Right ZBOX: Intel/AMD, 24p bug, upscaling power
#1
I'm looking for an HTPC that is ideal for me, it has to be really small so it will fit nicely in my furniture and won't overheat. Currently a regular micro atx PC case is crammed in there and it barely fits, overheats (when cabinet doors are closed) and can make quite some noise.

Anyways, I looked at barebone systems and the ones from ZBOX seem awesome. I do have a few concerns though.

I can hardly find anything about the 24p bug with regards to the ZBOX systems, am I right in that all Intel Zbox systems (still) have the 24p bug?

If yes then I'll look solely at the AMD ones (any downside to AMD vs. Intel?). I often read about fine performance when ZBOX's are running OpenELEC, but I feel more for running XBMC under Windows 7 (like I'm doing now), because it gives you additional features (such as surfing).

Will you notice anything (performance wise) when running XBMC under Windows 7? I like the Zotac ZBOX nano XS AD13 (very complete with remote / external IR etc) and the Zotac ZBOX nano AQ01 (seems to have a better CPU/GPU but is less complete).

In the end, these are my requirements:
  • Perfect 24p (so no Intel right?)
  • Sound over SPDIF to my amplifier.
  • I want to upscale non-1080p using Lanczoz3 (best results right?), I'm mentioning this because I've had problems in the past with my GPU not handling it right and therefore no hardware acceleration), or getting a very ugly picture using dxva (it used the dxva upscaling engine I guess).
  • Running all of that under Windows 7.

Does anyone know if the selected options can do this flawlessly?

Thanks! Smile
Reply
#2
(2014-04-11, 23:08)jant90 Wrote: Perfect 24p (so no Intel right?)
Haswell Intel CPUs have fixed the 23.976Hz issues (So Celeron 2xxx and i3/i5-i7-4xxx CPUs). There are also reports that the Bay Trail "Celeron" and "Pentium" CPUs (which are the high-end Atoms with Ivy Bridge level GPUs) have also been fixed.
Reply
#3
(2014-04-12, 03:03)noggin Wrote:
(2014-04-11, 23:08)jant90 Wrote: Perfect 24p (so no Intel right?)
Haswell Intel CPUs have fixed the 23.976Hz issues (So Celeron 2xxx and i3/i5-i7-4xxx CPUs). There are also reports that the Bay Trail "Celeron" and "Pentium" CPUs (which are the high-end Atoms with Ivy Bridge level GPUs) have also been fixed.

I just read about it here (click) indeed. However the more interesting ZBOX's (price-wise) are Ivy Bridge based as far as I can see (but there are so many models so I might miss some), in particular the Zotac ZBOX ID18 is very cheap (Ivy Bridge celeron).

And as I'm not interested in doing any intensive tasks besides movie streaming I guess I can do with one from the lower price range, all those i3-i7 ones seem overpowered for my use.
Reply
#4
Maybe you shouldn't look only at Zbox?
Kodi 19.1 Android/Google(TV) [ Shield TV Pro [64b] / Mi Box S [32b] / Mi Projector / Fire 4k TV stick / CC with Google TV ]
Kodi 19 [3D MVC build] Shuttle DH270 [Kaby Lake i3-7300/HD630 graphics - W10-1903]
Reply
#5
Yep - I'd suggest looking at a wider field than the Zotac boxes. Some of them had a pretty bad reputation for reliability and/or overheating in the past.

Also worth looking at NUC, Brix, Revo, Lenovo etc. The new Asus Chromebox (2955U Haswell based) is also looking potentially very interesting - but doesn't do Windows.

SPDIF for some of these would require a USB sound interface or HDMI splitter as not all have on-board SPDIF
Reply
#6
You may look at Brix 2955, I'm in the case of you, I'm looking at the same type of machine.
Reply
#7
(2014-04-12, 13:20)p750mmx Wrote: Maybe you shouldn't look only at Zbox?

(2014-04-12, 15:19)noggin Wrote: Yep - I'd suggest looking at a wider field than the Zotac boxes. Some of them had a pretty bad reputation for reliability and/or overheating in the past.

Also worth looking at NUC, Brix, Revo, Lenovo etc. The new Asus Chromebox (2955U Haswell based) is also looking potentially very interesting - but doesn't do Windows.

SPDIF for some of these would require a USB sound interface or HDMI splitter as not all have on-board SPDIF

(2014-04-12, 17:36)NicCo Wrote: You may look at Brix 2955, I'm in the case of you, I'm looking at the same type of machine.

You guys are right about me only mentioning Zotac, it's not like I just had to have a Zotac, but before coming to Zotac I looked at some other barebones (NUC's and Brix in particular) but they never had SPDIF. I looked at some USB sound cards with SPDIF and while they can be very cheap (saw them as low as $11 via Aliexpress) it's not a very neat solution as you'd need to put another device below your TV and you lose an USB port. But out of interest, can a cheap external sound card mess up the sound quality? Or is it just passing the digital signal and is it not possible to mess up the signal?

Anyways, I got a great deal from somebody selling their Zotac ZBOX nano XS AD13 that I could not pass up so that one will be arriving soon, can't wait to play with it Smile.
Reply
#8
Brix 2955 have a SPDIF output Wink
Reply
#9
(2014-04-13, 23:02)NicCo Wrote: Brix 2955 have a SPDIF output Wink

Damn, you're right, the specs weren't complete on the website where I viewed it. But that also seems like one mean little machine (the GB-BXCEH-2955 variant) with some cool extra's compared to the AD13, like possibility to install a 2.5" SSD/HDD and an extra RAM module, also a really cool design and a newer processor. However the Zotac has the advantage of the IR receiver (and even an extra one) with remote and also has some cool features like high amperage USB charging, even when the device sleeps (yellow USB ports).

Anyways I made a really good deal by buying a new AD13 (from an RMA) at a used price Smile.
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Right ZBOX: Intel/AMD, 24p bug, upscaling power0