Hi, I’m looking to buy a small computer to upgrade my setup for selfhosted servers. Right now I’m running containers directly on my qnap nas but I would like to migrate most of them on a dedicated server. I’m looking for something that could run docker with stuff like plex, arrr apps, Torrenring, wireguard, vault garden and more. I would like for that server to be very power efficient, something running with as low as 65w TDP or less and also I would like it to be a small computer, something like beelink or Lenovo tiny form factor for example . I looked some small pc from Lenovo, Dell, hp and as I understood it is a bit messy with the power usage depending of the cpu. So I was wondering what would me options be here? Is there other people here who also wanted to run power efficient servers if yes what did you found?
I just grabbed a Beelink S12 with N95 on amazon for pretty cheap with a coupon.
According to PassMark it is roughly equivalent in raw performance to the venerable old i7-2600 but with the better modern IGPU for video transcode tasks and it should be able to chug away at what I want it to do with less than 20w total system power.
Hopefully it means I can further downsize my main server to an i3 or pentium class CPU (went from dual Xeons, to a 6700k and looking to downsize further), and I’ll be able to decommission a couple of RPIs. to further clean up the rack.
There are also tons of Lenovo, Dell and HP mini PCs with 4th - 7th gen intel chips available on the used market for very little money, they are excellent homelab units too as they are reliable and spare parts are common on ebay if needed.
+1 for a used Lenovo. I have a Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q I used to run as a server I got for ~$50 with an i7-7700. Only thing it was missing was an A/C adapter which set me back ~$30 IIRC.
When I’m looking, I’ll browse eBay’s desktop category sorted by ending soonest auction only and occasionally something will pop up that is worth it.
I’ve had a lot of luck with these (I’m using the previous gen, but this one should be even better), they’re so cheap I bought 3 of them and set up a little proxmox cluster. The iGPU. In them is strong enough to run multiple 4k Plex transcoded, and I have 20 or so containters and vms tunning across then without hitting any limits. https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005005575993915.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.4ea83dd0P2OEuA&browser_id=e010fa4472c54b7ab7a7431394ec6e9b&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=gxinhmngbwccavuh1891a9984c2ea436a5e1596831&gclid=&pdp_npi=3%40dis!GBP!244.73!134.6!!!!!%40214527c616883684159437702d0723!12000033613841000!sea!UK!0&algo_pvid=42d27fb3-693a-4b11-97f8-7e83f1dddc74
Thanks. Now I have to buy a new device!
I did not know about those, thank you
How much do you want to spend?
Well I’m aiming 800 and less.
I’ve saw some good news about Intel’s N95/100/200/305 CPUs, N200 is said to have similar performance as I5-7400 at 6W TDP.
Cool, I will go check those processor for sure. Do you happen to know if there’s a small factor pc running with one of those processors?
Gigabyte GB-BNIP-N200
MSI Cubi N ADL
Beelink EQ12
Perfect I’ll check them, thanks for the suggestions
I think that the Minisforum UM690/UM790 are looking quite attractive for their price points, if you’re looking for something high-end. $520 for an 8-core Zen 4 barebone. I haven’t bought one though, I’m just using an old notebook.
Mini forum computer look attracting but they do not ship to Canada saddly
Weird, they certainly claim so on their US website:
Available countries and regions: United States, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Singapore, […]
Crazy that nobody pointed you to a bulletproof Intel NUC.
I think it is because they are more expansive ? If i’m not wrong
More expensive yes, but insane warenty, highest quality, follows specs and actually rated for 24/7 operation
Definitely more expensive, but you can get used ones from a few generations ago for cheap on eBay
