2014-08-31, 19:19
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 i3 vs i5
Also means more $$
So if I want just a decent machine to run windows and xbmc, streaming hi bitrate 1080 mkv/bluray rips, hd audio content across the network and a little NetFlix action, will the i3 suffice and help my wallet?
I'm concerned about some reviews talking about lag and whatnot.
I don't intend to game on it, just some light browsing if and when needed, and mostly XBMC with some netflix.
I like the Windows option because it's what I'm comfortable with and it'll be the livingroom HTPC so wife and kids will be using it too.
So if I opt for something like the D34010WYK, plus an mSata 120gb drive and 4gb ram for around $110 extra, I'm looking at a pretty good xbmc machine for just over $400(cdn).
I spec'd out a similar mini HTPC build from scratch and it was closer to $550-600
Is the additional $80 for an i5 necessary? ($320 i3 vs $400 i5) I'd rather not have a box that will start showing its age after 6 months and I'm sol
Thanks!
For a gearhead that's been tinkering with pcs for the better part of 20 years, looking at the nucs, my inclination is to always look for more power = more better i3 vs i5
Also means more $$
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!