2019-02-10, 20:07
A speedy Kodi device needs really these things:
- a decent GPU, to draw the user interface
- fast RAM and storage
- a decent CPU package, especially Single Core performance to run those Single threaded Python2 coded Addons.
- an optimised minimal OS.
Most x86_64 Intel and AMD based Kodi devices have most if not all of these requirements already and it's why Kodi still remains snappy on them to this day, even on older Hardware.
Where they become a bit obsolete is when new video compression standards are introduced like 10bit HEVC and 4K VP9 and there is no GPU hardware decoding support and the older CPU package struggles to software decode. Either upgrade the GPU or buy an Intel Apollo Lake onwards or AMD Ryzen Mini PC or try something else...
This is where the great bang for the buck mobile based ARM chipsets come in like the Tegra X1 in the Shield or the A10X Fusion in the Apple TV 4K.
The GPU's in them are both fast and support modern video compression standards with the NUC like, powerful ATV 4K leading the pack.
At the cheap end of the market the ARM Mali Midgard 4th gen. GPU's like the Mali T8xx make for a snappy media players too for the price paid.
You find those in the AMLogic S912 and the Rockchip RK3399. They have 6 or more CPU Cores.
I'm really impressed with the RK3399 lately, it's already showing it's snappy potential.
Further down the pecking order is the Rockchip RK3288, with a ARM Mali T760 GPU and then the AMLogic S905's with a ARM Utgard Mali-450
Those are still pretty quick with eMMC storage running a minimal Linux OS for Kodi such as OSMC or LibreELEC / CoreELEC.
Edit: I missed out the 2012 Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU found in the RPi's that gets impressively thrashed to within an inch of its life these days trying to keep up.
So it basically comes down to which OS you want to use, how stable is it.
What price you pay and can you do DIY or simply want Plug n Play with after sales support ?
- a decent GPU, to draw the user interface
- fast RAM and storage
- a decent CPU package, especially Single Core performance to run those Single threaded Python2 coded Addons.
- an optimised minimal OS.
Most x86_64 Intel and AMD based Kodi devices have most if not all of these requirements already and it's why Kodi still remains snappy on them to this day, even on older Hardware.
Where they become a bit obsolete is when new video compression standards are introduced like 10bit HEVC and 4K VP9 and there is no GPU hardware decoding support and the older CPU package struggles to software decode. Either upgrade the GPU or buy an Intel Apollo Lake onwards or AMD Ryzen Mini PC or try something else...
This is where the great bang for the buck mobile based ARM chipsets come in like the Tegra X1 in the Shield or the A10X Fusion in the Apple TV 4K.
The GPU's in them are both fast and support modern video compression standards with the NUC like, powerful ATV 4K leading the pack.
At the cheap end of the market the ARM Mali Midgard 4th gen. GPU's like the Mali T8xx make for a snappy media players too for the price paid.
You find those in the AMLogic S912 and the Rockchip RK3399. They have 6 or more CPU Cores.
I'm really impressed with the RK3399 lately, it's already showing it's snappy potential.
Further down the pecking order is the Rockchip RK3288, with a ARM Mali T760 GPU and then the AMLogic S905's with a ARM Utgard Mali-450
Those are still pretty quick with eMMC storage running a minimal Linux OS for Kodi such as OSMC or LibreELEC / CoreELEC.
Edit: I missed out the 2012 Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU found in the RPi's that gets impressively thrashed to within an inch of its life these days trying to keep up.
So it basically comes down to which OS you want to use, how stable is it.
What price you pay and can you do DIY or simply want Plug n Play with after sales support ?
