Cheap MP2 client spec - Dell Optiplex (2 Viewers)

Digsy

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Well, yeah, I've been looking at those adverts for a few days, but we all know that a WIn10Pro license actually costs about GBP100, so there's no way these sellers can be "legitimate". You know that, and I know that, and each to their own, but its not the way I want to go with the OS. Don't worry - I have plenty of dodgy software on my machine - just not the OS. Not since I stopped using XP, anyway.

And I definitely don't want W10. Not yet, anyway. Just my personal preference / prejudice. :)

Anyway, this isn't really the place to discuss all that...

I think I'll look into the NUC route, as I want as small a box as possible.
 

Lehmden

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    so there's no way these sellers can be "legitimate".
    I can't say how it is in Great Britain. But in Germany they are definitely legal. It's German law that such OEM licenses can be sold solo, no matter what Microsoft (or Adobe or Corel or Apple or,...) wants. I thought it will be the same in GB, but I'm not sure, especially because of the "Brexit"...

    I have 5 of those Win 10 licenses and a few Win 7 ones, all are activated without issues and bound to my Microsoft account so I didn't even need to re- activate them if I setup Win 10 again...
     

    Digsy

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    I can't say how it is in Great Britain. But in Germany they are definitely legal. It's German law that such OEM licenses can be sold solo, no matter what Microsoft (or Adobe or Corel or Apple or,...) wants.

    Well, when I built my HTPC I bought a copy of W7 OEM, but I am sure that the documentation that came with it stated that it was only supposed to be supplied with a complete system, which of course it wasn't. So maybe its a legal "loophole" in the UK rather than being completely legal.

    Maybe I am wrong, but I was under the impression that the very cheap license keys sold online are harvested from dead PCs, or are enterprise / volume licenses which are being freely distributed. Given that W7 was still selling for about 70GBP before W8 was launched, it still seems odd that someone would sell a new, unregistered W7 OEM license for such a small amount of money, even now.

    I thought it will be the same in GB, but I'm not sure, especially because of the "Brexit"...

    Who knows what will happen after Brexit? :);)o_O:(
     

    Brownard

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    @Digsy I actually use a very similar (possibly even the same) system as my bedroom HTPC, also purchased from ebay for a very reasonable price ;). As others have mentioned, the only thing I usually add is a dedicated graphics card to take some load off of the fairly slow CPU. For a dedicated HTPC, where multitasking is less of an issue/requirement, the graphics card tends to be the bottleneck and you'll probably encounter some choppiness when playing HD content using the onboard graphics. I also go cheap and cheerful for the graphics card, even a reasonably old spec card will handle HD fine, 4K might be a different story though.
     

    azzuro

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    Why GPU? For gaming? If not, the UHD 605 can playback 4k with HDR without issues. The in-build GPU of the J5005 is nearly as fast as your HD 4650, even for 3D Gaming. but has a much better h265 (HW decoding via QuickSync for h265) and 4k support (even with HDR) than the several years older HD 4650.
    yes for gaming,

    The advantages of a Hifi card I also can't see as long as you connect the PC via HDMI to the AVR. If you use the analog outputs, then a HiFi card has (huge) advantages over the in-build sound for sure. So if you use an analog PC- AVR connection you will need your card. But if you use HDMI then you don't. Nevertheless one PCIe slot is available on the Mini-ITX system...
    i use my Hifi card in analogue to my amplifier.

    Low TDP and extra graphics board is something that don't match that good as the graphics card are the most power consuming things nowadays. The HD 4650 needs more energy that the whole rest of the J5005 system will consume...
    i'm agree with you, it can be better to change mainly all the system ( change inboard mortherbard) instead to update only GPU, due to the price.

    For now, i think to move on J4105 microatx version or J5005 for my server. the number of pcie slot is the culprit for not move on J5005
     

    tony72

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    Maybe I am wrong, but I was under the impression that the very cheap license keys sold online are harvested from dead PCs, or are enterprise / volume licenses which are being freely distributed. Given that W7 was still selling for about 70GBP before W8 was launched, it still seems odd that someone would sell a new, unregistered W7 OEM license for such a small amount of money, even now.
    My assumption is that some of them at least are never-used OEM licenses rather than recovered ones. Companies are bound to end up with surplus OEM licenses at times. I have bought several Windows and Office licenses off ebay, some required using the automated telephone activation route, however some activate online, so have clearly never been activated before. The recovered licenses I've bought usually clearly state that that's what they are, but some of the "new" ones also don't activate online; I suspect sometimes the sellers get a bunch of licenses and don't actually know whether they've been activated before or not. The ones I have bought, whether recovered or "new", have always been the stated edition, I'm generally after professional.
     
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    Lehmden

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    i use my Hifi card in analogue to my amplifier.
    Yes, then it is very useful for sure...
    yes for gaming,
    Gaming also is nothing for low TDP systems mainly because of the high power graphics cards needed for gaming...

    Who knows what will happen after Brexit?
    I'm still hoping the brexit never comes. For pure egoistic reasons, of course ;)
    Aside of HTPC I have another hobby, model railroading. There are many (mainly very small) companies in the UK that have special things, models, parts I every now and then need to buy. It's complicated enough to pay in GBP and not in Euro as from the rest of Europe, But if the UK don't belong to the EU any longer this even will become much more difficult and probably more expensive too. Even if there are no customs fees there may be 19% import VAT to pay (as it is when you buy something in the USA or China for example) . Also I can imagine that some part of this extra cost is covered by the (again) expected decrease in the value of the GBP compared to the Euro it will raise the costs for the customer (means me) for sure.

    Aside this I'm pretty sure it is absolutely necessary that Europe grows together, not split more than it is now. And this is not for egoistic reasons..
     

    Digsy

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    This is my first-choice NUC (I didn't mention that my bedroom screen is VGA only, so I need a VGA port).

    https://www.scan.co.uk/products/int...eron-n3050-4k-video-output-ddr3l-up-to-8gb-4x

    I would probably add 4Gb RAM and a 120Gb SSD for HPTC use.

    Form Factor Intel NUC
    CPU Included Yes
    CPU Type Intel Celeron
    CPU Model Braswell N3050
    Core Dual Core
    No. of Threads 2
    Clock Speed 1.6 GHz
    Burst Frequency 2.16 GHz
    CPU Socket FCBGA1170
    Memory Speed (Mhz) DDR3L - 1600/1333
    Max. Memory Capacity 8GB
    On-board/Integrated Graphics Yes
    Processor/Motherboard Graphics Chip Intel HD Graphics
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    The Braswell Celerons are not that good, too old (Q1 2015) and too weak. Even the GPU is very limited. I would not recommend it any longer.
    Have a look for e.g. the NUC 6cayh

    It also has VGA connector but a 2 generation more modern CPU and GPU (Q4 2016). You can get it for a similar price:
    Intel NUC NUC6CAYH (Silver/Black) (Barebone PCs)
     

    Digsy

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    Hi.Have a look for e.g. the NUC 6cayh

    That was my second choice :)
    Unfortunately, it is not rated for Windows 7 (see this thread on installing USB3 drivers - necessary for OS installation). There are better NUCs with W7 support, so I will do some more digging.

    Even if you wouldn't recommend the NUC5CPYH, would it actually be capable of doing what I want? I am sure there are better products, but the spec specifically mentions being able to support 4k video.
     

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