Linux My current MOBO is dying - what to do next
#1
Hi!

I've got a ubuntu LTS rig with a bunch of HDDs in a nice HTPC case. Right now I have there some G41 mobo, X3220 cpu and an Nvidia G210 GPU. This is old, but runs fine. The mobo starts to die. It powers on once every 3 tries, sometimes it does not come up at all.

So it is time for new gear !

I'm using the box mostly to view kids movies, it works as a NAS as well. We do watch a lot of JPEGs on it - all of the family photos are there and we show them at least 2-3 times a week. The only cpu consuming thing that the setup does is running scripts that compress images into smaller sizes and headless google photos sync.

The question is - what to buy now? Since current hardware lasted so long, I think that the new one should be 4k 10bit AVC capable. I would like to go down with the price and power consumption as possible. I do not want to get rid of current HDDs and chassis.

Options:
- G3930 with a H110 mobo and some 4G of ram
- G3900 with a H110 mobo and some 4G of ram
- j4205 mobo with some 4G of ram. (a tad more money but so much less power used and one fan less)
- j3455 or j3355 + 4G of ram?
- cross fingers and wait for Gemini Lake?

Should I be worried that the speed of decompressing 16 MPix JPEGs would drop or should I not?
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#2
You sure it's the motherboard? It could also be the power supply.

J4205 + j3455 mobos have 4 SATA ports, so 1 ssd + 3 hdds maximum, can do 4K60fps 10bit (no hdr) and need no extra video card.
Coffee Lake / Gemini Lake (?) were rumored to be released earlier, but it's all wait-and-see.

H110 motherboards are the simple boards, so only HDMI 1.4 output (4K30fps) on the motherboard. But they have upto 6 SATA ports.

Ubuntu LTS + Nvidia => Only 8bit video support. Windows and Nvidia = 10 bit.
Nvidia had stopped VDPAU support, so future support in Kodi Linux is uncertain.

In terms of video support, Intel is the safer choice for Kodi.
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#3
fair point - I'll check the PSU.

So there is no reason to pay more for the J4205? And for video decoding the J3455 is just as good?
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My current MOBO is dying - what to do next0