[ratzofftoya]

Some of the questions you've asked are similar to asking "What's the best car?"
So I answer Porsche 911. So you go out and purchase a Porsche 911 then go "Wow, no towing capability? This car is useless" Or I answer Chevy Silverado and you go "Wow, I can't get 0-60 in under 4.5 seconds? What?" Or I answer my Bentley GT Coupe and you go "That's out of my price range."

I recognize that my question is open-ended, and that was purposeful. You'll notice that I haven't responded to people's answers by criticizing their usefulness, and have provided added detail when prompted. It's possible that I didn't know which details may be relevant to the question before asking it, and am sort-of feeling my way to a helpful response Socratically. In fact, the only person who has criticized others' responses in this thread is you.

Go to Steam In Home Streaming forum. You're not going to get Steam help on here this is an XBMC forum. The cross selection of XBMC to Steam users is low. The Cross Section of XBMC to a Steam In Home Streaming service is even lower so you aren't going to get decent answers there.
Ask there which OS/Platforms will be best supported, etc. blah blah. Even if 1-2 people here used Steam In Home Streaming, their experience would most likely be VASTLY different than yours as there are 1000s of combinations of processors, graphics cards, and OSes that could be used that your BEST bet of figuring out if your combination is decent is to head over to the forum dedicated to it.

I also recognize that the cross-section is somewhat small. But I don't see why people on the Steam forums would be any more capable of answering the Steam In-Home Streaming + XBMC question than people on the XBMC forums. Indeed, the most strategic thing to do is probably to post the same question in multiple places to try to find the most people who fit in that small cross-section of the HTPC population. That's exactly what I've done, and this thread is one example.

Figure out WHICH platforms you're interested in emulating. Simply saying "Emulators" is so broad. There are 100s of different emulators that emulate different consoles. Any OS we recommend could potentially not play your favorite platform. So ask "Can I emulate XYZ platform." In your follow up post you've listed PS2/GameCube. Neither works for you.

All of them? I don't know, I suppose I'd like to figure out what's possible and what's advisable. So someone who was being helpful could say something like "Well, NUC hardware is good enough up to PS2 and Gamecube emulation, but it starts to get very dicey there. Also, in case you want to emulate Sega Saturn, be aware that there's not a great Saturn emulator available for Linux." Something like that.

You mentioned that PS2 and Gamecube don'e work for me. What do you mean by that?

[tential]

I'm not criticizing your response, I'm saying your question is too open ended to get the answers that will truly be helpful for you. And that the location you're asking some of them will lead to misinformatoin which will lead you to to picking up the wrong product.

Steam In-Home Streaming + XBMC isn't what you think it is. You're essentially launching Steam from XBMC. XBMC isn't doing anything special. It's simply executing the executable file. In the end, it's ALL steam in home streaming.
I recognize it's confusing hence it's helpful to understand your level of technology understanding in these types of things. Steam In-Home Streaming is PURELY Steam. You're only launching the program from XBMC (if you choose to) using something like advanced launcher. You need to kn ow the limitations of the Steam In Home Streaming service, which no one knows. That's how Valve works. They release things, then you test it, then you report back on their forums.

In terms of emulators, it doesn't work for you because you don't have a strong enough PC. You need a video card. This is also another reason open ended questions don't give you the answers you actually want. Be specific with your question. Saying "All of them" if you aren't interested in every platform just doesn't really make sense. There isn't a single person who has any remote clue about every platform and you'll get tons of answers that aren't relevant to you.

Either way though, open ended questions on non dedicated forums will always lead you to not the best answer. I have lots of posts on LOTS of different forums so I'm just trying to warn you about something about a mistake a MAJORITY of forum users make. They go to a nondedicated forum, ask questions, get answers from people who aren't truly specialists, and then get the wrong answer.

Example: on Anandtech.com people use the Speaker/HTPC section on a tech forum. I can't tell you how many times people have recommended horrific options to the person and it gets accepted because the knowledge of speakers on a hardware forum is not the same as a forum like avsforum where you'd get better answers. This is why I'm a member of a lot of different forums so I can get mor erelevant informatoin.

Anyway, I've tried to make sure you don't make any of the same mistakes MANY members make even on this forum, and later come back and wonder why they have spent 400-1000 on a PC that isn't what they need. If you are OK with spending more money or getting not what you want, then by all means, continue down this path. Just don't be upset if you find out that you didn't get the correct information/relevant information because you didn't have any guideline of what you actually wanted.

But no one is going to sit here and tell you the intricacies of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vid..._emulators
every video game emulator when you may not even be interested in half the consoles there.

Anyhow, I've seen this situation play out 1000s of times online at this point over multiple forums so I'm not sure why I'm surprised lol. Can't help everyone get exactly what they need.

[macmus]

I ended up going with the Core i5 NUC and a fanless Akasa case. I'll post a log and let y'all know how it goes. Next question--OS?

what AKASA case did you pick, one with HDD 2.5 ?

[ratzofftoya]

I ended up going with the Core i5 NUC and a fanless Akasa case. I'll post a log and let y'all know how it goes. Next question--OS?

what AKASA case did you pick, one with HDD 2.5 ?

Yes, I'll be using 2 2.5" drives in there.

[macmus]

Yes, I'll be using 2 2.5" drives in there.

2x2.5x1,5TB ?
Do you know if it is possible to use one 1x2.5'' drive but 15mm thick instead of 2 in this AKASA, as I already have one mSATA disk.
Standard case from Intel can only fit 2.5'' with max 9,5mm thickness.
I want to put max 2.5, which is currently 2TB , but right now this only comes in 15mm.
9mm is max 1.5 TB.

I'm interested in same solution, so why you use AKASA instead of ABEL ?

I understand second HDD is pluged into msata? So i cannot use msata + 2HDD ?

[Airchtit]

Hi, as you ordered your NUC already and the akasa case I'm considering, could you be so kind as to post a feedback on the OS you ended up with and what kind of streaming stats you get from steam both wired and not?

I'm part of the very few here who use both XBMC and Steam In-home streaming extensively and I'm really curious as to whether or not this small box could end in my bedroom/living room to replace my existing installation.

I'm a windows person so I would recommend it if you're not a tech savy but the latest linux distros include a good enough GUI and decent drivers to be used by anyone (especially ubuntu).

[two515ty]

I'm not criticizing your response, I'm saying your question is too open ended to get the answers that will truly be helpful for you. And that the location you're asking some of them will lead to misinformatoin which will lead you to to picking up the wrong product.

No offense, but you haven't contributed a single useful thing to this thread. Coming in to make multiple posts saying "We don't know what to recommend you" in spite of people having already made recommendations is very counterproductive and reeks more of wanting to carry on a debate than of being concerned about preventing the OP from buying the wrong thing. If he says he has decided to buy an i5 NUC, why not try to make recommendations about that decision (such as what the i5 NUC is capable of, what it isn't, cool things you can do with it, the kind of hardware you'd need to get it set up, etc.) instead of just giving an ambiguous, uninformative reply?

For example, if you had said something like "The i5 NUC should be able to handle most basic console emulation up to N64 and PS1", that would have been a lot more helpful than any of your other posts in this thread.

[macmus]

got replay from AKASA

You should have no issues slotting one 2.5" 15mm drive on the top space of the HDD mounting bracket inside the Tesla H. Which can accommodate one 2.5" drive with heights up to 18.5mm on the one top space, and a 2.5" drive up to 12.5mm on the one bottom space of the HDD mounting kit.

Regarding thermal compatibilities - it would be hot to the touch with ~80% load.

For your reference you may check some temperatures for the Tesla H from the much respected third party Bit-Tech reviewer:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2...h-review/1

[rodalpho]

Yeah... OK.

Ubuntu works fine for both XBMC and steam streaming. SteamOS is still in very early development and offers no real advantages over just installing the linux version of steam in ubuntu.

I suggest using Xubuntu (Ubuntu with the XFCE window manager) and disabling compiz.

[ratzofftoya]

2x2.5x1,5TB ?
Do you know if it is possible to use one 1x2.5'' drive but 15mm thick instead of 2 in this AKASA, as I already have one mSATA disk.
Standard case from Intel can only fit 2.5'' with max 9,5mm thickness.
I want to put max 2.5, which is currently 2TB , but right now this only comes in 15mm.
9mm is max 1.5 TB.

I'm interested in same solution, so why you use AKASA instead of ABEL ?

I understand second HDD is pluged into msata? So i cannot use msata + 2HDD ?

Yes, the second HDD is plugged into an mSATA to SATA adapter provided by Akasa themselves.

Hi, as you ordered your NUC already and the akasa case I'm considering, could you be so kind as to post a feedback on the OS you ended up with and what kind of streaming stats you get from steam both wired and not?

I'm part of the very few here who use both XBMC and Steam In-home streaming extensively and I'm really curious as to whether or not this small box could end in my bedroom/living room to replace my existing installation.

I'm a windows person so I would recommend it if you're not a tech savy but the latest linux distros include a good enough GUI and decent drivers to be used by anyone (especially ubuntu).

Thanks, and I'll certainly post my experience. I'm much more familiar with setting up XBMC and such in Windows, but I'm kinda looking for a project and would love to become more familiar with the Linux environment.

Yeah... OK.

Ubuntu works fine for both XBMC and steam streaming. SteamOS is still in very early development and offers no real advantages over just installing the linux version of steam in ubuntu.

I suggest using Xubuntu (Ubuntu with the XFCE window manager) and disabling compiz.

Is there any particular reason why you suggest this over XBMCbuntu? I was kinda leaning towards that, then adding on whatever features I needed as I go along, since I'm pretty unfamiliar with Linux. Also, what's compiz?

For example, if you had said something like "The i5 NUC should be able to handle most basic console emulation up to N64 and PS1", that would have been a lot more helpful than any of your other posts in this thread.

That is helpful! Is that "up to" AND including, or would I need more powerful hardware for the 32 and 64 bit era?

[two515ty]

For example, if you had said something like "The i5 NUC should be able to handle most basic console emulation up to N64 and PS1", that would have been a lot more helpful than any of your other posts in this thread.

That is helpful! Is that "up to" AND including, or would I need more powerful hardware for the 32 and 64 bit era?

I feel confident that it should easily handle N64 and PS1 - even my Galaxy Note II (an Android phone) can play both of those platforms, and they're not really graphically intense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZ-DE5ZcNk

That's a video of a Gamecube game playing on the Intel HD Graphics. Technically, the author of the video didn't specify, but I'd assume it's an HD 5000.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php...stcount=91

This post also suggests that PS2 emulation may be possible.

Either way, I don't think the i5 NUC is a bad decision. If I had the time, money, and need, I'd also use an i5 NUC as a HTPC/light gaming/emulation machine too. I'm not sure how well the Xbox 360 controller works in Linux, but it has great Windows support if you decide to go with Windows at any point.

[ratzofftoya]

Either way, I don't think the i5 NUC is a bad decision. If I had the time, money, and need, I'd also use an i5 NUC as a HTPC/light gaming/emulation machine too. I'm not sure how well the Xbox 360 controller works in Linux, but it has great Windows support if you decide to go with Windows at any point.

Yeah, I was concerned about that, too, but given that SteamOS is a Linux-based platform and definitely does support the Xbox controller, I'm sure I could figure something out. I also got a Bluetooth-enabled WiFi card to make PS4 controllers an option, but I couldn't find enough about support for them in Linux and Steam to pull the trigger on those.

[OSUFAN]

Surprise no one has mention Fire TV. any reason why?
I do not have one, but looking into getting one and replace my htpc with it.

My htpc is currently a zbox nano but all my media files are on a NAS.

Been waiting for a while for a media player that can do xbmc, fire tv and an apple tv v2 are the only options. Hence I will probably go with the FTV.

Because some people are capable of reading the actual thread.

Steam In-Home Streaming

Obviously you can't do Steam In-Home Streaming on a FireTV.....

Hence why people don't only recommend AppleTV2 (just again a horrid choice), and the Fire T.

As for helping OP out, it's VERY hard to help you out when we don't know the system requirements of Steam In-Home Streaming because it's still in Beta. You've basically asked an impossible task as we don't know what steam's in home streaming service requires.

DAM dude is that all you do is bust balls on here ?? I am new to XBMC just trying to read about everyone's experiences and I swear every time there is a negative post made YOUR THE POSTER !!! give it a rest.

[rodalpho]

Is there any particular reason why you suggest this over XBMCbuntu? I was kinda leaning towards that, then adding on whatever features I needed as I go along, since I'm pretty unfamiliar with Linux. Also, what's compiz?

Main advantage of XBMCbuntu is that it boots directly into XBMC. Compiz is the fancy window manager used in recent versions of linux, it allows stuff like wobbly windows, full-window move, etc. The main advantage of XBMCbuntu is that it includes a XBMC session that doesn't run any window manager at all, so you don't need to worry about turning off compiz, or binding a button on your remote control to start/stop XBMC, etc.

If you don't have linux experience XBMCbuntu definitely make sense. Actually, openELEC is the way to go, but it can't run steam yet. They're talking about integrating it into OE 4.0, so it should be along shortly.

[ratzofftoya]

Is there any particular reason why you suggest this over XBMCbuntu? I was kinda leaning towards that, then adding on whatever features I needed as I go along, since I'm pretty unfamiliar with Linux. Also, what's compiz?

Main advantage of XBMCbuntu is that it boots directly into XBMC. Compiz is the fancy window manager used in recent versions of linux, it allows stuff like wobbly windows, full-window move, etc. The main advantage of XBMCbuntu is that it includes a XBMC session that doesn't run any window manager at all, so you don't need to worry about turning off compiz, or binding a button on your remote control to start/stop XBMC, etc.

If you don't have linux experience XBMCbuntu definitely make sense. Actually, openELEC is the way to go, but it can't run steam yet. They're talking about integrating it into OE 4.0, so it should be along shortly.

Yeah, even if I go with xbuntu, I'd like for it to still start XBMC on startup, but realistically, I don't imagine I'll be turning this machine off very often, and will just be turning the TV on and off. Will xbmcbuntu present any problems with usenet automation applications?