Are these systems good for HTPC duties?

[Dave3000]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-ins...&skuId=5859005

http://www.frys.com/product/7974830?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I'm considering buying a pre-built system to use as a HTPC with Kodi (aka XBMC) installed. I need a system powerful enough to play my blu-ray 1080p MKV uncompressed rips with lossless audio without dropping frames. It also must be quiet and not bulky as I prefer it to fit on the bottom shelf of my TV stand which a mid-tower case is too tall for that and I have tower speakers next to my TV stand. I can build my own HTPC but I don't want to and I will be installing my retail copy of Windows 7 on it, so I don't have to worry about any bloatware. I also have a spare 16 GB DDR3-1600 memory kit that I'm not using so if the 2nd option has 2 DIMM slots I can have 8 GB installed on it instead of 4 GB. How reliable are the power supplies in these pre-built micro-ATX systems like the 2nd Dell system I mentioned above, that's really my only concern about them?

 

[Dave3000]

One more thing, does the integrated HDMI audio on the i3 Haswell support bitstreaming of HD DTS-MA, and True HD Dolby Digital audio formats?

 

[NutBucket]

For your bitstreaming question the answer is yes.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Dave, all of those boxes are overkill for Kodi. Anything that is a i-series or runs Windows is overkill for Kodi, and honestly won't provide much of an experience improvement unless you want to game too.

What you really need is a Celeron Chromebox running Openelec. I PROMISE it can play every Blu Ray rip and bitstream the audio perfectly. I know, I have thousands of rips. Thanks to Openelec it is an appliance that never loses mouse focus or blue screens. Fanless, runs every skin and every plugin perfectly. Heck the Linux Kodi version (which is in Openelec) is the best version of the program. Intel has done a ton of work on that recently.

Windows is a desktop OS. Openelec is made for a media center. It boots straight into Kodi. We stopped needing to build full PCs to handle these duties about two or three years ago. Seriously that sub $200 Chromebox can do it without a single dropped frame. Get the i3 one if it makes you feel better, but don't build a PC unless you need Windows on top of Kodi (like gaming).

I feel you though, my 2009 HTPC was a Micro ATX beast. If I was just coming into the hobby I too would assume a Blu Ray needs a ton of power to play properly.

The only reason someone needs more power is if they have a 4K TV and they use MadVR to upscale the Blu Rays to look decent. But you can't do that with Kodi, or anything that looks as nice as Kodi.

 

[Dave3000]

I read a comment on Youtube that you need to open up the Chromebox and remove a certain screw to disable the write protection if you want to install Openelec software on it in order to use Kodi. Is that true? What if I'm not satisfied with the Chromebox and the hack has been done but I want to return it to the store? Would I be able to restore the factory software on it. Also would my warranty be void if I open up the Chromebox?

I was also considering the Intel NUC with the i3 CPU. I have a harmony remote that I want to use and this box and the NUC with the i3 has an IR sensor. I want a device that will be able to turn on and off with my harmony remote. I would still have to buy an SSD and DDR3, which will make it about the same price as the 1st Dell PC I mentioned here and that's before counting the Windows 8.1 operating system. Would I be able to install Openelec on the NUC without hacking it?

 

[poofyhairguy]

I read a comment on Youtube that you need to open up the Chromebox and remove a certain screw to disable the write protection if you want to install Openelec software on it in order to use Kodi. Is that true? What if I'm not satisfied with the Chromebox and the hack has been done but I want to return it to the store? Would I be able to restore the factory software on it. Also would my warranty be void if I open up the Chromebox?

In order: Yes you have to remove a screw, yes you can restore the factory software, no Asus has told the community that does NOT void the warranty. The only real "danger" in the Chromebox is the time spent. Here is THE source on the entire process, even all the way back to stock:

http://kodi.wiki/view/ASUS_Chromebox

I was also considering the Intel NUC with the i3 CPU. I have a harmony remote that I want to use and this box and the NUC with the i3 has an IR sensor. I want a device that will be able to turn on and off with my harmony remote. I would still have to buy an SSD and DDR3, which will make it about the same price as the 1st Dell PC I mentioned here and that's before counting the Windows 8.1 operating system. Would I be able to install Openelec on the NUC without hacking it?

Oh yeah you can install Openelec on any computer. Now will that EXACT IR sensor work? I don't know without knowing the model. But the concept is the same.

Basically the ONLY reason I push Chromebox is because it is like Google is subsidizing a Haswell NUC to get its ChromeOS out there. It is by far the best NUC for the price, anything near it has a unusable Atom processor.

If you just want to go buy a NUC and spend the extra that too is a great option. Heck it might be a safer option for you because unlike the Chromebox if you hate Openelec (which would floor me so please tell me) you can always put Windows on there. Basically you are paying more for a better box. But if you go NUC you can get screwed, as there are bad devices out there. CPU has to have an Intel Ivy or Haswell core. No AMD, not Atom, and no Sandy Intel chips their GPUs are trash.

Just looking something like this is basically a bigger Chromebox with Windows sub $200:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883218045

I would take that over a Micro ATX PC any day. I would still put Openelec on it though, Kodi has no major Windows 8 developer right now. The Android and Linux versions are the favorite children, and Android can't bitstream HD audio.

 

[Dave3000]

I think I will go with this because of the internal 2.5-inch drive support:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-057-_-Product

If I go with this I will buy 8GB DDR3-1600 laptop memory, and a Intel 530 Series 120 GB SSD. I use a 2 TB USB powered hard drive for my stored media.

Another question. I noticed that sometimes, but not often there is a stutter when playing back my MKV files through Kodi on my PC. The occasional stutter also happens in MPC-HC. If I rewind and replay the part that had the stutter, the stutter does not happen again. Is this most likely an operating system process happening in the background at the time of the stutter? Would this problem go away if I use Openelec or Ubuntu as the operating system? My system has an i7-4930k CPU and 32GB DDR3 and I understand that this CPU is overkill for playing back uncompressed blu-ray rips.

 

[Burpo]

Good choice.. :thumbsup:

 

[poofyhairguy]

I think I will go with this because of the internal 2.5-inch drive support:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-057-_-Product

If I go with this I will buy 8GB DDR3-1600 laptop memory, and a Intel 530 Series 120 GB SSD. I use a 2 TB USB powered hard drive for my stored media.

All of that is awesome.

Another question. I noticed that sometimes, but not often there is a stutter when playing back my MKV files through Kodi on my PC. The occasional stutter also happens in MPC-HC. If I rewind and replay the part that had the stutter, the stutter does not happen again. Is this most likely an operating system process happening in the background at the time of the stutter? Would this problem go away if I use Openelec or Ubuntu as the operating system? My system has an i7-4930k CPU and 32GB DDR3 and I understand that this CPU is overkill for playing boxk uncompressed blu-ray rips.

It could be a background process, or it could be an issue with the DXVA decoding. Since that thing is a black box it is hard for developers to bug fix. Heck that is why MadVR kinda goes around it and just does the work itself on the raw GPU power. I have stopped using Windows 7 as my primary media platform (even though it means two htpcs in the media room) because I am sick of stuff like that and DXVA decoding errors.

With Openelec the OS is Kodi. It boots straight into the app, nothing else running including stuff you can't even turn off in Windows. It is optimized to just run Kodi great and play everything. The only setup you do is in Kodi's menus. Its great. Nothing ever pops up or steals the focus. Its is the Kodi appliance. An Intel developer worked on both the driver and Kodi to make the current version awesome. I don't think you can do better for stable video playback on a real PC.

For the Harmony you need to add the device called Windows Media Center SE and map the buttons for it to work. I can help with that, just let us know what harmony you have. Also smartphone apps like Yatse work great.

 

[ivwshane]

You closed me! I just bought an open box asus chromebox for $120.

I was looking at either the hummingboard or the cuboxtv but for the same price or $20 more I figured it's the more powerful machine and somewhat upgradable.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Awesome! Congratulations! Since no ARM box does proper refresh rate matching or HD audio bitstreaming I don't think any are worth more than $100 tops.

 

[ivwshane]

Of course my box was defective I never buy open box and the one time I do...stupid power supply:|

 

[Dave3000]

Today I bought the Intel NUC D34010KYKH, 8GB Crucial DDR3, and a PNY 120GB SSD (was on sale for $60). I've been getting a few audio dropouts and the audio stopped working until I restart my NUC the restart Openelec. These audio drop outs were while bitstreaming HD-DTS and happened about 10 minutes into watching a movie. I also had the audio stopped working and had to do a reboot when I used Openelec on my main PC, but have not experienced audio dropouts on my main PC but then again I didn't use it that much on my main PC.

Also I'm getting RGB range issues with certain MKV files with my NUC in Openelec. When I set the RGB range to limited 16-235 in the video settings in Openelec, since I'm using a TV, blacks look dark gray on most of my VC1 encoded MKVs, other encoded formats such as H264 and Mpeg2 the blacks look black. If I uncheck RGB limited 16-235, blacks look crushed and I notice loss of details in dark areas and dark scenes. On my main PC I don't have RGB range issues with Openelec.

I'm going to install Windows 7 on my NUC and run Kodi through Windows 7 and see if I have these audio issues and RGB range issues with Windows 7 on my NUC.

If that does not solve these issues, I"m returning the NUC, memory, SSD, and the Mini-HDMI-to-HDMI cable for a refund and continue using my bulky PC and Kodi for watching movies.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Today I bought the Intel NUC D34010KYKH, 8GB Crucial DDR3, and a PNY 120GB SSD (was on sale for $60). I've been getting a few audio dropouts and the audio stopped working until I restart my NUC the restart Openelec. These audio drop outs were while bitstreaming HD-DTS and happened about 10 minutes into watching a movie. I also had the audio stopped working and had to do a reboot when I used Openelec on my main PC, but have not experienced audio dropouts on my main PC but then again I didn't use it that much on my main PC.

Make sure that under audio settings in Kodi it has the right device for passthrough, the right passthrough options enabled, and the right speaker setup (7.1,5.1,etc.). You have to enable the advanced settings and change it to Optimized.

Also I'm getting RGB range issues with certain MKV files with my NUC in Openelec. When I set the RGB range to limited 16-235 in the video settings in Openelec, since I'm using a TV, blacks look dark gray on most of my VC1 encoded MKVs, other encoded formats such as H264 and Mpeg2 the blacks look black. If I uncheck RGB limited 16-235, blacks look crushed and I notice loss of details in dark areas and dark scenes. On my main PC I don't have RGB range issues with Openelec.

Try changing the decoder settings to something other than the auto select.

Then again, it should all work fine with Windows 7 too so if you are more comfortable with that go for it. I use Windows 7 on my most powerful HTPC for extra stuff like emulation. It is Windows 8 that has poor support, Windows 7 64Bit is still the HTPC king.

 

[Dave3000]

I installed Windows 7 and and I don't get RGB issues with the NUC running Kodi on Windows 7. Also I don't get audio dropouts either using my NUC with Windows 7.

I ran into 3 more issues with my NUC. Early this morning my WD Passport USB hard drive dismounted itself and I had to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable. Does it sound like it's not providing enough power through the USB port to power up my Passport? I don't want to buy a new self-powered external hard drive as I didn't plan for that. Also sometimes when I restart my NUC and then pressed F2 to get into the BIOS, my NUC won't boot up and a get no signal to my TV. Lastly, when installing Windows updates, my NUC's fan gets lounder, not loud but too loud for movie watching in my opinion. I set the minimum fan speed to 25% because in my opinion the fan was too loud out of the box for movie watching. It's not loud with the fan set at 25% during movie watching but there might come a time when a CPU intensive task runs in the background, therefore increasing the fan speed, while watching a move and this go be a problem for me.

 

[Dave3000]

Okay, I solved the RGB issue I was having with VC-1 encoded files in Openelec. I had to turn on VC-1 VAAPI hardware acceleration, however it said in the description that Intel hardware fails with VC-1 interlaced and that's why I didn't turn that setting on before.

Another problem I encountered was that when my NUC is connected to my Yamaha AV Receiver, the Post screen does not show up when I boot up my NUC and when I'm in the BIOS I also get a blank screen, but when my NUC is connected directly to my TV the Post screen shows up and I don't get a blank screen when I'm in the BIOS. So this means that if I ever want to get into the BIOS I should have my NUC connected directly to my TV which I find ridiculous. Does that sound like an HDMI handshake issue between my NUC and AV receiver?

Still I don't know why my USB hard drive suddenly disappeared under "My Computer" in Windows 7 and I had to reconnect it so Windows could detect it again.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Does that sound like an HDMI handshake issue between my NUC and AV receiver?

Yes. But a reboot cycle of equipment should fix a handshake in a many cases.

 

[Dave3000]

Ok, the afternoon I returned my Intel NUC, SSD, memory, and the HDMI->Mini HDMI cable, for a refund. The main reason I returned it was because my USB hard drive unmounted itself once on this device in Windows 7, requiring to reconnect the USB cable. I also found the default fan settings in the BIOS a little noisy for movie watching, louder than my PS4, although I mostly solved it by lowering the minimum fan speed in the BIOS. Lastly, the blank screen problem with my NUC during Post and in the BIOS if I press F2 to access the BIOS when it's connected to my AV receiver. I didn't want to buy a new external hard drive and a new AV receiver after spending all that money on the NUC and the required components.

Would I have these same issues with an Asus Chrome Box? At least I read somewhere that it is fanless, so no fan noise if that's true. Also does the Asus Chrome Box have an IR sensor, as I would want to turn on/off that device with my Harmony 650 remote? Also can Windows 7 be installed on the Chrome Box?

I wonder if I should just buy a mini-tower Dell PC to use as a HTPC. At least I can install a video card if I ever run into a video compatibility issue with the on-CPU HD graphics chip.