Hi,

my old NUC (5gen pentium) started to show its age, especially when I switch from FHD to 4K TV. Because of this my daily driver is FireTV Stick 4K Max. However it has it limitations of lack hd audio support and size. I was also forced to connect etehrnet adapter in order to play 4K content without any issues.

However, after some time I want to run small project and get KODI with HD audio support. The idea is a new intel small factor PC. It will in the background run docker with reverse proxy and cloudflare tunnel to host some web applications outside. Also it'll be used for Plex server and transcode some FHD videos to x265 to save some space on my NAS. In front I want KODI to run it 24/7 and play media from my NAS (4k, HDR, DV, Atmos, DTS-HD, TrueHD). As my LG tv has no support to DTS, computer needs to be connected to the soundbar directly.

I am looking to get DELLmicro, HPmini, or LENOVOtiny with i5/16-32GB and SSD drives. Are there benefits aiming higher than i5-8500T? Shall I stick to NUC and go with i5-11357G7? In future I may repurpose this PC and add it to the k8s cluster in my home lab and replace with something newer like new shieldtv (if they ever release it).

Cheers,

M

I don't intend to use it with windows any time soon. Also regarding nvme in real life tests I compared pro with evo and and the price difference at that point was not worth it tbh. Usually when I select the SSD I look at 4kb samples read speeds and DRAM size. I digress.

Wireless and BT does not bither me at all and on my old nuc I have them switched off.

elonesna, which kind of mini pc you're using? Are you using LE and docker on this machine? How about support for docker-compose or you deploy only containers by ls.io?

I have a Unraid, but old hardware (sandy bridge) also limits plex, but my main purpose is to get machine capable of HD audio first, other requirements come second.

Quote from JoeAverage

what convinces you to know how big the "flies" are in, let's say: in 5 years, when the box needs to do some other work apart from AV ?

Well, I'll think about that in 5 years. . I learnt the best way is to meet current requirements and have some buffer to grow but not to plan for 3-5y. Usually, Instead of upgrading components, I replace the equipment when it shows its age or requirements significantly changes. It's much easier to handle, and much less hustle. if I ever repurpose this PC it will be worker part of the k8s homelab.

That is why I don't care about AV1 support much. There is no material in this codec available and for streaming services there are better options than LE.

I am buying the optiplex 3090 micro, 10500t 6/12, 16GB, 256SSD. I am upgrading NVME and installing second SSD for data. Shall I install LE to nvme or boot from USB and keep NVME only for containers and data? What would be your approach? My concern is the future upgrade process and possible risk of braking the containers to function.

Does the latest version support HDR/DoVi/HDaudio and has all the bells and whistles?

yes I know, but I'm kind of reluctant investing that amount of money into 3yo hardware. And nvidia is not helping making this decission with their firmwares issues happened in last years. However it seems there is no alternatice for all-in-one box.