Mini media pc

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_kabal_

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So my NUC is having real cooling issues, I think the fan is toast.

I just recently cleaned it an reapplied thermal paste, but just today it shut itself down and was very hot to the touch.

I don’t think a NAS is going to work for me.

I want something realiable, smallish (doesn’t need to be NUC small), quietish, that I can run Linux, Kodi, a browser and qbittorrent, that will live under my tv.

any suggestions?
 
I suppose the best thing to probably try is order a replacement fan from Amazon - +-500zar to my door, and it shouldn’t take too long
 
Best value for money imo is to look for a refurb Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny. Got one a couple years back with a 4th gen i3, still going strong. Comes with a T series processor, so bit more horsepower than the U series often used in NUCs. If you’re lucky it might even still have an extended warranty like mine did, not that I needed it.

www.geewiz.co.za

Lenovo Desktops

Buy Lenovo Desktops online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery. Voted the best online store in SA. View Here
www.geewiz.co.za www.geewiz.co.za
 
Supercarfan said:
Best value for money imo is to look for a refurb Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny. Got one a couple years back with a 4th gen i3, still going strong. Comes with a T series processor, so bit more horsepower than the U series often used in NUCs. If you’re lucky it might even still have an extended warranty like mine did, not that I needed it.

www.geewiz.co.za

Lenovo Desktops

Buy Lenovo Desktops online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery. Voted the best online store in SA. View Here
www.geewiz.co.za www.geewiz.co.za
Click to expand...
Yeah man. Decent - https://www.geewiz.co.za/lenovo-des...ram-320gb-hdd-windows-10-sff-refurbished.html

I should then be able to just use the memory and boot SSD from the NUC.
 
Hp micro server.

Paid R1500 for the whole pc a few years ago via carbonite. Just added hard drives
 
Made contact on carbonite for a thinkcentre.

I definitely like the aesthetic of them if it is gonna be part of my media arrangement
 
Why does everyone still want to put a server under their TV.

Put the server in your garage or a far out of the way cupboard where it’s size and noise levels don’t matter.

Then use a client at your TV to access said server, in most cases you don’t even need that and the built-in SmartTV apps can do the job.

Looking for a small box to put under the TV and also do everything is looking at the solution all wrong.

HP Microserver as mentioned above is ideal for the purpose.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Why does everyone still want to put a server under their TV.

Put the server in your garage or a far out of the way cupboard where it’s size and noise levels don’t matter.

Then use a client at your TV to access said server, in most cases you don’t even need that and the built-in SmartTV apps can do the job.

Looking for a small box to put under the TV and also do everything is looking at the solution all wrong.

HP Microserver as mentioned above is ideal for the purpose.
Click to expand...
“Convenience”, old habits.
You do make a good point though.

still would need the “client” though?
For me Kodi is just great (mark watched, auto download art, names, remote control from our phones, etc), and the wife knows how to use it.
 
_kabal_ said:
“Convenience”, old habits.
You do make a good point though.

still would need the “client” though?
For me Kodi is just great (mark watched, auto download art, names, remote control from our phones, etc), and the wife knows how to use it.
Click to expand...
Get a Chromecast with Google TV? You just lose torrents.
troypoint.com

How to Install Kodi on Chromecast with Google TV (Kodi 19 & 18.9)

This guide will show you how to install Kodi on Chromecast with Google TV. Kodi is the most popular media center software available today and is used by
troypoint.com troypoint.com
 
An ODROID N2+ with CoreELEC is still my #1 choice for offline / cloud media -- small, relatively cheap (half the price of an ATV 4K and Shield for example) and thanks to its VPU, plays everything under the sun while only sipping ~8W of power and keeping super cool with its passively (or modded actively) cooled sink.

The problem with almost all Android boxes and the like is that if you're pursing audio fidelity, they legally and / or technically cannot support codecs outside of DD+ and DTS.

The only downside on this end is that Dolby Vision is not supported as again, this is due to hardware licence restrictions.

If the former is not an issue, the Chromecast and Ematic Jetstream are some good Android boxes for cheaper.
 
Last edited:
Crumbl0x said:
An ODROID N2+ with CoreELEC is still my #1 choice for offline / cloud media -- small, relatively cheap (half the price of an ATV 4K and Shield for example) and thanks to its VPU, plays everything under the sun while only sipping ~8W of power and keeping super cool with its passively (or modded actively) cooled sink.

The problem with almost all Android boxes and the like is that if you're pursing audio fidelity, they legally and / or technically cannot support codecs outside of DD+ and DTS.

The only downside on this end is that Dolby Vision is not supported as again, this is due to hardware licence restrictions.

If the former is not an issue, the Chromecast and Ematic Jetstream are some good Android boxes for cheaper.
Click to expand...
If you can find the bloody things - was looking for one about 2 months back and couldn't find one for sale anywhere...
 
AfricanTech said:
If you can find the bloody things - was looking for one about 2 months back and couldn't find one for sale anywhere...
Click to expand...
Oh man, still?!

I was very lucky back in March when stock was out for a while, they brought a small batch to Robotics ZA and I snatched it just in time it seems lol.

I see it's been discontinued now actually, on top this supply shortage, damn :(

I'll have to retract my purchase advice statement then since it'll be even harder than usual to acquire one here.
 
_kabal_ said:
“Convenience”, old habits.
You do make a good point though.

still would need the “client” though?
For me Kodi is just great (mark watched, auto download art, names, remote control from our phones, etc), and the wife knows how to use it.
Click to expand...

You can install Kodi on many things.

Plex however runs on most SmartTV’s these days and does all of the above and will be simpler for the wife almost guaranteed.

Run your downloads and storage solution on the Microserver and job done.
 
Crumbl0x said:
The problem with almost all Android boxes and the like is that if you're pursing audio fidelity, they legally and / or technically cannot support codecs outside of DD+ and DTS.
Click to expand...

What other codecs would you need though?

And wouldn’t you just pass through to your decide actually playing the audio to decode it?
 
_kabal_ said:
So my NUC is having real cooling issues, I think the fan is toast.

I just recently cleaned it an reapplied thermal paste, but just today it shut itself down and was very hot to the touch.

I don’t think a NAS is going to work for me.

I want something realiable, smallish (doesn’t need to be NUC small), quietish, that I can run Linux, Kodi, a browser and qbittorrent, that will live under my tv.

any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I went through the same.

I ordered a new fan for the nuc from eBay.
Installing it was a pain but gave my nuc another year.

Then I got annoyed at the performance and built a very powerful mini pc. Love the new machine.

From Wootware

InWin Chopin Brushed Aluminium 150W PSU Black Mini-ITX Desktop Chassis

ASRock H570M-ITX/AC Intel H570 Rocket Lake Socket 1200 Mini-ITX Desktop Motherboard

Intel BX8070811400 Core i5-11400 Hexa Core 2.6GHz (4.4GHz Turbo) 14nm Rocket Lake Socket LGA1200 Desktop CPU

G.Skill F4-3200C16D-16GVKB Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200MHz CL16 1.35V Black Desktop Memory

Mushkin MKNSSDHL1TB-D8 Helix-L 1TB M.2 (2280) PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive

The performance compared to my nuc is like night and day
 
SauRoNZA said:
You can install Kodi on many things.

Plex however runs on most SmartTV’s these days and does all of the above and will be simpler for the wife almost guaranteed.

Run your downloads and storage solution on the Microserver and job done.
Click to expand...
Plex does indeed look very interesting, just installed it on my LG CX

going to look more into this :thumbsup:
 
SauRoNZA said:
Why does everyone still want to put a server under their TV.

Put the server in your garage or a far out of the way cupboard where it’s size and noise levels don’t matter.

Then use a client at your TV to access said server, in most cases you don’t even need that and the built-in SmartTV apps can do the job.

Looking for a small box to put under the TV and also do everything is looking at the solution all wrong.

HP Microserver as mentioned above is ideal for the purpose.
Click to expand...
I did just that, but for a completely different reason.

My previous media server was stolen during a robbery at my home.

Following that I built a lockable harness made from flat bar steel. Put my HP microserver inside and bolted the harness to the wall with rollbolts. This was mounted in the top corner of a storage room out of sight and out of mind. I use teamviewer to control it when need be.

Use it as a Plex server, backup server, and download server
 
Tman* said:
I did just that, but for a completely different reason.

My previous media server was stolen during a robbery at my home.

Following that I built a lockable harness made from flat bar steel. Put my HP microserver inside and bolted the harness to the wall with rollbolts. This was mounted in the top corner of a storage room out of sight and out of mind. I use teamviewer to control it when need be.

Use it as a Plex server, backup server, and download server
Click to expand...

Surely a mini server rack chassis is both cheaper and more efficient than doing all that?
 
SauRoNZA said:
You can install Kodi on many things.

Plex however runs on most SmartTV’s these days and does all of the above and will be simpler for the wife almost guaranteed.

Run your downloads and storage solution on the Microserver and job done.
Click to expand...
Doesnt plex phone home with details on your media?
 
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