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Intel NUC - Haswell (4th Generation CPU) - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Intel NUC - Haswell (4th Generation CPU) (/showthread.php?tid=176718)



RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - voip-ninja - 2014-08-21

(2014-08-21, 20:11)noggin Wrote:
(2014-08-21, 12:21)arokh Wrote: @voip-ninja

What next gen codecs? My i5 does HEVC without breaking much of a sweat.

What resolution? 4K 2160p, 1080p or 720p? And what framerate.

My i5 NUC certainly can't handle 2160/60p HEVC...

Ya, I don't think i5 is going to handle 4k/60 HEVC when that is likely what "next gen" is going to look like for media players like Kodi in a couple of years. By the time this stuff gets common the hardware available will do hardware decoding so I see little point in over-buying a CPU today for what it may or may not do 2-3 yrs from now.


Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - TheReef510 - 2014-08-22

So i read the first ten pages of this thread and i saw that many ppl were running OE on the nuc. What is the benefit of OE vs just running xbmc on windows? Is it because with OE, it starts up so much faster or bcause it cant get "messed up" over time because it turns your computer into a console?


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - -DDD- - 2014-08-22

Because of OE is free and you don't need a Windows Licence, Windows Updates, AntiVirus Updates, no need to install Drivers.
You can install it faster than Windows, it needs fewer HDD Space,...


Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - TheReef510 - 2014-08-22

(2014-08-22, 13:51)-DDD- Wrote: Because of OE is free and you don't need a Windows Licence, Windows Updates, AntiVirus Updates, no need to install Drivers.
You can install it faster than Windows, it needs fewer HDD Space,...

Yeah but with an ssd, the speed differences are minimal, in terms of load times. I mean, to spec out a nuc costs about 500-600 bucks, and a windows license isn't that much more, given the amount f additional flexibility and functionality you get. You cant get a virus if you aren't screwing around with your htpc and browsing the internet. If all you use it for is to strictly access media in your home network, then you don't need to run antivirus software... I don't. I could understand this argument about price from people building raspberry pis, but a nuc is a real computer, and the headaches i saw from ppl on the first page just trying to get it to work seems like a lot of aggravation, but then again i haven't read the entire thread, maybe the later builds are much more seamless.


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - beeswax - 2014-08-22

Cost is the only valid reason I can think of to go with OE over Windows. I took the approach of "I'll try with Windows first and if it falls short in any way, I'll try OE". I didn't have to try OE.

Windows 8.1 boots from cold in only a few seconds on an SSD, the logon and desktop also only appear for about 2s before XBMC is loaded. Factoring in the time it takes my AVR and TV to come on from cold, I sometimes don't even see any of the boot process. I've had no problems with IR, playback or bitstreaming audio plus I have the option of launching players like PowerDVD/TMT for 3D BluRay or BluRay ISOs if I want.

Disk space isn't an issue as long as you get an SSD big enough to contain the Windows install, it's not exactly going to grow much if it's a dedicated XBMC machine. Antivirus, as already stated, is also pointless on a dedicated HTPC so I haven't installed any and Windows Defender is turned off. Automatic updates have been disabled and I just update it whenever I have time or remember, it's not like I need to be jumping on critical updates the second they're released for an XBMC machine. Once in a while, I backup my userdata folder using an smb share, if the worst happens, Windows is reinstalled in about 5 minutes from a USB stick and the userdata copied back in less than that.

Changing the sleep button to power off the NUC rather than sleep was the only big change I had to make as waking from sleep was causing several problems. Can't remember where I found this gem on how to do this but thanks to whoever posted it:

Quote:See current configuration
powercfg -getactivescheme
Now you have the guid of the scheme being used.
powercfg -q <currentguid>
Look for the subgroupguid for "Power buttons and lid"
powercfg -q <currentguid> <subgroupguid>
Now you have the guid of the setting
To alter the setting for ac power (and I'll show all the guids for this one)
powercfg -setacvalueindex 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c 4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347 96996bc0-ad50-47ec-923b-6f41874dd9eb 3



RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - voip-ninja - 2014-08-22

(2014-08-22, 15:28)TheReef510 Wrote:
(2014-08-22, 13:51)-DDD- Wrote: Because of OE is free and you don't need a Windows Licence, Windows Updates, AntiVirus Updates, no need to install Drivers.
You can install it faster than Windows, it needs fewer HDD Space,...

Yeah but with an ssd, the speed differences are minimal, in terms of load times. I mean, to spec out a nuc costs about 500-600 bucks, and a windows license isn't that much more, given the amount f additional flexibility and functionality you get. You cant get a virus if you aren't screwing around with your htpc and browsing the internet. If all you use it for is to strictly access media in your home network, then you don't need to run antivirus software... I don't. I could understand this argument about price from people building raspberry pis, but a nuc is a real computer, and the headaches i saw from ppl on the first page just trying to get it to work seems like a lot of aggravation, but then again i haven't read the entire thread, maybe the later builds are much more seamless.

OE will install with less RAM and a smaller SSD than Windows. My i3 NUC with small SSD and 2gb of ram cost $305 total. So it's more like "would I like one windows NUC or two OE NUCs"

I also see people commenting about not running virus scanners, firewalls etc on the NUC. It is pretty foolish to have ANY windows box on your home network without those protections regardless of what it is used for.

Win 8.1 means you want a multi tasked and don't mind dealing with drivers, other crap. OE means you want an appliance. I switched FROM win 7 to OE and am unlikely to switch back.


Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - TheReef510 - 2014-08-22

Not a choice for me since i watch live tv.


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - Nafi - 2014-08-22

vdr works fine on openelec.


Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - TheReef510 - 2014-08-22

Well i like the ability to set up remote recordings and have the option to load a 3d bluray movie from iso. Although i do wonder how much faster windows would load in windows8 vs windows 7 which I'm running now.


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - beeswax - 2014-08-22

(2014-08-22, 17:03)voip-ninja Wrote: It is pretty foolish to have ANY windows box on your home network without those protections regardless of what it is used for.

Nonsense. If it's a dedicated XBMC machine, how many attack vectors do you think that actually leaves open than can still get past modern built-in safety mechanisms like UAC? Pretty much the only way to infect a Win8 machine these days is to target the only weakness in the system - the user. If you're essentially jailing yourself in XBMC, this is of zero concern.

Assessing risk, determining none and removing a solution to a problem that doesn't exist while improving performance is the opposite of foolish.


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - lmyllari - 2014-08-22

(2014-08-22, 13:46)TheReef510 Wrote: What is the benefit of OE vs just running xbmc on windows? Is it because with OE, it starts up so much faster or bcause it cant get "messed up" over time because it turns your computer into a console?
Better picture quality (limited range output) and appliance like experience (automatic updates, mostly just works out of the box).


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - Crssi - 2014-08-22

This is now OE vs Win pissing contest. Wink
Both has pros and cons.
I am using windows just becouse I run some Steam games written just for Windows. Some others would like to watch netflix/livetv supported just on windows.

In short...
if you need NUC solely for XBMC/Kodi then go OE.
if you need NUC for XBMC/Kodi and some other stuff written/working on windows only then go Windows.

Simply Smile


Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - TheReef510 - 2014-08-22

(2014-08-22, 18:00)Crssi Wrote: This is now OE vs Win pissing contest. Wink
Both has pros and cons.
I am using windows just becouse I run some Steam games written just for Windows. Some others would like to watch netflix/livetv supported just on windows.

In short...
if you need NUC solely for XBMC/Kodi then go OE.
if you need NUC for XBMC/Kodi and some other stuff written/working on windows only then go Windows.

Simply Smile

Well i certainly didnt mean for it to become a pissing content, i was genuinely curious what openelec would do so maybe i could play around with it. If the day ever comes where i can get a seamless experience watching live tv with openelec, id totally make the switch.


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - Crssi - 2014-08-22

It was not meant for you. Wink
And I just tried to explain that all paths to sollution are good if they give desired results.

@Imyllari: picture quality is by my opinon now the same (but you still have more options in windows)... so both are good after your perfect work bringing to the community excellent picture quality results on NUC under OE. Before you there was a DISASTER on NUC/OE (i believe that this was not OE fault).


RE: Intel NUC - HTPC (Haswell Late 2013 edition) - lmyllari - 2014-08-22

(2014-08-22, 19:01)Crssi Wrote: @Imyllari: picture quality is by my opinon now the same (but you still have more options in windows)...
How do you get banding free output from XBMC on Windows to a TV that doesn't just ignore the HDMI AVI infoframes?