NUC i3 vs i5?
#1
Hey, been doing a lot of reading the past little while and while I have a ton of spare parts in the office enough to probably build a microATX htpc, all the finishing touches and pieces bring me to a bigger footprint than I'd like and quite honestly, a little lacking on performance.

For a gearhead that's been tinkering with pcs for the better part of 20 years, looking at the nucs, my inclination is to always look for more power = more better Smile i3 vs i5

Also means more $$ Sad

So if I want just a decent machine to run windows and xbmc, streaming hi bitrate 1080 mkv/bluray rips, hd audio content across the network and a little NetFlix action, will the i3 suffice and help my wallet?
I'm concerned about some reviews talking about lag and whatnot.
I don't intend to game on it, just some light browsing if and when needed, and mostly XBMC with some netflix.

I like the Windows option because it's what I'm comfortable with and it'll be the livingroom HTPC so wife and kids will be using it too.

So if I opt for something like the D34010WYK, plus an mSata 120gb drive and 4gb ram for around $110 extra, I'm looking at a pretty good xbmc machine for just over $400(cdn).
I spec'd out a similar mini HTPC build from scratch and it was closer to $550-600

Is the additional $80 for an i5 necessary? ($320 i3 vs $400 i5) I'd rather not have a box that will start showing its age after 6 months and I'm sol

Thanks!
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#2
The I3 will do all you asked about. I run a I3 nuc with samsung tv. Use Kodi with it and does not seem to struggle at all with 1080p. I run Win 8.1 Pro on it. Unless you want to do 4k in the future you should be fine, but don't expect 4k for a few years to take off, if that.

I also use a SSD with it, store files on remote server.
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#3
This section of XBMC forum may as we'll be renamed "PI or NUC"

It's been asked a million times before. Has countless pages on the subject AND even has it's own WIKI page [see my sig]

Yes it'll run windows fine. Yes it'll do everything you want it to do. Yes faster is always nicer but if you're umming and arrrring over $80. Save the money and get the i3. Either way. You won't notice the difference.
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#4
(2014-08-31, 19:35)Dranzerk Wrote: The I3 will do all you asked about. I run a I3 nuc with samsung tv. Use Kodi with it and does not seem to struggle at all with 1080p. I run Win 8.1 Pro on it. Unless you want to do 4k in the future you should be fine, but don't expect 4k for a few years to take off, if that.

I also use a SSD with it, store files on remote server.
Thanks for the feedback. Very appreciated. My concern as I mentioned is that I don't want to spend $400 and get a laggy box out of it. The wife would never let me live it down Smile

And precisely BECAUSE there's countless pages and posts about it is why I posted a clean thread vs posting on a 237 page thread.
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#5
Because there's countless pages means we need a clean thread?

As I said. There's a wiki page for those that got the money and don't do reading. Smile
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#6
how about chromebox?
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#7
I looked at those initially but found some of the initial setup steps to be a bit daunting but I'll go take a look again. Think you have to format it via developer mode or something to that effect correct?
If it has enough power I'll take look, can't remember the hardware specs
Thanks
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#8
The Chromebox has a 2955U CPU (Haswell Celeron). It will do all of your XBMC stuff (1080p high bitrate, HD Audio etc.) under OpenElec, but won't stream Netflix under OpenElec. I don't use Netflix, but if you dual boot with ChromeOS you will, I believe, have Netflix support in there (but no idea about audio and remote control stuff in Chrome) Comes with a 16GB SSD and 2 or 4 GB of RAM. There are also versions with more powerful Haswell CPUs. It doesn't have integrated IR, but does have Bluetooth.

I know the installation looks a little daunting - but it really is "follow the instructions" territory, and Matt Devo is amazing at helping people if things don't go to plan (usually keyboard or monitor incompatibility during the install process)
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#9
DN2820 runs XBMC on Windows perfectly. I run one in the bedroom, I can see little or no difference between the DN2820 and the D54250DYK I have in the living room when in XBMC. The Celeron is slower to boot, and takes ages doing Windows updates, etc, but it's perfectly fine for the light use it gets.
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#10
The 2820 is Baytrail and will not bitstream HD Audio (one of the OPs requirements) under Windows (as the drivers don't support a protected audio path), but will under Linux (which doesn't require a PAP).

The 2820 is also quite limited in scaling and de-interlacing quality terms compared to a Haswell chip.
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#11
Fair point, I only have 2.0 analogue sound in the bedroom (old hifi amp connected via 3.5" to phono cable). Sorry, carry on. Smile
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#12
All in the wiki....
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#13
(2014-09-01, 11:36)jammyb Wrote: All in the wiki....

I thought you'd probably been here long enough to know that people don't read the fecking wiki

Just sayin' y'know. Smile
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#14
If you got the money, go for the i5. No replacement for displacement, you know? Cool
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#15
(2014-09-01, 12:05)nickr Wrote:
(2014-09-01, 11:36)jammyb Wrote: All in the wiki....

I thought you'd probably been here long enough to know that people don't read the fecking wiki

Just sayin' y'know. Smile


Oh I know Wink

(2014-09-01, 18:31)z31fanatic Wrote: If you got the money, go for the i5. No replacement for displacement, you know? Cool

True dat!
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