mITX HTPC recommendation

[Ducman69]

Before I bite the bullet on a few Intel NUCs, at the risk of sounding overly lazy, I'm curious if anyone can offer quick feedback.

I'm replacing a couple old but trusty Dell Zino HDs (which w/ 8GB RAM, SSD, and dedicated GPU isn't that bad, but at 5yrs old is aging), as HTPCs. They are fine, but seem a bit laggy in menus and changing channels and what not compared to modern i5 mATX system in the kitchen.

OS: Windows 7 64bit
Interface: Windows Media Center (skinned)
Media: Playback of up to 4K or 1080p 3D video on network attached storage, 1080p flash (youtube/Hulu/Amazon Prime), and viewing and recording Live-TV from two HDHomeRun Primes on the network (6 tuners).
Control: Either a Logitech K400 or WMC IR remote (have both already on the Zinos).

NUC appears to be power efficient, quiet, has IR on the front already, comes available with an i5 which should be enough performance, I have extra laptop DDR3 hanging around, and only downside seems to be that I'd have to buy one of those little mSATA SSDs. Any reason to get something else over this? No gaming capability needed. It doesn't have to be AS SMALL as the NUC though, so is there better bang for the buck elsewhere?

 

[SRTie4k]

FWIW, the Bay Trail NUC's also take 2.5" drives AFAIK. I bought the Celeron N2880 version and it took a 2.5" drive.

IMO, I think NUC's are excellent, especially the newest ones. They're tiny but powerful (if you don't game, of course).

 

[Ducman69]

I actually just found out that NUC 2.0 are releasing very soon, so am holding off for that. Might be hold news for some, as this was leaked in late August: http://www.extremetech.com/computin...t-unit-of-steam-machines-and-home-theater-pcs

Two of the models are even focused on gaming for those interested.
http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/nucfuture-640x377.jpg

The initial next-gen NUCs will be powered by Core i3 and i5 Broadwell and Braswell chips, can support up to either 8GB or 16GB of DDR3 RAM depending on the model, and will feature Intel HD graphics. Don’t balk at the inclusion of Intel graphics — Steam’s hardware survey shows that Intel GPUs are the most used on the service. This makes the NUC a real possibility for use as a Steam Machine, assuming Valve hasn’t abandoned the initiative by then. The exact models of GPUs are not revealed, but the slides state that they will be capable of 4K output, so it looks like the NUCs could enjoy long lives as home theater PCs.

 

[Zap]

Media: Playback of up to 4K or 1080p 3D video on network attached storage
...
NUC appears to be power efficient, quiet, has IR on the front already, comes available with an i5 which should be enough performance, I have extra laptop DDR3 hanging around, and only downside seems to be that I'd have to buy one of those little mSATA SSDs. Any reason to get something else over this? No gaming capability needed. It doesn't have to be AS SMALL as the NUC though, so is there better bang for the buck elsewhere?

If lacking 4k is a dealbreaker, make sure you get one that explicitly supports it. Personally I'd wait until HDMI 2.0.

Some of the NUCs require DDR3L, which is 1.35v. Be aware of that, in case your spare RAM is not DDR3L.

You can buy NUCs that support 2.5" drives.

Gigabyte makes the Brix, which is their version of the NUC. You can even get it with a mobile AMD chip.

Alternately you can always roll your own. Not sure you'd save money over the cheaper NUC models, but if you want more performance you can get it for much cheaper than the expensive NUCs, plus you have flexibility in choosing your own case. For instance the cheapest NUCs run around $150 for essentially a CPU/mobo/case/PSU combo. That's pretty cheap. At the high end, the $400 model with Core i5-3427U is essentially a dual core Ivy Bridge with Hyperthreading and clocked up to 2.8GHz. You can probably get better raw performance by rolling your own desktop Haswell Core i3, for less money.

 

[niksus]

...Not sure you'd save money over the cheaper NUC models, but if you want more performance you can get it for much cheaper than the expensive NUCs, plus you have flexibility in choosing your own case. For instance the cheapest NUCs run around $150 for essentially a CPU/mobo/case/PSU combo. That's pretty cheap. At the high end, the $400 model with Core i5-3427U is essentially a dual core Ivy Bridge with Hyperthreading and clocked up to 2.8GHz. You can probably get better raw performance by rolling your own desktop Haswell Core i3, for less money.

Your info is a bit outdated: the high end is i5-4250U (4th gen NUC). It's Haswell dual core + HT up to 2.6MHz with HD Graphics 5000. It has hardware accelerated 4k support.

 

[Zap]

Your info is a bit outdated: the high end is i5-4250U (4th gen NUC). It's Haswell dual core + HT up to 2.6MHz with HD Graphics 5000. It has hardware accelerated 4k support.

I just looked at the most expensive one on Newegg.