The $130 HTPC with 4K support ?

[eddieone]

It needs memory, both kinds. But still crazy what the new 14nm chips can do in such a form factor.
https://www.zotac.com/us/product/mini_pcs/zbox-bi323#spec

 

[Spork829]

Has anyone conducted independent tests to determine heat and throttling levels, and/or smoothness of 4K playback? I'm a little skeptical. But if neither of those are an issue this could be really awesome. 

[paddy-stone]

5 minutes ago, eddieone said:

It needs memory, both kinds. But still crazy what the new 14nm chips can do in such a form factor.
https://www.zotac.com/us/product/mini_pcs/zbox-bi323#spec

 

Where's the part about 4k?

 

HDMI 1.4 devices can handle 4k output upto 30Hz, I'm guessing that's what this is as it doesn't actually mention the HDMI standard or displayport for that matter. Could be wrong though.

[aisle9]

I have my doubts about that being passable 4K, even at 30fps playback. The iGPU clock bursts to 640MHz, with a base of 320MHz. 1080p should be doable, but I've seen the iGPU on Haswells struggle to push 60FPS 1080p playback without stuttering or missing frames.

[paddy-stone]

IF you really want a good 4k video playback machine, and not for much else apart from browsing etc then I'd personally recommend getting a half decent 4k android box, I've had a few of these pass through my hands for my family and myself, I've tested them with proper 4k playback HEVC x265 encodes @ approx 30-50GB per file, and through my gigabit network no less.. and the playback has been superb on my TV. So if it works well through the network it would be more than capable playing back through local storage.

[aisle9]

2 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

IF you really want a good 4k video playback machine, and not for much else apart from browsing etc then I'd personally recommend getting a half decent 4k android box, I've had a few of these pass through my hands for my family and myself, I've tested them with proper 4k playback HEVC x265 encodes @ approx 30-50GB per file, and through my gigabit network no less.. and the playback has been superb on my TV. So if it works well through the network it would be more than capable playing back through local storage.

Which always amazes me, because those tend to use the uber-crap Mali GPU. The same one that barely keeps up with 1440p playback on phones. Not sure how or why, but if my house wasn't covered in salvaged Optiplex carcasses, I'd be all over one.

 

Also, if I'd gotten one before Amazon ended the whole "free products for you to review" thing

[paddy-stone]

8 hours ago, aisle9 said:

Which always amazes me, because those tend to use the uber-crap Mali GPU. The same one that barely keeps up with 1440p playback on phones. Not sure how or why, but if my house wasn't covered in salvaged Optiplex carcasses, I'd be all over one.

 

Also, if I'd gotten one before Amazon ended the whole "free products for you to review" thing

The boxes I have had, have mostly been s905 with a mali 450? 

 

Although I must admit, my favourite box, that is also my main personal box is my Nvidia shield TV, but mainly because of it being much faster... with playback there is no discernable difference between a £32 chinese box and the £150 nvidia shield, they are very capable little boxes. The only reason I am not annoyed by the shield tv  being so much more than the chinese boxes, is that I didn't buy it just for playing back video... it's a nice piece of equipment for gaming etc too.

If anyone is in the market for a cheap-ish box I would recommend this one http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_349813.html

obviously choose the plug for the region you are in though... it also has the added benefit of having Gigabit LAN, so isn't a slouch there either... it's around £36 at the moment, I actually bought it when a bit cheaper a few months back.

 

[eddieone]

I tested this Zotac zbox and it did handle 1440p just barley. There was cpu buffering for 4k video. This thing will make a decent 1080p thin client but It took forever to install Windows. The computer almost seems like a toy.

 

In comparison, I also picked up a AsRock Q1900M. Despite both having a quad at 2 ghz, the asrock motherboard was much faster. It did have a higher graphics speed as well. Downside was that it was only a cpu/motherboard combo. So no wifi, power, or case but end pricing would be similar.

 

If form factor doesn't matter, I would definitely suggest the q1900m for a budget $200 htpc.