Hi,
I'm looking for some advice regarding the purchase of a kodi based device to either buy or build
Needs to fit these requirements/suggestions:
- 150+ gigs HDD space
- 1080p60 20mbit/s playback
- ethernet port/usb ports
- Don't care about the OS but this is my first time using kodi
The Zotac CI320 looks really interesting but I don't know what I would do about the HDD space I need (it has an eSATA port though?)
Thanks
Cheapest:
- RPi2 (HD Audio decode) or C1+ (HEVC capable) + a usb HDD or external NAS.
Faster and HD Audio passthrough capable:
- ASUS Chromebox with an attached USB HDD, external NAS is preferred tho.
- Zotac BI320 (barebones) if you want a Chromebox clone that can house a HDD internally
Newest:
- ASRock Beebox (Braswell) is much preferred if you can afford it due to 4K HEVC Hardware decoding at up to 30Hz
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=227363
Run OpenELEC on all of them.
Thanks!
How do I go about getting an NAS?
I would just get a WD My Cloud 2/3/4/6TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS and be done with it.
Easy to setup.
Note this has to be Ethernet connected to a Router.
Other cheaper options are connecting a usb HDD directly to those type of Home Routers that allow such usb HDD sharing.
Thanks!
I think I will go with the barebones BI320, is 8gigs of ram overkill?
I'm looking at this:
Crucial 8GB Single DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Notebook Memory CT102464BF160B
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG8...PDKIKX0DER
I could go for a 250gig samsung evo SSD and install it inside
I do already have one of those WD my cloud drives but as backup
Unless you are playing games and running windows, 8GB is complete overkill for OpenELEC. It does not even need a SSD to run very quickly on the Zotac. It a very lean and mean Linux / Kodi distribution that runs well in as little as 256MB of RAM.
2GB and a 16/32GB SSD is more than enough for OpenELEC. I would just put a very large capacity SATA3 HDD in it and only use 8GB and a SSD with Windows if I wanted HD Netflix. You can even run OpenELEC from a usb stick and dual boot if needed.
(2015-09-09, 07:47)wrxtasy Wrote: [ -> ]Unless you are playing games and running windows, 8GB is complete overkill for OpenELEC. It does not even need a SSD to run very quickly on the Zotac. It a very lean and mean Linux / Kodi distribution that runs well in as little as 256MB of RAM.
2GB and a 16/32GB SSD is more than enough for OpenELEC. I would just put a very large capacity SATA3 HDD in it and only use 8GB and a SSD with Windows if I wanted HD Netflix. You can even run OpenELEC from a usb stick and dual boot if needed.
Let's say I went with the chromebox and used an external USB HDD (3.0usb). Would the file transfer rate be high enough to support 20mbps bitrate movies on both the external HDD and the chromebox?
(2015-09-09, 07:52)Thegreen160 Wrote: [ -> ]Let's say I went with the chromebox and used an external USB HDD (3.0usb). Would the file transfer rate be high enough to support 20mbps bitrate movies on both the external HDD and the chromebox?
USB 3.0 supports up to 5Gbps transfers, so you're likely to be limited by the drive itself rather than the interface. USB 2.0 supports up to 480Mbps, so either can handle a 20Mbps bitrate video
(2015-09-09, 07:52)Thegreen160 Wrote: [ -> ] (2015-09-09, 07:47)wrxtasy Wrote: [ -> ]Unless you are playing games and running windows, 8GB is complete overkill for OpenELEC. It does not even need a SSD to run very quickly on the Zotac. It a very lean and mean Linux / Kodi distribution that runs well in as little as 256MB of RAM.
2GB and a 16/32GB SSD is more than enough for OpenELEC. I would just put a very large capacity SATA3 HDD in it and only use 8GB and a SSD with Windows if I wanted HD Netflix. You can even run OpenELEC from a usb stick and dual boot if needed.
Let's say I went with the chromebox and used an external USB HDD (3.0usb). Would the file transfer rate be high enough to support 20mbps bitrate movies on both the external HDD and the chromebox?
Definitely.
A 20Mbs movie would play fine from a USB 2.0 HDD or over a 100Mbs network. (As demonstrated on a Pi / Pi 2 which has only these two interfaces and can play far higher bitrate movies than 20Mbs)