expired Posted by cgigate • Jul 12, 2022
Jul 12, 2022 7:18 PM
Item 1 of 5
Item 1 of 5
expired Posted by cgigate • Jul 12, 2022
Jul 12, 2022 7:18 PM
Acer Aspire XC Desktop (Refurb): Celeron J4125, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD
+ Free Shipping$88
$330
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*Added another 8Gig of memory [amazon.com]to make it 12Gig total
*spliced power so I can get 2 SATA power header [ebay.com]
*spliced fan header [ebay.com]and added an 140mm fan [amazon.com]
*added a WD 80TB Red plus
*added a DVD caddy 3.5 9.7mm bay [amazon.com].
Runs absolutely like a dream at 25Ws.
Copied suggestions below for various uses.
=====================================================================
I have been working with this little SFF for a day now and I really enjoy using this thing and I am replying to this message on the system right now. The fan is virtually silent and power draw is max 15W on my killawatt (I removed DVD drive).
I have seen a lot of questions on this forum about what this thing is good for. I thought to provide my perspective on the subject and elaborate on various use cases for this little thing. Again, this is one person's opinion.
Desktop replacement, Rating: Medicore
This is a mediocre use case as a desktop replacement because the limited CPU capability and memory. The system comes with 4Gig standard which will mean a lot of swapping on Windows 10 in default configuration. If you can up the memory to 8Gig, I think the use case becomes fair. It is a reasonable system for lite web page browsing, spreadsheets, email, YouTube and Netflix at 1080P. ie, this is a good system for your grandparents if usage case isn't aggressive.
Gaming setup, Rating: Poor
Expansion slot is half height, power supply is 65W, there is only a CPU fan. ie, if you want to game other than minesweeper, you should look for a beefier system, such as the one with I3 and 250W power?. Again, if you go that route, maybe Acer small form factor shouldn't be what you should consider. For reference, my current game setup has a 850w ps and about 7 fans.
NAS, Rating: Good
This thing draws less power and is quieter than my Synology 2 bay. CPU will be more powerful than my Synology with more possibility of expanding via standard PC peripherals. A two bay Synology is about $200 right now which means you can use this thing at about half the cost. With this said, there are only 2 SATA ports and no additional cooling fans and will only accommodate 1 3.5" and 1 2.5" drive without additional engineering. If you are okay dropping in a 10TB 3.5 WD Red Plus and call it good, you have an excellent use case here. If you are desperate, I suppose you can always use external USB 3.0 enclosures for additional drives. Hardware transcoding via Plex for a single 4K stream shouldn't be a huge issue since this Celeron has a UHD600 onboard.
pFsense, Gateway replacement, VPN server, PiHole etc, Rating: Excellent
What this system really excels is as an always on, minimal power, minimal noise internet relay device. I listed a couple use cases above. I am thinking moving my VPN server (both up and down streams), PiHole, and Firewall server into this thing. As given the system has more than enough resource to run Debian or BSD, never sipes more than 15Ws, generates no heat, and is virtually silent, I can see this thing sitting next to my cable modem and be the consolidating gateway machine that is currently being taken up by a Synology, a number of Rasperberri Pis. For $100, this is just a bargain you can't find equivalent elsewhere. Now the only decision is to buy another one as a backup in case this breaks. :-)
Anyways, enjoy my wall of text.
========================================================
https://slickdeals.net/f/15861442-acer-recertified-xc-830-uw91-slim-desktop-j4125-quad-core-4gb-ddr4-256gb-pcie-ssd-802-11ac-4k-hdmi-105-59
In general, this is definitely usable as a desktop for standard users who don't need much processing power. It has a good SSD and two DDR4 SODIMM slots (up to 2400 MHz) that actually seem to support a total of 32GB RAM (even though 8GB is the official limit).
However, as an energy-efficient, always-on NAS, network server, or other appliance is where this computer really shines.
207 Comments
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I think is still use the shield as the Plex server and this as just nas.
Is the included 4gb ram enough for just a NAS? I'd think so.
never tried to use "TEAMGROUP" ram yet...
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It could be ram issue ( I am using two different branded ram, don't have two of same 16gb stick in hand)
Amazing Celeron CPU J4125
I'm looking to replace it with something off the shelf but I'm having a hard time finding something that has both the full size hard drive bay, and I would like a CD-ROM bay as well. I have a Blu-ray drive I rip with, right in the server.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank drjs
*Added another 8Gig of memory [amazon.com]to make it 12Gig total
*spliced power so I can get 2 SATA power header [ebay.com]
*spliced fan header [ebay.com]and added an 140mm fan [amazon.com]
*added a WD 80TB Red plus
*added a DVD caddy 3.5 9.7mm bay [amazon.com].
Runs absolutely like a dream at 25Ws.
Copied suggestions below for various uses.
=====================================================================
I have been working with this little SFF for a day now and I really enjoy using this thing and I am replying to this message on the system right now. The fan is virtually silent and power draw is max 15W on my killawatt (I removed DVD drive).
I have seen a lot of questions on this forum about what this thing is good for. I thought to provide my perspective on the subject and elaborate on various use cases for this little thing. Again, this is one person's opinion.
Desktop replacement, Rating: Medicore
This is a mediocre use case as a desktop replacement because the limited CPU capability and memory. The system comes with 4Gig standard which will mean a lot of swapping on Windows 10 in default configuration. If you can up the memory to 8Gig, I think the use case becomes fair. It is a reasonable system for lite web page browsing, spreadsheets, email, YouTube and Netflix at 1080P. ie, this is a good system for your grandparents if usage case isn't aggressive.
Gaming setup, Rating: Poor
Expansion slot is half height, power supply is 65W, there is only a CPU fan. ie, if you want to game other than minesweeper, you should look for a beefier system, such as the one with I3 and 250W power?. Again, if you go that route, maybe Acer small form factor shouldn't be what you should consider. For reference, my current game setup has a 850w ps and about 7 fans.
NAS, Rating: Good
This thing draws less power and is quieter than my Synology 2 bay. CPU will be more powerful than my Synology with more possibility of expanding via standard PC peripherals. A two bay Synology is about $200 right now which means you can use this thing at about half the cost. With this said, there are only 2 SATA ports and no additional cooling fans and will only accommodate 1 3.5" and 1 2.5" drive without additional engineering. If you are okay dropping in a 10TB 3.5 WD Red Plus and call it good, you have an excellent use case here. If you are desperate, I suppose you can always use external USB 3.0 enclosures for additional drives. Hardware transcoding via Plex for a single 4K stream shouldn't be a huge issue since this Celeron has a UHD600 onboard.
pFsense, Gateway replacement, VPN server, PiHole etc, Rating: Excellent
What this system really excels is as an always on, minimal power, minimal noise internet relay device. I listed a couple use cases above. I am thinking moving my VPN server (both up and down streams), PiHole, and Firewall server into this thing. As given the system has more than enough resource to run Debian or BSD, never sipes more than 15Ws, generates no heat, and is virtually silent, I can see this thing sitting next to my cable modem and be the consolidating gateway machine that is currently being taken up by a Synology, a number of Rasperberri Pis. For $100, this is just a bargain you can't find equivalent elsewhere. Now the only decision is to buy another one as a backup in case this breaks. :-)
Anyways, enjoy my wall of text.
========================================================
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