MSI Cubi N Intel N3050 any good?

  • What are peoples opinions of Intel Broadwell N3050 platforms for LibreELEC ?

    Are there any important caveats to be aware of?

    Bluray spec video decoding works okay? (H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2 @1080p)
    HEVC Main 8 @ 1080p works okay? At reasonably high bitrates? (not talking about some 1Mbps garbage)
    23.976/24p works okay ?

    Thanks

  • The n3050 is perfect, I recommend it to others also.

    Plays all h.264
    h.265 at least 20 Mbps. I have not tested higher bitrates

    also 24p playing well.

    I have the n3150 which has 4 cores which is overkill. Max 40% over all 4 cores (10% per core), with decent hvec video.

    The n3050 is the same but has 2 cores and that is enough. 40% over 2 cores is just 20% each core.

    It has a hardware h.265 decoder, but only for 8bit, 10bit is not supported in hardware.

    Edited once, last by Nailig (July 25, 2016 at 8:43 PM).

  • Thanks for your input, the main thing I was worried about was video decoding performance. I am out of date with the Intel on Linux situation...when I built an OE system some years ago the Intel platforms at the time had some video glitches on OE. And also tended to have a periodic stutter with 24p.

    So it's all good, you don't run into video glitches and so forth?

    Edited once, last by trent (July 25, 2016 at 9:05 PM).

  • I also have an Asrock Beebox n3150. I use a heavy skin and some heavier python apps, so I like the added speed. But I agree to Nailig, it is a bit overkill.

    I am very impressed by the image quality of this device compared to other systems I own. The only problem I have is that HDMI handshaking is not very reliable. See also my my post here LibreELEC. Do a google search and you can find a lot of people complaing about that (mostly on the Asrock forum, so it might be an Asrock thing).

    Other things I noticed.
    On libreelec the build in bluetooth adapter is not supported (On openelec it worked)
    Audio with a sampling rate of 44.1 is not audible (Can be my receiver or another HDMI handshaking problem)

    Edited once, last by Bloksel (July 26, 2016 at 8:04 AM).

  • I am very impressed by the image quality of this device compared to other systems I own. The only problem I have is that HDMI handshaking is not very reliable. See also my my post here LibreELEC. Do a google search and you can find a lot of people complaing about that (mostly on the Asrock forum, so it might be an Asrock thing).

    I think this is general Linux/OE/LE problem rather than specific to one hardware. I have had it 5 years ago with my old Atom/Ion HTPC and the recommendation back then was the same as now - turn on TV first to guarantee a good handshake.

  • I think this is general Linux/OE/LE problem rather than specific to one hardware. I have had it 5 years ago with my old Atom/Ion HTPC and the recommendation back then was the same as now - turn on TV first to guarantee a good handshake.

    I have multiple boxes running first openelec and now libreelec, also an ION box. I have had some problems on them, but on the N3150 the handshaking problems are worse. I tested it today on some other TV's and had the same problems.

  • I am beginning to suspect the second HDMI port (HDMI3) of my Beebox is faulty. The first port does not give me any problems, but as soon as I use the other one I get blank screens.

  • Thanks for the comments, I decided to take a chance on the Cubi N N3050. I figure at £50 I can sell it later without losing much if I don't like it.