Intel Celeron N2820 for Video Conversion in HTPC

[artemicion]

I'm thinking of "upgrading" my HTPC from a AMD A6-3620 system (which was a desktop tower I bought on the cheap and repurposed into an HTPC) to an Intel NUC that runs on the Celeron N2820.

Any insight on how the N2820 will perform versus the A6-3620? According to PassMark, the CPU Mark score for the A6-3620 is around 2,905. There's no CPU Mark score for the N2820, but the comparable N2810 scores a 959.

The obvious upside to the N2820 build is the smaller form factor and the reduced power. However, I do run MCEBuddy on the A6-3620 to convert recorded tv files (.WTV) to MP4 files to view on other devices on the network and I'm wondering if the N2820 can handle that sort of task. Any insight on how the N2820 will perform for my needs?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It's an Atom derivative. Silvermont. AnandTech review.

I'd avoid it. Get one of the Celerons based on the Ivy Bridge or Haswell design, like the 1037U.

The base NUC is essentially a case, motherboard, and CPU. $130'll get you a 1037U board and a smallish ITX case with room for a couple HDDs. (NUC'll only fit one, which means backing it up to another machine or an external HDD.) Pick the motherboard right and you can also get away with buying cheaper desktop-style DIMMs.

If you do go with the NUC, it'll work - really, it will. It'll just take longer to convert your videos. I'd also be concerned - and this may well be baseless concern, I'd be glad to be proven wrong - about running a NUC at 100% load for hours on end converting video. The design hasn't been around a long time, and it's liable to run hot, even with a low power chip.

FWIW, I have a FoxConn AT-5250 / Atom D2550 in use as an HTPC (PLEX Home Theater) and it works fine for playback; but even sitting idle it gets pretty hot. (Let's just say I'm glad it was a measly $100.)

 

[Charlie98]

If you do go with the NUC, it'll work - really, it will. It'll just take longer to convert your videos. I'd also be concerned - and this may well be baseless concern, I'd be glad to be proven wrong - about running a NUC at 100% load for hours on end converting video. The design hasn't been around a long time, and it's liable to run hot, even with a low power chip.

A LOT longer. I tried to encode with my HTPC's Pentium G620 once. Only once...

If you plan on encoding at all, I would get something more appropriate.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

A G620 would run circles around the Celeron/Atom. (Celertom? Celterom?)

 

[Charlie98]

A G620 would run circles around the Celeron/Atom. (Celertom? Celterom?)

Well... it fell flat on it's face compared to my 2500K. 8 minutes vs about 36 for the G620 (for a 2-hour DVD rip to .MP4. ) The little Pentium does a fantastic job at everything else... just not encoding.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well... it fell flat on it's face compared to my 2500K. 8 minutes vs about 36 for the G620 (for a 2-hour DVD rip to .MP4. ) The little Pentium does a fantastic job at everything else... just not encoding.

Afaik, an Atom would be lucky to transcode an HD MP4 in realtime.