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ASRock Beebox (Braswell)
#1
Image

A potentially good Kodi box has been released recently: ASRock Beebox. Since it's using a 4W CPU it's fanless which is a nice touch.

Specs:
Image

What i'm unsure is how Celeron N3000 willl compare against the 3205U (Broadwell) or even 2955U (the Haswell one featured in most Chromeboxes). Comparing them at Intel Ark looks like N3000 is weaker but it's hard for me understand how that translates into actual Kodi performance...

I'm curious about the price of this thing.

UPDATE: ASRock has published a new Beebox Microsite. And there will be a fanless version with Intel N3000 and a N3150 version with a fan.

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9256/asroc...the-beebox
Toms Hardware: ASRock Beebox Braswell-Based NUCs, A Silent PC For The Office

Check the Intel Braswell boxes compilation thread for a comprehensive list of Braswell boxes announced.
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#2
(2015-05-19, 12:04)oWarchild Wrote: What i'm unsure is how Celeron N3000 willl compare against the 3205U (Broadwell) or even 2955U (the Haswell one featured in most Chromeboxes). Comparing them at Intel Ark looks like N3000 is weaker but it's hard for me understand how that translates into actual Kodi performance...

Think the N3000 is an Atom-derived model, similar in range to the N2820/N2830? fritsch will be able to comment better, but I believe the GPU may be a little improved with more Execution Units? However I think it is a notch down in combined CPU/GPU performance terms compared to the Haswell/Broadwell Celerons.

The areas it may suffer are deinterlacing, scaling and HEVC software decode? For 1080/24p H264 stuff it is likely to be OK (like almost everything is these days)?
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#3
The Intel Celeron N3000 is a Braswell SoC with a 12 EU GPU taken from Broadwell, so the GPU is a lot better than the 4 EU's in current gen Bay Trail SoC's, so the GPU should be more on par with the GPU used in Chromeboxes (Intel Haswell Celeron 2955U with 10 EU GPU).
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#4
crappy looking remote
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#5
(2015-05-19, 13:43)jjd-uk Wrote: The Intel Celeron N3000 is a Braswell SoC with a 12 EU GPU taken from Broadwell, so the GPU is a lot better than the 4 EU's in current gen Bay Trail SoC's, so the GPU should be more on par with the GPU used in Chromeboxes (Intel Haswell Celeron 2955U with 10 EU GPU).

However, CPU-wize it seems only comparable to Raspberry 2 (which is minimal for Kodi). Too bad because features (2x HDMi, Displayport, USB3.0 type C) look great. Maybe when a model with a N3150 (1.6 Ghz base frequency) comes, I might consider those devices. But still, it shouldn't be more expensive than a Chromebox. Intel priced those SoC's similar to 2955U (Chromeboxes) so prices should be similar to Chromeboxes.
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#6
Whatever gives you that idea? any recent Atom will be far superior CPU wise than the Broadcom SoC in the RPi.
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#7
ok maybe I exaggerated but in my opinion, CPU-wize those lower-end Braswells are still bare minumum for Kodi.
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#8
Not at all, the even lower end Cherry Trail tablet Atoms as used in the MS Surface 3 should also be well capable be well capable of running Kodi smoothly.
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#9
(2015-05-19, 15:13)jjd-uk Wrote: Not at all, the even lower end Cherry Trail tablet Atoms as used in the MS Surface 3 should also be well capable be well capable of running Kodi smoothly.

Ok, maybe those Atoms are worthwhile CPU-wize nowadays. I never paid attention to those devices since Intel crippled them (for not cannibalizing their Celerons/Pentiums sales). But for €750 (minimal price) I can build you 3 boxes with a "smooth" experience.
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#10
I gave the MS Surface 3 an example because it's currently the only real world product for which performance can be measured, as with Bay Trail Atom SoC's, the Cherry Trail Atom SoC's should end up in plenty of sub-$150 hardware.
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#11
Quote:MMX instructions
SSE / Streaming SIMD Extensions
SSE2 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 2
SSE3 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 3
SSSE3 / Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3
SSE4 / SSE4.1 + SSE4.2 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 4
EM64T / Extended Memory 64 technology / Intel 64
NX / XD / Execute disable bit
VT-x / Virtualization technology
BPT / Burst Performance technology

:-) Raspberry Pi2 can go home in comparison :-)

Here are some comparisons: http://laptopmedia.com/review/intel-pent...y-is-here/

From what I see now, with hopefully fully working (linux) drivers, this could get the new state-of-the-art budget box.
First decide what functions / features you expect from a system. Then decide for the hardware. Don't waste your money on crap.
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#12
I think there's also a Braswell based NUC due as a replacement for the NUC DN2820.
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#13
(2015-05-19, 16:31)fritsch Wrote:
Quote:MMX instructions
SSE / Streaming SIMD Extensions
SSE2 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 2
SSE3 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 3
SSSE3 / Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3
SSE4 / SSE4.1 + SSE4.2 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 4
EM64T / Extended Memory 64 technology / Intel 64
NX / XD / Execute disable bit
VT-x / Virtualization technology
BPT / Burst Performance technology

:-) Raspberry Pi2 can go home in comparison :-)

Here are some comparisons: http://laptopmedia.com/review/intel-pent...y-is-here/

From what I see now, with hopefully fully working (linux) drivers, this could get the new state-of-the-art budget box.

Yes, those benchmarks refer to the high-end quad-core version (with double the L2 cache). This Asrock is a much lower clocked low-end dual-core. Nevertheless, this will be an interesting new generation of hardware.

(2015-05-19, 17:15)jjd-uk Wrote: I think there's also a Braswell based NUC due as a replacement for the NUC DN2820.

I would love to see the NUC 2.0!
That would bring in an i3 and i5 version. Hopefully with enough PCI-lanes for a low-profile dGPU and M.2 interface. Total minimum of 12 PCI lanes to make a great Steam Machine.
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#14
(2015-05-19, 13:43)jjd-uk Wrote: The Intel Celeron N3000 is a Braswell SoC with a 12 EU GPU taken from Broadwell, so the GPU is a lot better than the 4 EU's in current gen Bay Trail SoC's, so the GPU should be more on par with the GPU used in Chromeboxes (Intel Haswell Celeron 2955U with 10 EU GPU).

That sounds very encouraging.
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#15
(2015-05-19, 16:31)fritsch Wrote:
Quote:MMX instructions
SSE / Streaming SIMD Extensions
SSE2 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 2
SSE3 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 3
SSSE3 / Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3
SSE4 / SSE4.1 + SSE4.2 / Streaming SIMD Extensions 4
EM64T / Extended Memory 64 technology / Intel 64
NX / XD / Execute disable bit
VT-x / Virtualization technology
BPT / Burst Performance technology

:-) Raspberry Pi2 can go home in comparison :-)

Here are some comparisons: http://laptopmedia.com/review/intel-pent...y-is-here/

From what I see now, with hopefully fully working (linux) drivers, this could get the new state-of-the-art budget box.

MCDI do we think?
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ASRock Beebox (Braswell)3