Cubox vs Rasp Pi Vs Rasp Pi 2

[sam9s]

looks good if you ask me, USB3 PCIEx16 both are there and its mini itx, what about the GPU which GPU you planning .............GT640 supports 4K

 

[Pitchucold]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for feedback.

Based on the SPECs available, It supports upto 4K with the onboard APU. MSI Global AM1I

Is there a specific reason why i need to go for seperate card? Anyways I have my Zotac 520 1 GB from kaput PC. I intend to use them if i need to.

regards,
Prasanna KV

 

[sam9s]

No No that is just a mobo support that does not mean it has an onboard GPU which support 4K video, there is no onboard GPU on these boards, mind you......4K support I presume means if you supply the mobo with a cpu that has an on board gpu which supports 4K, the mobo will support too .... and Zotac 520 card you have also does not support 4K .... if 4K is your priority GT640 is the way to go ...

AnandTech | Zotac GeForce GT 640 DDR3 Review: Glacial Gaming & Heavenly HTPC

 

[Pitchucold]

Finally went for HTPC again

Hi Guys,

Finally i took the plunge. I have gone ahead with HTPC as media player for HT Setup. As discussed i have gone ahead with AMD 5350 (Rs 3800), MSI AM1i (Rs 2200), Corsair 4 GB Value Select (Rs 2300), Coolermaster elite CM130 (Rs 3700) totalling to Rs 12000. Apart from Case everything else was bought in Delta peripherals in Chennai and case in theitdepot. I have reused ZOTAC 520 and Antec earth 380W PS from my earlier build.

CPU Temperature is around 45-55C so far. Havent measured the power consumption. it is suppose to be around 25W. a big reason for going for this config.

I have reused the 3.5" hdd from earlier PC. It was running Win 8. When i connected the HDD, it automatically reconfigured for new config. It worked pretty well.All I need to do was to call up MS India Support to activate the windows, which they did over a phone call. It was pretty smooth. Even kodi settings was fine as it migrated. also upgraded to 14.2 it works fine as well.

I feel PC is slightly sluggish compared to earlier Core2du0 8 years old build, but it is fine for HTPC. It is definitely faster than Rasp Pi 1.I havent checked 3d yet. but the same card was working in my earlier build and i guess it should work here as well.

Only itch is lack of USB3 header on the mobo. 2 USB3 ports are available in the backplate. But i could not use the USB3 ports in the front of the case as there is no header support. I may need to go for mini PCIe to USB 3 Card. But did not read anywhere that it works without any issues. so anyways it is just good to have, so parked the thought for now.

Otherthing is the clutter inside the case, as Power supply isnt modular. feel antec isk600 would have been better with external power supply. anyways cant add dvd drive due to lack of sata ports, so feel i cd have gone for even smaller case. but anyways it fits in the rack. so no big regrets as the case case + ps was few thousands more.

Thank you all for the support, advice and suggestions. It was very helpful in making THE decision.

Cheers
Prasanna KV

 

[Ajay_k73]

Whenever I go through this HTPC section, first this come in my mind whether we required such a higher end system only to play movies and Music??

I have bought RPi -2 for 3000 Rs. (Additional 1000 Rs more for accessories) and it solve my purpose . Watched online/offline movies and it work flawlessly.
additionally it saves power (Max 10w), Space and main thing Money....

 

[sivakuru]

....and all that discussion .....

Sam, I went ahead and bought the NUC. Details of the purchase are on
this thread:

http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater-pc-htpc-media-pc/57819-intel-nuc-fully-loaded.html

Thanks for all your help.