Hiya -
I sent this on Twitter, then realized this was a better place for the question, sorry.
When I plug this build into PC Part Picker (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Gkvpqs), the wattage totals up to 122W. I’m not super clear on calc’ing PSU requirements, but that seems like a PicoPSU-90 is too small?
The actual measured power draw with kill-a-watt is shown, and Intel publishes TDP figures as well.
Nice article, it was quite useful, thanks.
I was looking for a small HTPC capable of H.265 at 1080p and preferable 4K, while still quiet/cool/small. Didn’t really find anything adequate for 4K/HDMI2 at 60 Hz. Skylake can’t do it without a dedicated card like a GTX 970. Guess we have to wait for Intel’s 7th generation Kaby Lake at the end of the year.
But since H.265 at 1080p is enough for me (and maybe 4K/H265 at 24/25 Hz is achievable) I went for it and changed two components, case and motherboard, which seemed like a better choice:
Here’s my setup:
-Gigabyte B150N PHOENIX-WIFI
(this motherboard is about $25 cheaper than the one suggested in the post, and I didn’t find anything I missed. Also, it has USB 3.1 and does not have the SATA ports facing sideways at the front… this issue has a lot of people complaining at Amazon since they cannot close their cases with the GA-Z170-HD3P.
-i3-6100T 3,2GHz
Your suggestion looked like a good choice due to the 35W TDP.
-Samsung 120GB 850 EVO M.2
I’ll be using external storage with a 4TB HD via USB3, so I only need a fast boot drive for Windows+Kodi. The M.2 is great since it will use less space.
-HyperX Fury Black Series 2x4GB 2133 MHz DDR4 CL14
Cheapest memory I could find
-Antec ISK 110 case
I really wanted the PicoPSU but I couldn’t find any solution Pico+Case with a good price (here in Europe at least).
I ended up ordering an ISK 110. It is a very small case and already has an external PSU, 90W 92% efficiency. Not as efficient as a Pico, but it was a lot cheaper and IMHO, has better value.
The case is also just the right tiny size, no space wasted, which I like, but it can still take two internal 2.5" SSD/HD drives if needed.
Total cost for this was 440 Eur ($501, not cheap but sales taxes are high here).
Have you looked at the Skull Canyon NUC? It’s quite a unicorn in terms of the GPU it uses, most powerful one Intel has ever shipped!
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10152/intels-skull-canyon-nuc-is-official
Yes. The NUC is indeed very nice and seems to fulfill all the requirements I have (and surpass some). Maybe the first firmware versions will be less troubled this time.
I didn’t wait for it mostly due to cost. The base kit is $650. Knowing Europe, that probably means $750/660 Eur here. And is without RAM or storage, which means an increase to maybe 800 Eur at best.
That’s almost twice of what I paid for the ISK 110+6100T+B150N+8GB+120GB setup, which IMHO has better value for money unless you really need to squeeze all the extra horsepower the SK NUC provides.
I am probably going to replace my HTPC with that Skull Canyon NUC. Comparing the TDPs:
That’s not a huge TDP difference. I am assuming the load power will be way way higher, which is OK, as this system will be idle most of the time. But the idle power could be reasonably close to the 10W I get on my existing system. I am guesstimating 15W. That’s acceptable, for the huge increase in GPU power – that Skull Canyon box can play modern games at 1080p at framerates comparable to an Xbox One or PS4!
We’ll see when I get mine later in May, I will measure and report back. The only downside is the two 2TB 2.5" media drives will have to hang off it in external USB 3 enclosures, but I think I can live with that.
Results from Skull Canyon NUC in the GRID 2 benchmark, 1280x720, high detail presets:
Max Min Avg
i3-4130T, HD 4400 32 21 27
i3-6100T, HD 530 50 32 39
NUC6i7KYK 96 59 78
And when changing res to 1920x1080?
NUC6i7KYK 71 38 55
Looks like 15w completely idle at desktop – 13w with the display sleeping – and around 70-80w in GRID2 benchmark. So at idle it is only 3w - 5w more power draw, not bad!
@codinghorror Thank you for this entire post, it’s the most informative and up-to-date HTPC piece on the entire interwebs today. I myself was also psyched about the Skull Canyon NUC, figured it would let me have my cake & eat it too.
I considered pre-ordering (shoulda, coulda, woulda) but they’re now all unavailable.
But…
The only concern I had was raised by the Anandtech review saying it creates quite a bit more noise than previous NUCs. See “HTPC Credentials” in the link below, or for convenience:
“The higher TDP of the processor in Skull Canyon, combined with the new chassis design, makes the unit end up with a bit more noise compared to the traditional NUCs.”
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10343/the-intel-skull-canyon-nuc6i7kyk-minipc-review/6
Are you noticing any annoyances with noise when using the Skull Canyon nuc?
Cheers,
koninc
It’s no noisier than an Xbox One, really. It’s difficult to subject it to serious load and get the fan all the way up there, as the CPU is so overpowered relative to what games require.
Thanks. That’s a good comparison (I have an XBone also, but share your views on the crappyness of the interface and the general awkwardness of video library playback etc).
The other heartening thing is that load should = sound (from game, movie etc) which will mean it less likely to be noticable.
Cheers!
Example – a 2011 CPU runs modern AAA titles just fine:
I’ve been thinking of getting the similar HTPC for a long time. However, I want it also to be running as a storage server that holds 5 drives(4x3.5inch and 1xm.2) as well as 4K playback capable. Do you think picopsu-90 is
good enough for this configuration? Do I need 120 or even 150?
And my TV is 4K with HDMI2.0 port. Is there any DP1.2 to HDMI2.0 that supports win 10?
Many thanks.
Followup: I’m returning the thing 
Sadly too noisy to sit in home-theatre land. I am going from a external DC PSU Haswell i3 which is only audible under heavy load (usually when unpacking downloads).
Thanks for the DAN case recommendation. Something that size without the discrete graphics would make for a good tiny case.
Hmm, are you exposing it to heavy load a lot of the time? I mostly play 1080p videos (and perhaps mostly 720p to be honest, since that’s what you tend to get from iTunes HD shows that I strip DRM from. Just checked one, 1280x718, 4162kbps) – that’s child’s play for this box. Full bore 1080p video gaming is a different story, of course, but I expect a little fan noise then.
Great info, thanks. I’m interested in an i3-6100T and H110 motherboard for a Plex Server. No transcoding required, but I like having the extra horsepower if I decide to multitask with it.
I have a spare J1800, 500GB SATA 2.5 5400 RPM and tested Plex Server streaming 1080P to a Roku (no transcoding). During initial boot, it draws 18W to 20W total. After it enters the appropriate C state via idle over a 20min or so, my kill-a-watt says it drops to 0.03W. Even when I stream via Plex Server it doesn’t change.
Do you know what your i3-6100T idle W is while streaming video as a Plex Server? I didn’t see your kill-a-watt reference. I’m beyond shocked of the J1800’s efficiency, but love the efficiency and power of SkyLake i3.
Hi, I have been following your builds for a while now and finally about to start mine. how would this build or the skull canyon handle photoshop and lightroom?
Thanks
Matt
Just look up the CPU specs and apply them as needed. The system supports up to 32GB RAM, Skylake is limited to 64GB RAM total
Thank you so far for the HTPC build.
Would you still recommend the same setup, for someone who creates it from scratch?
I want to build one, with a bigger case, where I can probably put in 2x 3,5" 4TB WD Reds. (Probably will look up a nice one with Hotswap). But suggestions are welcome.
I would use it as NAS, HTPC and for running some low-games 24/7 and so on. (And Services under Windows 10)
So power efficiency is key here.
Since I got a beast of a PC, but it is running with 100W in idle.
Thanks in Advance. 
Jan
Edit: What is your opinion on the 7100U and 7500U?
And what do you think about Kaby Lake or Zen, worth waiting and ditching Sky Lake?
I would wait for Kaby Lake at this point to get the better decoding support.
The case is solid, but if you are planning to put in 3.5" drives you will need more room! I recommend 2.5" drives for power and reliability reasons, but capacity will be more limited, obviously.
Thanks. 
I´ll wait and see what comes out in the next weeks.
Maybe you could even do 2017 update of your build, just for the ones, that would create a new build like this.
That would be so awesome.
And I thought the same about Kaby Lake when I saw the decoding support.
I will also think about the drives, maybe new options arrive.
Initially, I wanted to use 3,5" WD Reds since I saw an awesome offer.
With friendly Regards
Jan
Edit: Did you already saw the Intel i5-7200U? That would be a perfect hit. Kaby Lake, great TDP and I think it has the new decoding.