07-13-2022 at 06:29 AM#62
Modifications possible with this build
============================
* The motherboard size is likely mini ITX. Meaning if you are adventurous, you can relocate the motherboard to another case, and get more bays in the process.
* System has 2 SODIMM slots. One is empty, another is occupied with 4Gig. It is possible to install 2x8Gig for a total of 16 Gigs. Regardless what Intel and Acer says, 16 Gigs (2x8) appears to work fine. This is the 8 Gig I used in mine. 8 Gig Team Memory [amazon.com]
*The system has a single SATA full length power connector. If you wish to connect a second drive that needs a full SATA power port, you will need a splicer, something like this.
SATA Power Splitter [ebay.com]
* Depends on how drives you install and what type of drives you install, the temperature in the case could be higher than desired. I modded the case to take a 140mm and spliced the 3 pin CPU fan connector. It would be useful to disable fan control in BIOS so it runs at high speed at all times. *spliced fan header [ebay.com]140mm fan [amazon.com]
* The system as shipped accommodates 1x3.5 above and beyond the DVD drive installed. If you want to change the DVD bay to accept 2.5 inch HDD< you will need something like this *a DVD caddy 3.5 9.7mm bay [amazon.com].
With all above modification, my system draws about 25Ws at peak.
Copied suggestions below for various uses.
=================================
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. :-)
============================
Installed this Crucial 32GB set [a.co] and did not notice any slowness. The only thing that happened was a delayed FIRST POST after installing the sticks, beyond that, so far so good. Screenshots below:
WIN10_SYSTEM [imgur.com]
USERBENCHMARK [imgur.com]
HWINFO1 [imgur.com] | HWINFO2 [imgur.com]
CPUZ_MB [imgur.com] | CPUZ_MEM [imgur.com] | CPUZ_SPD1 [imgur.com] | CPUZ_SPD2 [imgur.com]
10-min stress test with CPU Smart Fan feature turned off [imgur.com]
============================
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
Top Comments
This 88 dollar PC is not a powerful PC. That is correct. I'm not being duped into thinking this is a POWERFUL PC!
This is a laptop PC who's motherboard has been placed in a tiny tower case and can run windows 10/11, and you can add more ram, and comes with NVMe, with external power supply that laptop's use! So very, very low power 24/7 machine 6 watts idle.
It has bluetooth/wifi,ethernet port, 4 usb 2 ports, 2 usb 3 ports. 2 year warranty, intel 600 internal graphics, hdmi and vga port,
You know that Walmart currently is selling this at 299 dollars with good user review average.
I object to the word "duped" in your post. There are 2-3 threads on this device on slickdeals , with things people are doing with it.
Like the Raspberry Pi, it is hobby device, and cheaper than Pi,( if you were to buy Pi plus all the extra's you need to buy to complete Pi package).
Hopefully, people read YOUR post, and read posts from others that discuss the positive aspect of this device, so they know what they are buying and not buying. Alert heard, sir. . Your mission is accomplished. Torpedoes away. Next target!
Where to mount the disks? As previously mentioned, there's space for a 3.5" disk and a 2.5" disk if you removed the optical drive. Alternatively, you could remove the entire cage and replace it with something that'd accept two 3.5" disks [amazon.com] (I haven't actually tried it because I haven't received the computer yet, but it should work). Similarly, it should not be too difficult to put four 2.5" disks in the case. Use a cage if you want to be fancy. Velcro or duct tape if you just don't gaf. Or get a bigger case, but then you'd lose the cute little form factor.
Where to get the power? Y-splitters. Just don't overload the power supply.
Where to connect the data cables? Ah, now this is the fun part. See previous post regarding the limitations of the PCIe bus. If the goal is to install as many disks as possible, one way would be to put SATA controllers in the ×16, ×4, and ×2 slots. Yes, the M-keyed M.2 slot and even the E-keyed M.2 slot could probably be used for PCIe modules, including SATA controllers and Ethernet controllers.
Each lane of PCIe 2.0 provides 500 MB/s of bandwidth, just barely sufficient for SATA III's 600 MB/s. This is obviously not a problem for HDD, but could limit SSD performance. You might want to be... creative... with port selection, if you plan to use SSDs and HDDs together. For example, if you put a 2-port SATA controller in the ×2 slot, you might want to pair an SSD with a HDD on that same controller to optimize bandwidth usage.
Also remember the limitations of the DMI link. If you're using this machine as a NAS, your disks might be sharing PCIe bandwidth with your NIC. You could potentially install many disks and a lot of other stuff, but they'd compete for bandwidth. Proceed with caution.
Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!
655 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Your views are meaningless to us! Didn't you get enough thumbs down on your posts, that you get that. No! right?
You are doing this to yourself , bro.
Maybe FOCUS on things you want to buy , and research it so you get the right devices for YOU!
Not only will we like it if you buy good stuff for YOU, but it will allow us to buy stuff we like, without having our "mommy" bugging us.
p.s. I did buy this PC, that is why I'm in this room. And I go to rooms where I'm researching if I want to buy something.
I don't go to rooms and bug people , repeatedly, like you do. Why? Because if I do, the other people give me lots of thumbs down, and I'm not helping them or me.
Focus on what you want! Don't focus on what is good for other adults. They don't like it.
Your views are meaningless to us! Didn't you get enough thumbs down on your posts, that you get that. No! right?
You are doing this to yourself , bro.
Maybe FOCUS on things you want to buy , and research it so you get the right devices for YOU!
Not only will we like it if you buy good stuff for YOU, but it will allow us to buy stuff we like, without having our "mommy" bugging us.
p.s. I did buy this PC, that is why I'm in this room. And I go to rooms where I'm researching if I want to buy something.
I don't go to rooms and bug people , repeatedly, like you do. Why? Because if I do, the other people give me lots of thumbs down, and I'm not helping them or me.
Focus on what you want! Don't focus on what is good for other adults. They don't like it.
I get thousands of emails from manufacturers wanting me to do paid testing of their products, because I know a thing or two about "stuff." If you think you know better, then you're obviously free to buy whatever Celeron PC you like to go try and play GTA V. Meanwhile, others like me will use modern gaming PCs with high powered CPUs and GPUs, and enjoy our games without a bunch of lag, stuttering, and tearing.
Enjoy voting my comment down. I just hope I can recover from the horror I'll have to endure knowing you pressed a button in protest of my opinion, along with your crew of Celeron gaming Internet gang members!
This brings in the idea of upgrading the system, which your reply conveniently ignored.. The system ships with empty slots which can be filled with cheap and readily available (likely on-hand) hardware that REAL people have.. tens of thousands of them.. people buying this machine for example, like myself.
Instead of addressing the empty slots and upgradability of the machine, you leave it out, as though to pose that I am playing BF1 (my most intensive use case) on a stock machine. You don't state this outright but it is somewhat implied in your response (and required for the argument). Once again I will state: Once this machine is upgraded with a decent video card and a 2/3 increase or better in ram, it will quite frankly open right up in terms of power, we're talking massive increase in usability.
I'm a computer professional, and I know this from years of experience adding video cards into systems.. The performance will increase by orders of magnitude in relation to it's graphics capabilities.. Seriously, stay tuned and watch it happen, I'll post updates!
Edit: I want to add and be perfectly clear. I personally do not want this computer AS-IS. I do not have a use case for it (point of sale machine, office computer, home computer for elderly or otherwise limited usage, NAS, web, email, surveillance server). My use case is as a budget minded primary desktop.. I have a decent laptop that I use often (now). For my use, video capability IS a factor, even though I don't play very many games, I won't build a system without the capability, and to reiterate, if you upgrade this machine, EVERYTHING runs way better, and 3d simply works vs. does not.
I think perhaps we are on a different page in part because you are looking at the work of upgrading the machine as a negative, where I consider it to be a significant positive.. (enjoyable).
I get thousands of emails from manufacturers wanting me to do paid testing of their products, because I know a thing or two about "stuff." If you think you know better, then you're obviously free to buy whatever Celeron PC you like to go try and play GTA V. Meanwhile, others like me will use modern gaming PCs with high powered CPUs and GPUs, and enjoy our games without a bunch of lag, stuttering, and tearing.
Enjoy voting my comment down. I just hope I can recover from the horror I'll have to endure knowing you pressed a button in protest of my opinion, along with your crew of Celeron gaming Internet gang members!
at least that was a pretty funny post. Congrats!
the phase "don't beat a DEAD horse" , applies to this situation. .... you made your point. And then you made your point a 2nd time, and then you made your point a 3rd time, .... and many more times. The HORSE is already DEAD! Stop beating it.
Bury the poor horse ... so it doesn't stink up the room.
signed by the Celeron 88 dollar gang members!
This brings in the idea of upgrading the system, which your reply conveniently ignored.. The system ships with empty slots which can be filled with cheap and readily available (likely on-hand) hardware that REAL people have.. tens of thousands of them.. people buying this machine for example, like myself.
Instead of addressing the empty slots and upgradability of the machine, you leave it out, as though to pose that I am playing BF1 (my most intensive use case) on a stock machine. You don't state this outright but it is somewhat implied in your response (and required for the argument). Once again I will state: Once this machine is upgraded with a decent video card and a 2/3 increase or better in ram, it will quite frankly open right up in terms of power, we're talking massive increase in usability.
I'm a computer professional, and I know this from years of experience adding video cards into systems.. The performance will increase by orders of magnitude in relation to it's graphics capabilities.. Seriously, stay tuned and watch it happen, I'll post updates!
Edit: I want to add and be perfectly clear. I personally do not want this computer AS-IS. I do not have a use case for it (point of sale machine, office computer, home computer for elderly or otherwise limited usage, NAS, web, email, surveillance server). My use case is as a budget minded primary desktop.. I have a decent laptop that I use often (now). For my use, video capability IS a factor, even though I don't play very many games, I won't build a system without the capability, and to reiterate, if you upgrade this machine, EVERYTHING runs way better, and 3d simply works vs. does not.
I think perhaps we are on a different page in part because you are looking at the work of upgrading the machine as a negative, where I consider it to be a significant positive.. (enjoyable).
at least that was a pretty funny post. Congrats!
the phase "don't beat a DEAD horse" , applies to this situation. .... you made your point. And then you made your point a 2nd time, and then you made your point a 3rd time, .... and many more times. The HORSE is already DEAD! Stop beating it.
Bury the poor horse ... so it doesn't stink up the room.
signed by the Celeron 88 dollar gang members!
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I have a number of microSD cards I put in device, up to 500gb, and that works in usb3 slot, also I have adaptors where usb3 stick has SD slot, and micro slot, plus 3 other usb 3 ports. There are 2 usb3 ports on front of PC. And 4 usb 2 ports on back.
at least that was a pretty funny post. Congrats!
the phase "don't beat a DEAD horse" , applies to this situation. .... you made your point. And then you made your point a 2nd time, and then you made your point a 3rd time, .... and many more times. The HORSE is already DEAD! Stop beating it.
Bury the poor horse ... so it doesn't stink up the room.
signed by the Celeron 88 dollar gang members!
Most of us don't game on this device, but we have fun watching the new guy trying to play latest AAA titles on this PC, and we laugh and holler at the lower frame rates, and the explosions in very slow choppy motions, that can last a good while.
We are plain folk, living the good life, using this celeron donkey (we call the 88 dollar wiz machine) ... to read, write and do our math for us. And check the email, and watch movie pictures with sound.
Unfortunately, I don't game on these and my gaming rig has a RTX 3080.
I can attest no one but some feelings were hurt by my decision.
Unfortunately, I don't game on these and my gaming rig has a RTX 3080.
I can attest no one but some feelings were hurt by my decision.
This J4125 is similar in performance to Intel's standard i3 chips from 2016-2018, except, the J4125 will have better graphics/video performance. It will be fine for your purpose.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!