Gemini Lake NUC Review (NUC7CJYH) – Linux, HTPC, Conclusions (3/3)

Ok, it’s almost time to wrap up our NUC7CJYH review. Before we do that, let’s see how do recent Linux distributions support this hardware and how well does it work as a HTPC.

Installing Linux on NUC7CJYH

Based on my previous experiences with new Intel NUC hardware I expected some trouble installing Linux on the NUC. I started with Ubuntu 17.10 as that was the most recent Ubuntu desktop image at the time of writing. The installation as such went fine and I managed to install Ubuntu on a 32 gigabyte SD card that was in the SD card reader. I didn’t want to overwrite the Windows installation that I had on the SSD drive.

However, it became apparent that neither WiFi not Bluetooth were working after the installation. The Intel Wireless-AC 9462 adapter is only supported in kernel 4.15 or later so I updated to kernel 4.15.14 and installed linux-firmware package version 1.173. The drivers also need firmware which was not available in the package that was installed by default. After these changes both WiFi and Bluetooth were working fine. Here’s the dmesg output.

In general the system seemed to be working fine. Functionality was there: WiFi, Bluetooth, wired Ethernet, display, audio over HDMI all working as I expected.

Building a HTPC

In theory the Gemini Lake NUC is a good platform for a HTPC. Hardware decoding of 10-bit VP9 and HEVC videos, low power usage, almost silent operation, 4k support, HDMI 2.0a ports are all good characteristics of a modern HTPC.

In Windows all important functionality seems to be supported fine. 4k resolution at 60Hz works fine and I can play HEVC encoded videos at 4k/60Hz without any problems. I can play 4k video from YouTube without any issues on Chrome and on Microsoft Edge, but on Firefox there seems to be severe skipping. I presume that’s due to lack of hardware decoding. In addition and unlike with the Apollo Lake NUC at introduction, passthrough audio seemed to work for all audio formats that I tested: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-X.

Here’s a DXVA Checker result for the NUC:

The only letdown here is that Intel will not support HDR on Gemini Lake NUCs. You will need to get at least an i3 NUC in order to play HDR videos in Windows 10. However, there are some indications that the Gemini Lake hardware itself could actually be HDR capable, it’s just that there’s no HDR capable Windows driver for it.

Which brings us to Linux. LibreELEC is the way to install Kodi on Linux on your PC with no Linux skills required. Unfortunately the latest stable release (8.2.4 at the time of writing) did not boot up at all with the NUC. All I got was an error message about the GPU being unsupported. I talked to a few developers and they basically told me that there are a few developer versions available.

I tried one such developer version and could confirm that all basic functions were working as expected: H.264 and HEVC videos at 4k@60Hz, audio passthrough even for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-X, WiFi and wired Ethernet. In general it looks like LibreELEC 9.0 will support these Gemini Lake devices just fine. However, don’t expect any HDR capabilities yet (it hasn’t been confirmed whether this device is HDR capable even!). It’s still a long way before Linux can handle HDR content properly on x86 platforms. As far as I have understood, changes are needed in Linux kernel, the drivers and in Kodi. This is by no means trivial but I expect things to happen during this year anyhow.

Power Consumption

I also took power consumption measurements. These are taken with an el cheapo Brennenstuhl consumer-grade measurement device so I’m sure they’re a bit off, but close enough to give you an idea anyhow.

  • Idle at Windows 10 desktop: 7.2 W
  • Playing 4k HEVC video: 11.8 W
  • Prime95 stress test: 15.6 W
  • Prime95 stress test and Cinebench OpenGL test simultaneously: 24.1 W

Conclusion

It’s difficult to avoid comparison with the previous generation low-end NUC, the Apollo Lake NUC (NUC6CAYH) when talking about the Gemini Lake. The slightly uncomfortable truth is that last year you could get a faster NUC for the same money as you can today. Of course, the $50 more expensive big brother of this NUC, the NUC7PJYH will beat both of these quite handsomely (I’ll try to get one for testing soon).

So what’s better on Gemini Lake vs. Apollo Lake then? Mainly the GPU. The GPU now does HW accelerated 10-bit HEVC and 10-bit VP9 decoding, even at 4k resolutions. There’s also SGX (Software Guard Extensions) that are required for some DRM applications. Basically the Gemini Lake will make a nice Linux HTPC when the software gets a bit mature. It every year the same thing: the NUCs do get the latest and greatest Intel CPUs and every year there’s something missing in the Linux drivers for them. This year most of the basic functionality seems to be there even if you do need to use cutting edge developer versions to try it out.

Even if the NUC7CJYH doesn’t do many things any better than its predecessor it’s still a relatively cheap mini PC that many enthusiasts can find use for. Quiet mini server, digital signage, streaming HTPC… What would you do with a small NUC like this? It does okayish on Windows 10 desktop as well. It’s not horribly slow, but it’s not really completely smooth and enjoyable either. For desktop replacement I would consider at least an Core i3 CPU. For special cases this might do just fine though.

Recommended Setup

If you would like to customize this NUC for your needs go visit our NUC Guru – it’s a simple tool that will recommend you hardware that is known to work together and if you want, it’ll give you a ready shopping list as well. This NUC is a bit picky when it comes to the RAM so pay attention when choosing your RAM.

Sale
Intel NUC 7 Essential Kit (NUC7CJYH) - Celeron, Tall, Add't Components Needed
  • Intel NUC7CJYH Kit with a dual-core Intel Celeron processor and no OS.
  • A customizable Mini PC kit with the power of a desktop PC. With room for a lightning fast 2.5" SSD or spacious HDD, 4 USB 3.0 ports, and a CEC internal header to create the system you want.
  • Intel Wireless-AC 9462 for a fast Internet connection

Navigation

Be sure to read also the earlier parts of this review!

18 Responses

  1. PlatypusW says:

    Good review. Crazy that it’s April and these things were suppose to be out on December. And half them are still not even out.

    Will be buying a quad core one if we ever get HDR in libreelec, if not I’ll just end up buying whatever is the current NUC that supports hdr at the time. Zzzz

  2. Fred says:

    Thanks for the review. Regarding HDR support I am wondering why you said it won’t support HDR. In the Intel product brief they explicitly mention HDR support:

    https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/nuc7cjyh-nuc7pjyh-nuc7cjys-brief.pdf

    They say: “Two HDMI 2.0a ports with 4K at 60Hz, HDR”.

    And HDR support has also been confirmed on the Intel forums recently:

    https://communities.intel.com/thread/123634

    If the current Windows driver does not pass through HDR metadata then I’d think this is a bug which should be reported. On Linux this is different of course, as there is quite a bit of infrastructure missing for HDR support in any open source graphics driver there.

    • Olli says:

      Hi Fred,

      Thanks for your comment! There was a bit of confusion around this, but in this thread https://communities.intel.com/thread/123634 there’s an Intel representative stating on March 28 that it will not support HDR and that the faulty product documentation will be corrected. I’m not 100% sure that the information is correct, but that’s at least the latest coming from Intel.

  3. Bing Gordyn says:

    Had you any chance to test the CEC capabilitys? As far as i unterstood there is CEC integrated now, without the need of an additional CEC Adapter. Can you (or someone else) confirm this? Much appreciated.

    • Olli says:

      The inbuilt CEC will only handle basic things like powering on and off the connected TV. It’s described in the technical product specs document if you want to read more. There’s a CEC header that could be used for full CEC support, but you need an adapter…

  4. Book Adams says:

    “Olli: For desktop replacement I would consider at least an Core i3 CPU. For special cases this might do just fine though.”

    Newest J5005 Pentium vs old NUC7I3BNH is a toss up especially when considering the new Gigabyte BRIX GB-BLPD-500. Seemsthe perfect minimalist desktop: https://www.gigabyte.com/Mini-PcBarebone/GB-BLPD-5005-rev-10

  5. Olli says:

    For those who are interested in HDR capabilities of the hardware, this post by Intel developer Ville Syrjälä is interesting:
    https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/wayland-devel/2017-December/036403.html

    Especially his comment in the end could indicate that HDR on Gemini Lake in Linux is possible:
    “Hardware wise you’ll need a HDR capable display obviously, and you’ll need an Intel Geminilake GPU. Older Intel platforms don’t support the HDR infoframe, so the display wouldn’t know what to do with the data you’re feeding it.”

  6. mj says:

    Olli, if you still have the system setup can you run a quick test for me. Can you plug in a usb hard drive (preferably with a ext4 filesystem) and boot up with it attached to see if it shows up in /dev. I’ve tried under ubuntu 16 and 18 and all I get is hard drive errors. Usb sticks work fine, but the drive just won’t show up unless i plug it in after the system is already booted.

  7. customer says:

    Note that dual channel RAM ordered from NUC Guru doesn’t work.

    • Olli says:

      Thanks for letting me know! There was indeed an issue in the database and it did recommend the same model as for Kaby Lake.. If you did order the wrong model, please contact me via the contact page and let’s see what we can do.

  8. Tomm says:

    Note, newest BIOS 0037 seem to broke ethernet.

    • Olli says:

      I’ll response here too in case someone wonders about this. The update changes the interface naming and if you’re using Linux you might need to reconfigure your network settings after the update. If you update before installation, you will not notice anything.

  9. Enzio von Diest says:

    Hi, thank you for the great review. I have both NUCs and your review is exactly what I was looking for!

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