$300 Mini PC suggestions?

[rook]

Does anyone have a good setup for a mini pc (ie. better than what I can buy online for $300)?

There's only approximately 1 million pre-built options out there but they all run a low tdp intel celeron processor and a lot of reviews say these struggle with 4k/60fps content. I'm wondering if I can build a full system better than what's on the market. It doesn't need to play games; I'm looking more for a quiet htpc build on a windows 10 platform.

Size wise, we're talking in the range of these:
http://minix.com.hk/products/neo-z83-4-pro
https://www.zotac.com/us/product/mini_pcs/ci327-nano

Any suggestions?
and thanks!

 

[Choidebu]

Hi.

Just leaving this here in case there's actually such thing.

Hope you find what you're looking for.
Best regards.

 

[Valantar]

When it comes to video decoding, this is mostly done by fixed-function hardware in the CPU or GPU. AFAIK, there's no noticeable difference between Intel SKUs here (though it's possible that Atom-based CPUs are somehow worse - though the current crop (N4200, N3450 and so on) have "9th gen" iGPUs and should have the same encode/decode blocks as the Core lineup), but the performance of the CPU would of course matter in cases where decoding is "hybrid" (i.e. some fixed-function hardware, working in conjunction with using CPU cycles for functionality that the hardware doesn't cover). This was the case for early h.265 decoding, at least. Intel didn't list maximum supported decoded framerates (only codecs and profiles) when they launched Coffee Lake.

Also, Intel currently delivers the most comprehensive and mature video encode/decode stack of any CPU/GPU/APU.

In other words, I doubt it's possible to make something like this on your own unless you can somehow add some sort of discrete video decode chip to it.

 

[Choidebu]

I think it might be possible if you 'just' want a pure htpc - look up kodi boxes (or ask around in their forum).

These kodi boxes are ARM based with highly specialised video decoding chipsets. But they aren't your run of the mill x86 PCs in a sense that you can't slap a win10 in there.

 

[Valantar]

I think it might be possible if you 'just' want a pure htpc - look up kodi boxes (or ask around in their forum).

These kodi boxes are ARM based with highly specialised video decoding chipsets. But they aren't your run of the mill x86 PCs in a sense that you can't slap a win10 in there.

That might indeed be possible, it's reasonably certain that there are ARM (or similar) chipsets out there with hardware decoders for various codecs in 4k60. The question then becomes how one can get access to this chip in a suitable form factor (with the necessary I/O), and whether compatible software exists for your use case. Whether this is possible within a budget of $300 then becomes almost entirely reliant on the cost of the board you buy, as chips like this are never socketed. As such, you're not likely to have much choice. Then there's the cost of making an enclosure (will likely need to be custom-made, as boards like this are rarely made in (consumer-) standard form factors) as well as necessary storage media or other add-ons, but neither of these are likely to be comparable to the cost of the board, at least if the alternatives are meant for business use, digital signage, or other professional applications, or just limited-run products. Products like these are generally far more expensive than consumer solutions.

 

[rook]

@Choidebu @Valantar
You both hit on what I had read as well. For some reason 4k60 on the new celerons works with the h.264 codec but stutters on the h.265 codecs. The beefier mini-pcs with i3/i5s don't seem to have the issue but I didn't spend enough time reading through system specs.

Interestingly, there are a couple of new laptops that run windows 10 on an ARM processor but until it's widely adopted, I feel like the driver & hardware incompatibilities would drive me crazy.

The coolest thing I found is this: http://linuxgizmos.com/skylake-based-nano-itx-sbc-offers-4x-gbe-and-8x-stackable-pcie-lanes/. I really wish it was publicly available.

I leaning towards a barebones or acepc gk1. I would also like to see this come out just to see where they price it.

A little more searching and I'll make a decision

 

[Valantar]

@Choidebu @Valantar
You both hit on what I had read as well. For some reason 4k60 on the new celerons works with the h.264 codec but stutters on the h.265 codecs. The beefier mini-pcs with i3/i5s don't seem to have the issue but I didn't spend enough time reading through system specs.

That's odd. Maybe it's a cache-related issue? Shouldn't be any other key differences between chips of the same family, after all. Though I have zero idea what other hardware the decoder blocks might be connected to, of course.

Interestingly, there are a couple of new laptops that run windows 10 on an ARM processor but until it's widely adopted, I feel like the driver & hardware incompatibilities would drive me crazy.

Yeah, that's mainly meant for Windows Store apps, everything else is run through an emulation layer, and thus performs rather poorly (not to mention no support for 64-bit apps) In a generation or two the CPU perf should be passable for on-the-go media consumption and other light usage, but the only real reason for these existing is active standby and low idle power, making for great battery life. Still, emulating x86 execution on ARM is pretty cool, even if it's slow.

QUOTE="rook, post: 112627, member: 8168"]The coolest thing I found is this: http://linuxgizmos.com/skylake-based-nano-itx-sbc-offers-4x-gbe-and-8x-stackable-pcie-lanes/. I really wish it was publicly available.[/quote]
There's a surprising amount of really neat SFF non-standard motherboards out there. It's too bad they're all in the "if you have to ask, you likely can't afford it" category.

I leaning towards a barebones or acepc gk1. I would also like to see this come out just to see where they price it.

Aren't those essentially NUCs? Even coming from a Chinese OEM with very low margins, I imagine even the i3 SKU of the latter would be above $300.

 

[Choidebu]

Like I said above, me too would like to know if you can find a sub 300$ NUC that fits your requirement.

For pure htpc uses, the best is still nVidia Shield at ~250$

The only drawback is you can't run win10 on it.