[kieran_je]

Hello,

I've read the 200 odd forum pages on intel NUC's have decided to take the plunge after getting poor results from my Matricom G BOX Q.

I need some help picking the right box, Skylake NUC's will soon been avaible, im unsure which NUC to get, Broadwell i5 or Skylake i3.

I want a box that will perform with great experience, i will only be using this for a HTPC and 1080p videos, Im using a add on Called MBOX to stream IPTV.

Eventually i will be recording channels so also need advice on storage size also.

Im looking at NUC5 i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD....

Thanks in advanced

[Soulbind]

An i5 is overkill for a HTPC, if all you want is 1080p a Chromebox is fine (Asus one is very popular). OpenELEC on it instead of ChromeOS and you are good to go.

[clickingfast]

I have a NUC 4th gen i3 with 4 GB RAM and a small mSata. With openelec it works like a charme.
Would buy it again.

[JNRW]

I recently moved up from a Rockchip Android box to an Intel NUC5i5RYH with 8GB RAM and 120GB SSD running Windows 10.

It may be like buying a truck to carry a sack of potatoes but I don't care. The performance is just perfect on v16 Jarvis (the last monthly build) and I am eagerly waiting for the final release.

[kieran_je]

Hi,

Thanks for all the responses, i've read good things with the chromebox but im still swayed to windows since i feel more comfortable with it.

It seems i3 is sufficuent enough to run the dilema i have now is 6th Gen CPU are coming out soon, for the same price i can get i5 5th Gen?

Also any idea on storage size for recordings? would 256GB suffice?

[danjames92]

Hi,

Thanks for all the responses, i've read good things with the chromebox but im still swayed to windows since i feel more comfortable with it.

It seems i3 is sufficuent enough to run the dilema i have now is 6th Gen CPU are coming out soon, for the same price i can get i5 5th Gen?

Also any idea on storage size for recordings? would 256GB suffice?

You can run Kodi off a USB stick if you want as it requires virtually no space. Just depends how much you need for media or if you have another computer to stream from.

[kieran_je]

I will install windows onto a m.2 drive with kodi. I will only use kodi as a live tv by using MBOX addon, i have spoken to the developer who is planning to allow recording soon,

im wondering if a 256gb m.2 is big enough to record, depending on transcoding ect.

Thanks

[Soulbind]

Should be no difference in terms of using Kodi between the Skylake i3 and 5th gen i5, but the i5 would be more powerful, so if you want to ever repurpose the HTPC to an workstation , the more powerful the better, so get the i5 if they are at the same price.

[smitopher]

I have a Brasswell Pentium NUC

It runs heavy skins just fine, the GPU is capable and current, it is cheaper than either of the NUCs you are considering and you can get it today.

[Qtrmeg]

Hello,

I've read the 200 odd forum pages on intel NUC's have decided to take the plunge after getting poor results from my Matricom G BOX Q.

I need some help picking the right box, Skylake NUC's will soon been avaible, im unsure which NUC to get, Broadwell i5 or Skylake i3.

I want a box that will perform with great experience, i will only be using this for a HTPC and 1080p videos, Im using a add on Called MBOX to stream IPTV.

Eventually i will be recording channels so also need advice on storage size also.

Im looking at NUC5 i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD....

Thanks in advanced

I think you would be better off with the i5 and I also think the 256GB drive will be fine. I actually run kodi with the TV as a second monitor from a Haswell i5 desktop that is very close to what you are looking at. Here are the specs>>>

Q03 Desktop

I have a Chromebox on another TV and this blows the doors off it. Would I choose an i3 instead of the i5? This is where it gets complicated. I will eventually get something like a NUC to separate the TV from the desktop, but all it will do is stream from the NAS. I don't need what you need, so an i3, 4GB, <128GB SSD would be fine.

If I did need what you need I get stuck at the fact that the NUC you are looking at is only $100 cheaper than my desktop, and I would build a custom HTPC every time. In fact, I could have built the same machine for just about the same price as a NUC. I needed an optical drive and I wanted the case to match the NAS that sits right next to it, and those details cost about $80.

The NUC is small so it wins on size. I'd imagine it also wins on cost to run, but my desktop is pretty efficient.

As for size my desktop case is literally the size of a gallon milk jug, and I could have used a smaller case if all it was for was HTPC duty, and it is also very quiet. I can also add a graphics card if needed in the future. And Desktop CPUs > NUC CPUs, however I think the mobile CPUs have better graphics.

Your instinct of "NUC5 i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD" is rock solid, and I'm sure you will be happy with it. But I think you are at a place where you need to build an HTPC, or at least look into it.

[kieran_je]

Thanks for the comments and recommendations, I’m no stranger to building PC's but i feel the NUC gives a one package solution. the size, spec, noise are appealing. in total the NUC with all accessories comes to £350 which isnt bad. I like the fact that it can be mounted behind the TV also

im not sure if my setup will be unique as essentially i want to "cut the cord" with a total PVR / premium IPTV solution. im sure i will be using countless hours trying to configure Kodi with the right skin and addons to please the wife

[Ipaddle]

INTEL NUC 8th generation:

Intel NUC8I5BEK Bean Canyon - Core i5-8259U

Is this one compatible with the latest KODI? LibreELEC with Kodi 18.9 and upcoming KODI Matrix?

Any recommendations for RAM etc.?

[whysoserious]

Is this one compatible with the latest KODI? LibreELEC with Kodi 18.9 and upcoming KODI Matrix?

I have a NUC7i5BNK & and a NUC8i5BEK and both run Kodi 18.9 (LibreELEC version) flawlessly. I don't have any HDR content but 1080p & 2160p SDR stuff is perfect. Blu-ray rips from a NAS over Powerline Ethernet (actual measured 250 Mb/s data rate), smooth as silk. I've experimented with Windows 10 & Kodi on both these boxes also and Kodi 18.9 runs fine there too, but I feel / believe / think that the picture quality is a bit better in LibreELEC. Probably psychosomatic, but...

RAM: With LibreELEC 4 gig is more than enough, with Windows I'd run 8 or 16 gig because, you know, Windows.

I also used to run the @Milhouse  versions of Matrix and they were getting pretty good, but he he had other priorities and stopped working on those. I'm sure that when Matrix is released it will run fine as well.

Edit: Off topic, but I've noticed that LibreELEC on my NUC's does the framerate switching much faster with my TV (see sig) than Windows Kodi does. It's probably the Windows graphics driver being a bit sluggish, but that also biases me in favor of the LE version.

[Ipaddle]

Is this one compatible with the latest KODI? LibreELEC with Kodi 18.9 and upcoming KODI Matrix?

I have a NUC7i5BNK & and a NUC8i5BEK and both run Kodi 18.9 (LibreELEC version) flawlessly. I don't have any HDR content but 1080p & 2160p SDR stuff is perfect. Blu-ray rips from a NAS over Powerline Ethernet (actual measured 250 Mb/s data rate), smooth as silk. I've experimented with Windows 10 & Kodi on both these boxes also and Kodi 18.9 runs fine there too, but I feel / believe / think that the picture quality is a bit better in LibreELEC. Probably psychosomatic, but...

RAM: With LibreELEC 4 gig is more than enough, with Windows I'd run 8 or 16 gig because, you know, Windows.

I also used to run the @Milhouse  versions of Matrix and they were getting pretty good, but he he had other priorities and stopped working on those. I'm sure that when Matrix is released it will run fine as well.

Edit: Off topic, but I've noticed that LibreELEC on my NUC's does the framerate switching much faster with my TV (see sig) than Windows Kodi does. It's probably the Windows graphics driver being a bit sluggish, but that also biases me in favor of the LE version.

That’s good to hear. Thanks for sharing your experience and your advice!