How much RAM for NUC8i3BEK?

duffbeer · December 6, 2018 at 12:08 PM

I'm about to upgrade my old NUC to the latest i3 model but I a recommendation for the RAM.

Is 8gb overkill? Is 4gb sufficient for 4k HEVC playback?

Marciano · December 6, 2018 at 12:11 PM

I’m running a NUC7i5BNH 4gb ram and it’s enough for me.

For windows you may need probably more.

duffbeer · December 6, 2018 at 12:28 PM

Quote from Marciano

I’m running a NUC7i5BNH 4gb ram and it’s enough for me.

For windows you may need probably more.

Thanks for your reply. Does your NUC ever struggle to play anything? Do you have any idea what the memory usage is like while playing 4k HEVC?

jbinkley60 · December 6, 2018 at 1:28 PM

I have a NUC8i7BEH and memory utilization remains low. CPU remains low as long as HW decoding is enabled. Attached is a top command output of my NUC playing a 12mbps MPEG2 1080P file while doing 4K upscaling. You can see it isn't breaking a sweat. It has 8GB of memory but 4 is sufficient.

duffbeer · December 6, 2018 at 2:42 PM

Quote from jbinkley60

I have a NUC8i7BEH and memory utilization remains low. CPU remains low as long as HW decoding is enabled. Attached is a top command output of my NUC playing a 12mbps MPEG2 1080P file while doing 4K upscaling. You can see it isn't braking a sweat. It has 8GB of memory but 4 is sufficient.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks very much for posting this info.

My intention is to get the cheapest nvme SSD and 4gb RAM as Kodi does not need high performance so anything more is a waste. Hopefully that's a good plan.

Can you comment on the noise from your i7? I've seen reviews mention that the cooling fan on the NUC 8 is a little noisy for a HTPC. I realise that noise is subjective but I would value your comments. Have you ever used an older NUC to compare?

jbinkley60 · December 6, 2018 at 4:16 PM

So I am in the process of upgrading from a NUC 5I7RYH and have also previously had a NUC 6i5SYH both running LibreElec as HTPCs. It sounds like my upgrade goals are similar to your to support HEVC and HDMI 2.0 for 4K @ 60fps. Right now I am limited to HDMI which limits me to 30 fps. As for noise I never hear the new unit. Nor did I hear the old units. As long as you enable the HW offload the CPU utilization stays low and thus the cooling fan isn't an issue. I use the quiet profile in the BIOS. The NUC has been great playing all formats. The only issue I am having right now is high bitrate MPEG2 @1090P where I am upscaling to 4K @30fps (due to an upstream AV receiver still only supporting HDMI 1.4). The issue is I can get an out of sync audio/video condition when using HW decoding and skipping. It lasts for about 10 seconds and then gets back in sync. If I disable HW offload for MPEG2 it is fine. All other formats play beautifully. The other NUC issue I have is the built-in infrared receiver has distance limitations. Much over 6 feet and it becomes useless. I've gone with a FLIRC USB IR right now and it is working fine.

duffbeer · December 6, 2018 at 4:32 PM

I've read a few comments about the built-in infrared receiver being poor. That's pretty worrying - I don't want to plug in an extra receiver.

I'm upgrading from a D54250WYK that is just over 4 years old now. The software decoding HEVC @ 1080P works great but I was hoping that the hardware decoder would produce a better image.

jbinkley60 · December 6, 2018 at 8:15 PM

I've got a thread going with Intel now on the IR receiver issue. I already exchanged the NUC for a replacement and the problem persists. We'll see what they come back with. It seems to be an issue on the 7th and 8th gen NUCs. I didn't want to use an external receiver but right now it is my only option. I sit further than 6 feet from the TV. I could look at other approaches like a Harmony HUB, wireless remote etc. but for now I'll stick with the external remote for the near term.