MAJOR CHANGE OF PLANS - SEE POST #14; Power Consumption of NUC w/ Celeron J3455 for HTPC?

[bob4432]

Thinking of running a Intel NUC w/ a Celeron J3455 (BOXNUC6CAYH - along w/ 8GB DDR3L & a SanDisk SSD PLUS 120GB Solid State Drive (SDSSDA-120G-G26) for my HTPC. Was wondering if anybody has info on what it pulls from the wall streaming a 1920x1080 x265 w/ DTS audio video file. Current HTPC is a i5 2500K in mini atx board and it plays the video just fine - both setups will use 8GB DDR3 and the described SSD. The current i5 2500K setup currently has a 300GB raptor in it (loud, not sure about power but you can definitely hear it across the room so it has to go), and it pulls ~50-75W total from the wall through a Kill-A-Watt streaming a h264 1920x1080 DTS audio file as well as a h265 1920x1080 2CH audio file.
I have currently switched my cable so that it will go through the HTPC, so the machine will be on pretty close to 24/7. Have a SSD on the way regardless if I stay w/ the i5 or go the NUC. Plus would like to mount the NUC to the back of the TV and clean up some space as the i5 is mounted in a mid-atx case.
So, anybody have any Kill-A-Watt #s regarding this NUC w/ 8GB DDR3L & a SSD (
SanDisk SSD PLUS 120GB Solid State Drive (SDSSDA-120G-G26)) - not too worried about throughput or stress on the drive since it will not be dong much or having many files open at once)
? I can stress it harder if anybody has this NUC and willing to help me get some power numbers running Prime95 or whatever.
Thanks in advance,
Bob

 

[DaveSimmons]

You might look at other brands besides intel, some are even fanless.

This one is about to start shipping: https://www.notebookcheck.net/MeLE-...ini-PC-powered-by-Celeron-J3455.235794.0.html

 

[bob4432]

Appreciate the link. I am definitely not married to Intel, just some I was recommended by a couple friends. Will definitely take a look at some other offerings. Any chance anybody has an idea what these pull from the wall?

 

[DaveSimmons]

AnandTech main site has reviewed several NUC sized PCs including fanless, and they do include power draw. They might not have a J3455 but might have similar ones with the same generation of intel GPU where you can compare TDP during playback.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Look at the ECS Liva models with J3455.

 

[bob4432]

Appreciate the info shared. Was wondering if people that have used any of these units know which bios have the ability to turn the machine on via a keyboard key press using a USB connected keyboard?
Also, after reading around about the different units, it appears the Intel NUCs show some stability using Ethernet vs wifi & their bios seem a bit problematic for long term stability. I am assuming this may be an issue with not only the Intel units but possibly others. Anybody know if stability issues have taken care of or anybody that uses a particular unit, could you share your first and experience with whichever unit you use? I plan to have whichever unit I get on 24/7, more than likely have a battery backup and will probably end up using Win10 and only restart the machine when Win10 needs to for it's updates.
Thanks in advance,
Bob

 

[DaveSimmons]

Out of curiosity, why run a HTPC 24x7? Or will it also be something else?

(Ohhhh.... yarr mateyware?)

 

[lehtv]

Out of curiosity, why run a HTPC 24x7? Or will it also be something else?

One reason to run it 24/7 is so you don't have to worry about turning it on or off. Another would be if you wanted to use it as a file server.

 

[bob4432]

Running 24/7 just because of weird schedules that change.

 

[bob4432]

Anybody compare the unit I referenced in the OP to the https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16883218075 (ZOTAC C Series ZBOX CI327 NANO, Palm-Sized Passive Cooled Mini PC, Intel N3450 Quad-Core CPU, Intel HD Graphics 500)? I do like the fact that I he Zotac unit is passively cool but are there much differences in CPU/GPU? Also, does the Zotac unit suffer from the weird BIOS reset that the NUC suffers from? Assuming power from the wall will be very close, so does a Celeron J beat a N.
From what I have read the NUC seems to be quite finicky, anybody know if the Zotac is too?
Thanks in advance,
Bob

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you don't mind spending more (like a lot more) there are fanless PC using laptop i5 CPUs:

https://www.logicsupply.com/products/features/fanless-computers/

I think there are a few other companies making "industrial" NUCs like this.

 

[bob4432]

If you don't mind spending more (like a lot more) there are fanless PC using laptop i5 CPUs:

https://www.logicsupply.com/products/features/fanless-computers/

I think there are a few other companies making "industrial" NUCs like this.

While I appreciate the suggestion, I have too many items that need updated atm.
Bob

 

[DaveSimmons]

While I appreciate the suggestion, I have too many items that need updated atm.
Bob

No worries, I haven't been able to talk myself into spending $800+ for a fanless music jukebox NUC

 

[bob4432]

Ugh, woke up to a $880 A/C repair , anybody know what the lowest power CPU that will decode a 10bit H265 1920x1080 video? Will an i3 3320T (35W, Intel 2500HD GPU) do it? Or do I need a low power i5 dual or quad? Should I find a 65W i5 Ivy Bridge as I still think I can do better with this skt1155 board than the i5 2500K, power & heat wise.
HTPC just turned into low power HTPC & Home Server w/ a 2-4TB RAID1array.
Also, anybody ever have any issues w/ HDDs in the the same room as the HT that can easily hit over 105dbs, don't go any louder because at that volume stuff starts to vibrate off the walls and I share a wall w/ a neighbor.
Bob

 

[Torn Mind]

It should be possible to underclock the i5 and disable cores.

 

[bob4432]

Thanks, will look for it in the bios.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Ugh, woke up to a $880 A/C repair , anybody know what the lowest power CPU that will decode a 10bit H265 1920x1080 video? Will an i3 3320T (35W, Intel 2500HD GPU) do it? Or do I need a low power i5 dual or quad? Should I find a 65W i5 Ivy Bridge as I still think I can do better with this skt1155 board than the i5 2500K, power & heat wise.
HTPC just turned into low power HTPC & Home Server w/ a 2-4TB RAID1array.
Also, anybody ever have any issues w/ HDDs in the the same room as the HT that can easily hit over 105dbs, don't go any louder because at that volume stuff starts to vibrate off the walls and I share a wall w/ a neighbor.
Bob

This is my HTPC and it works perfectly. It runs 1080p video just fine. I've never hit anything it can not play smoothly.

Pentium G620
BIOSTAR TH61 ITX LGA 1155 Mini ITX
G.Skill DDR3 1333 4GB
Fractal Design Array R2
Corsair SF Series, SF450

Honestly if you are not shooting for 4k or 3D it does not take much to run a HTPC. If you are doing transcoding in real time you will need more, but if you okay setting up an automated system to transcode overnight you will be fine with just about anything. You can even (just barely) get H256 1080p to play on a Raspberry Pi 3.

 

[bob4432]

This is my HTPC and it works perfectly. It runs 1080p video just fine. I've never hit anything it can not play smoothly.

Pentium G620
BIOSTAR TH61 ITX LGA 1155 Mini ITX
G.Skill DDR3 1333 4GB
Fractal Design Array R2
Corsair SF Series, SF450

Honestly if you are not shooting for 4k or 3D it does not take much to run a HTPC. If you are doing transcoding in real time you will need more, but if you okay setting up an automated system to transcode overnight you will be fine with just about anything. You can even (just barely) get H256 1080p to play on a Raspberry Pi 3.

Thanks

 

[UNCjigga]

I think I have the exact same NUC HTPC that you have specified--I actually bought the NUC6CAYS (for the Windows license) and outfitted it with 2x4GB Crucial DDR3 1866 and a SanDisk SSD Plus 120G drive.

I haven't noticed any stability issues that you speak of--the only issue I've encountered is not getting a display signal on resume from sleep (not sure if that's due to my Samsung TV, cheap HDMI 2.0A cables or the LVDS firmware but I've kept it up-to-date.)

The 4K image quality is great and MPC-HC works well when configured correctly--just don't expect "official" HDR support from Intel because for whatever reason they do not support HDR output with Windows 10 Creator's Update on this platform (while the GPU/platform are capable, it's disabled for anything less than a Kaby Lake i3. Go figure.)

 

[bob4432]

I think I have the exact same NUC HTPC that you have specified--I actually bought the NUC6CAYS (for the Windows license) and outfitted it with 2x4GB Crucial DDR3 1866 and a SanDisk SSD Plus 120G drive.

I haven't noticed any stability issues that you speak of--the only issue I've encountered is not getting a display signal on resume from sleep (not sure if that's due to my Samsung TV, cheap HDMI 2.0A cables or the LVDS firmware but I've kept it up-to-date.)

The 4K image quality is great and MPC-HC works well when configured correctly--just don't expect "official" HDR support from Intel because for whatever reason they do not support HDR output with Windows 10 Creator's Update on this platform (while the GPU/platform are capable, it's disabled for anything less than a Kaby Lake i3. Go figure.)

Appreciate the info. I am still using the i5-2500K in the micro-atx mb, Samsung 850 Evo SSD and then the 2 300GB raptors in a Raid1 array (for the time being for my music collection as I rip it and convert it to flac and know I need to get rid of the raptors, but they are what I had laying around, but 300GB is filling up fast w/ flac ablums and I am only 3/4 of the way through 1 case logic 200 cd case of 3 or 4 I have from back in the day).

I have excellent stability but like you do have an issue w/ my display - an older Vizio 50" 1080p model resuming from sleep or the display not turning off when the computer does - have to look at the settings as I am using a Monoprice HDMI cable but @ only 1080p doubt it is a cable issue. This is working ok for now and does what it is needed to do.

 

[JeffMD]

Funny this thread should exist, was about to do a write up on the intel nuc j3455 which I purchased to be my 24hr plex server/file server. So far its been pretty satisfactory, although nothing has blown my mind but then, it cost $129!