htpc intel nuc or gigabit brix what cpu for plex/xbmc transcoding?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › htpc intel nuc or gigabit brix what cpu for plex/xbmc transcoding?

tradertim

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#189514 2-Jan-2016 19:05

Hi guys. i've spent a couple days reading and researching forums and looking at amazon and reading here and i was wanting to short track with some advice.

Some of the other forums are circa 2011 2014 and so i post this new question.

i want to primarily build a htpc or server to run plex or xbmc. i have a few movies etc and i'd like the metadata function and maybe there's more with a "htpc" that i could use but primarily i want the xbmc/plex metadata. i have a tivo but open to what i could do.

i dont have a spare laptop and i dont want to boot up a laptop each time so i want to leave it on permanently somewhere discrete.

I have a green fields opportunity.

i have primarily narrowed it down to possibly a intel nuc or a gigabyte brix. The 6th generation intel chips are just hitting the market. The 6th gen Brix are on amazon.

Along with plex/xbmc i probably want to run a permanent torrent client again to not have to boot up a laptop.

i'm not entirely sure of the situations that i would get into transcoding and so i know thats a consideration . mostly i would be playing to the tvs as we dont watch movies etc on tablets/phones hardly ever.

i also want to future proof with 4k capability. i have mpeg4 movies that for some reason my Samsung tv series H wont play and hence i hope.plex/xbmc will sort that.

i am guessing the plex server and the plex client on the samsung tv will sort out the mpeg4 that the Samsung will not play natively?

1. whats peoples opinions pros and cons with intel nuc vs gigabyte brix? the latest brix look attractive nice metal box..good features
2. is a intel 6th gen i5 processor good enough for transcoding 2 streams 1080p and/or 4k for my uses above and future proof?
3. the intel nuc have an IR remote capability how important is this?
presume brix have BT remote capability?
4. i was settling around 6th gen i5 cpu , 120gb ssd for os, 4gb RAM???

Any thoughts gratefully accepted.

Looks like i am up for >$700 which is a bit more than i'd hoped.

robjg63

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#1460311 2-Jan-2016 19:19

Why worry about transcoding - Surely playback in native format is a lot less hassle.
How about amazon fire TV with kodi.
The new AFTV supports 4k - Kodi now supports 4k - and kodi handles pretty much every video format on the planet.

$99USD plus freight - use the link at the top of Geekzone so it earns a little money for Mauricio...

PS - pretty sure there is a torrent addon for kodi that would take care of the torrent part of your request.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

UHD

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#1460318 2-Jan-2016 19:42

You won't have to worry about transcoding if you're planning on playing from the NUC/BRIX to the TV over HDMI as it will simply direct play. Transcoding power is something you would need to factor in if you planned on allowing streaming to remote clients (outside home LAN/WLAN) or to phones (watching films on a phone, ugh!)

Direct play requires very little CPU/RAM if the device has hardware decoding capabilities which all the latest Intel CPUs do so you could definitely get away with a low end i3. I might consider springing for the extra headroom an i5 would allow if you planned to run the torrent client through a VPN or something of the sort as that would guarantee uninterrupted playback while file sharing.

tradertim

70 posts

Master Geek
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#1460471 3-Jan-2016 07:24

hey thanks. yes i wasnt sure in what situations i'd need to or get into a transcoding situation.

thanks for the amazon fire option but i read all the reviews on it and many werent very flattering. audio issues, prime gui prioritisation etc and i believe that i still need a server to accomodate plex/xbmc.

One thing i forgot to mention is the samsung tvs support plex client so i probably dont gain much with a fire or andriod player. i already have netflix bbciplayer etc working natively on the smarthub.

thanks for your suggestions.

driller2000

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#1460488 3-Jan-2016 08:42

i have linked to these posts before - but they are still useful imho when it comes to kodi (plex) hardware:

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=94268

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

Appreciate you have other functionality in mind - but the benefit of these threads is they cover pretty much all h/w options wrt kodi.

Good luck!

Spyware

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#1460493 3-Jan-2016 09:06

driller2000:

Appreciate you have other functionality in mind - but the benefit of these threads is they cover pretty much all h/w options wrt kodi.

Good luck!

They may do but Kodi is client software whereas Plex under discussion here is the media server which you wouldn't typically run on a R Pi and the like (and the TV running Plex app is the client device).

Note: I run Plex Media Server on a headless Ubuntu 14.04 server with i3-3220 and 8 GB.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

tradertim

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#1460580 3-Jan-2016 12:46

Spyware thanks re the i3 8gb and ssd.

any limitations that you have discovered like 2 x 1080p streams , or can it do 2x 4k streams okay with the i3?

-do you ever get into transcoding?
-is the response of plex/ and or the remote good?

i need to research more about xbmc as i dont understand all its capabilities with the additional plug ins etc over and above plex.

-do you use your i3 for anything else concurrently with the plex?

-what do you use for a remote or is it needed if tv clients are plex etc?

any thoughts & experience gratefully accepted.

33coupe

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#1498842 24-Feb-2016 21:54

tradertim: Spyware thanks re the i3 8gb and ssd.

any limitations that you have discovered like 2 x 1080p streams , or can it do 2x 4k streams okay with the i3?

-do you ever get into transcoding?

-is the response of plex/ and or the remote good?

i need to research more about xbmc as i dont understand all its capabilities with the additional plug ins etc over and above plex.

-do you use your i3 for anything else concurrently with the plex?

-what do you use for a remote or is it needed if tv clients are plex etc?

any thoughts & experience gratefully accepted.

Hi there,
I was just wondering if you had made any further progress with this?

I'm looking for something similar for the in-laws, so something that can run kodi and ease of use (remote) is required.

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

Kiwifruta

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#1510931 10-Mar-2016 21:32

33coupe:
tradertim: Spyware thanks re the i3 8gb and ssd.

any limitations that you have discovered like 2 x 1080p streams , or can it do 2x 4k streams okay with the i3?

-do you ever get into transcoding?

-is the response of plex/ and or the remote good?

i need to research more about xbmc as i dont understand all its capabilities with the additional plug ins etc over and above plex.

-do you use your i3 for anything else concurrently with the plex?

-what do you use for a remote or is it needed if tv clients are plex etc?

any thoughts & experience gratefully accepted.

Hi there,
I was just wondering if you had made any further progress with this?

I'm looking for something similar for the in-laws, so something that can run kodi and ease of use (remote) is required.

FireTV for Kodi. I have the first gen FireTV from 2014, and Kodi runs perfectly. Good wifi reception.
The new 2015 FireTV has better hardware and supports 4k (sans optical audio)
With the firestarter app, you can select Kodi to be the default application, instead of the Amazon GUI.

33coupe

992 posts

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+1 received by user: 73

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#1510938 10-Mar-2016 21:43

Kiwifruta:
33coupe:
tradertim: Spyware thanks re the i3 8gb and ssd.

any limitations that you have discovered like 2 x 1080p streams , or can it do 2x 4k streams okay with the i3?

-do you ever get into transcoding?

-is the response of plex/ and or the remote good?

i need to research more about xbmc as i dont understand all its capabilities with the additional plug ins etc over and above plex.

-do you use your i3 for anything else concurrently with the plex?

-what do you use for a remote or is it needed if tv clients are plex etc?

any thoughts & experience gratefully accepted.

Hi there,
I was just wondering if you had made any further progress with this?

I'm looking for something similar for the in-laws, so something that can run kodi and ease of use (remote) is required.

FireTV for Kodi. I have the first gen FireTV from 2014, and Kodi runs perfectly. Good wifi reception.
The new 2015 FireTV has better hardware and supports 4k (sans optical audio)
With the firestarter app, you can select Kodi to be the default application, instead of the Amazon GUI.

Thanks for the reply. After a lot of searching it came down to fire TV or nvidia shield, with the latter being a bit expensive.

I'll look into the side loading of the app and if it is compatible with a universal remote control.

Thanks

Kiwifruta

1423 posts

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+1 received by user: 336

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#1510957 10-Mar-2016 22:12

33coupe:
Kiwifruta:
33coupe:
tradertim: Spyware thanks re the i3 8gb and ssd.

any limitations that you have discovered like 2 x 1080p streams , or can it do 2x 4k streams okay with the i3?

-do you ever get into transcoding?

-is the response of plex/ and or the remote good?

i need to research more about xbmc as i dont understand all its capabilities with the additional plug ins etc over and above plex.

-do you use your i3 for anything else concurrently with the plex?

-what do you use for a remote or is it needed if tv clients are plex etc?

any thoughts & experience gratefully accepted.

Hi there,
I was just wondering if you had made any further progress with this?

I'm looking for something similar for the in-laws, so something that can run kodi and ease of use (remote) is required.

FireTV for Kodi. I have the first gen FireTV from 2014, and Kodi runs perfectly. Good wifi reception.
The new 2015 FireTV has better hardware and supports 4k (sans optical audio)
With the firestarter app, you can select Kodi to be the default application, instead of the Amazon GUI.

Thanks for the reply. After a lot of searching it came down to fire TV or nvidia shield, with the latter being a bit expensive.

I'll look into the side loading of the app and if it is compatible with a universal remote control.

Thanks

Funny you mention a Kodi remote for the FireTV, I was just reading a review tonight here http://www.htpcbeginner.com/raspberry-pi-vs-amazon-fire-tv-kodi-media-center/2/ under Final Thoughts at the bottom of the article, the author talk about universal remotes for Kodi on the FireTV.