DTS-HD MA 7.1 ?
Do you want to be able to play uncompressed bluray backups ?

No receiver, only 5.1 speakers, LG LCD TV with hdmi
DTS-HD -no
Bluray backup - no

How are the speakers connected to the system ? Via the TV with optical ?
In that case you should be aware that the tv might not accept 5.1 input over HDMI, do you have the typenumber of the Tv?

It looks like you will not need the toughest system, so you could probably go with a lighter processor and a decent videocard, or an integrated system with those specs.
Because you want low power consumption you might want to consider something like Atom a celeron system as mentioned before.

5.1 speakers are with 3.5 jacks.
For tv is enough stereo sound via HDMI

I think atom and celeron system can be good - but which mainbord ? original intel ? But here is problem with grafic card ( gma 3650 ) under linux.

What I found, atom N2800 is very good with max. TDP - 6.5W, but this procesor with good other grafic card then gma from intel I can't find.

http://ark.intel.com/products/58917/

i meant the older Atom ION systems, which have integrated nvidia video and only use about 20 Watt

I don't really get it - you have 5.1 speakerset with 3.5'' jacks and then say that 2.0 audio is enough.
How does the 6-channel sound get to the 5.1 set ?

Stereo via HDMI into LCD TV is ok.
+ possibility to switch to analog output - speakers 5.1 - 3 wires with 3.5" jacks - front l/r, rear l/r and subwofer+central

regarding old atom system with nvidia card - is there also any new system ?

It's too bad that they haven't been able to jailbreak the ATV3. Recently it was benchmarked at less than one watt of power consumption. It's considerably faster than the ATV2 and supports 1080p. Seems ideal IMO.

If it were me, I would skip the Atom and go with an Ivy Bridge Celeron. I've noticed some pretty impressive Ivy Bridge builds with system power consumption under 20 watts (idle). I think you'll find that the Celeron gives you much more horsepower when you need it, with only marginally more power consumption at idle. At under $50 the Celeron G1610 is very cheap too. But that's just an opinion.

(2013-04-18, 13:48)awp0 Wrote: [ -> ]It's too bad that they haven't been able to jailbreak the ATV3. Recently it was benchmarked at less than one watt of power consumption. It's considerably faster than the ATV2 and supports 1080p. Seems ideal IMO.

It was benchmarked at less than one watt at idle, which is a EU requirement for all devices when in standby.
I believe it does between 3 and 4 Watt when decoding 1080p - Which is still incredibly impressive !

(2013-04-18, 13:48)awp0 Wrote: [ -> ]If it were me, I would skip the Atom and go with an Ivy Bridge Celeron. I've noticed some pretty impressive Ivy Bridge builds with system power consumption under 20 watts (idle). I think you'll find that the Celeron gives you much more horsepower when you need it, with only marginally more power consumption at idle. At under $50 the Celeron G1610 is very cheap too. But that's just an opinion.

Those are the modern equivalents to the older Atom/Ion platform and are a very good suggestion.

(2013-04-18, 15:04)Kibje Wrote: [ -> ]It was benchmarked at less than one watt at idle, which is a EU requirement for all devices when in standby.
I believe it does between 3 and 4 Watt when decoding 1080p - Which is still incredibly impressive !

If you believe Anandtech's analysis, the newest ATV3 model (it was quietly refreshed earlier this year) uses less than a watt while streaming 1080p content and also at idle. Apparently it's only .85 watt while streaming 1080p, and .70 watt at idle. It blows my mind. See the chart toward the end of this page:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6834/apple...f-a-new-a5