expirediconian | Staff posted Jun 03, 2024 01:32 PM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
expirediconian | Staff posted Jun 03, 2024 01:32 PM
Dell OptiPlex 3070 Desktop (Refurbished): i3-9100T, 8GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro
& More + Free Shipping$140
$279
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Although you can get a N100 box with a smaller footprint, you may not be able to upgrade the ram or wifi card. I ran into that myself and decided to return it for that reason. I think each has their own strengths.
Most of the N100 boxes are barebones, so you're probably looking at $250 to get it fully running.
Over long term use, though, you're saving a ton on electricity.
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Although you can get a N100 box with a smaller footprint, you may not be able to upgrade the ram or wifi card. I ran into that myself and decided to return it for that reason. I think each has their own strengths.
i5 8th gen is cheapest I'd recommend currently.
(corrected previous post)
If u need expandability, long term Support, go with Dell. I imagine average user would b happier with N100 minipc with its wifi, if aware that if anything goes wrong, it s likely a throw-away.
i5 8th gen is cheapest I'd recommend currently.
(corrected previous post)
I can read a little through the lines of what you are saying if you were recommending something to someone who doesn't know a lot about PCs, but you may want to add real detail to your recommendation or you could get flamed here.
With intel chips (especially these older ones) it is important to know that for a while Intel really rested on their laurels and made just minor improvements for some time. For example, it was some time before an i7-4790k (on a DDR3 chipset keep in mind) was even significantly surpassed in the desktop market with the 8700k due to two more cores. And that doesn't take into consideration the workstation models as well.
So for people that are familiar with these chips from "back in the day" the recommendations you are making just don't fly as much as if you were considering late Gen chips. And even then, it's important to consider that the 8700k still is pretty much the same performance as the 11600k…
How about this difference then:
Minipc N100 consumes 7 watts. A SFF i5-8500 about 20 to 30 watts minimum. Let s assume difference is only 10 watts vs. 20 due to sleep mode & turning off PC.
10 watts x 8000 hrs./ yr. X 0.15/kw=$12/yr. Assuming they both last 5 yrs., 5 x $12= $60. That may be a difference people should b aware of B4 buying a $130 PC.
How about this difference then:
Minipc N100 consumes 7 watts. A SFF i5-8500 about 20 to 30 watts minimum. Let s assume difference is only 10 watts vs. 20 due to sleep mode & turning off PC.
10 watts x 8000 hrs./ yr. X 0.15/kw=$12/yr. Assuming they both last 5 yrs., 5 x $12= $60. That may be a difference people should b aware of B4 buying a $130 PC.
If we were buying hundreds of these for Datacenter workloads I could see your point though. I am excited to finally see that the war for performance per watt is back again!
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If we were buying hundreds of these for Datacenter workloads I could see your point though. I am excited to finally see that the war for performance per watt is back again!
The mini pc linked has modern wifi and 2.5G networking, the old Intel certainly doesn't.
Anything you add to this old dell climbs its price towards a more modern barebones oem desktop never mind the n100s.
https://slickdeals.net/f/17520375-hp-pavilion-desktop-ryzen-3-5300g-gtx-1660-super-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-refurbished-299-more-free-shipping
Chuwi larkbox n100 $130 after coupon on ebay, guess mod deleted it.
We are seeing gen15 release soon so the 8th is already that much older.
Most of the N100 boxes are barebones, so you're probably looking at $250 to get it fully running.
Over long term use, though, you're saving a ton on electricity.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166388450606
I'm a huge fan of 8/9 gen for Plex. The i5 and higher can transcode 4k for local play in Plex. They do everything I need on a daily basis.
Do you want barebones n100 and spend a little more: you save on electricity and get a newer cpu that has some newer codec support. You lose out on expandable options.
Do you want the 8/9 gen: has ram already, you can add an extra card or two to the pcie and buff it up a bit (extra nvme cards for example)
I am curious about these Pc differences and just never did the math
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Reviewing old deal threads for N100 mini PCs and other online discussions, I often came across warnings about the lack of Linux kernel drivers (example here). My understanding is that installing Linux is less certain / more complicated, and I'd like the smoothest experience possible as I ramp up.
Seems these old Dell machines can install just about any Linux distro thrown at them, so I'd rather use it as a cheap experimental machine and deal with the higher electricity cost. Would welcome your reactions to my use case / concern.
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