What specs to look for in an Optiplex SFF/MFF pc?

Selfhosted@lemmy.world – 35 points – 1 years ago

So I’ve been wanting to replace my Pi4 (4GB) with an Optiplex for better support (x86 architecture), more ram, and a better CPU.

I’m hoping to get something that also supports intel quick sync for hardware decoding of h265 but it isn’t a major problem if it isn’t available.

What’s the minimum CPU to go for ? Is an i5 6500 fine ? Will that draw more power than let’s say an 8500? Will an i3 6200 be fine too? What about an i5 3400?

I have no idea if I should aim for something in the i5 8x00 range vs i3/5 3x00, when it comes to power usage vs compute output.

I’m not planning on running a full plex server, as there isn’t space for my 3.5” disks, but I would like to run Immich, Seafile, Audiobookshelf etc without a sweat and without using 10+ kWh a week.

I’m located in Denmark so European prices are always an issue with both hardware and electricity 😂

An 8GB ram + i5 6500 Optiplex is about $150 used.

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
NAS	Network-Attached Storage
PSU	Power Supply Unit
Plex	Brand of media server package
SATA	Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
SSD	Solid State Drive mass storage

5 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 3 acronyms.

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You can find Intel N100 mini PCs for 100-200 Euros that have similar performance to a 6th gen i5 but much lower power consumption and better codec support including AV1. The i3-N300 is also starting to become available with twice as many cores.

Hmm maybe it’s just me, but I can’t find any N100s for that price.

One example, Chuwi Larkbox X: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005715207156.html

This one is cheaper, but lower spec and no-name: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005234838380.html

If you can find one with a T series CPU they tend to be more power efficient. And they are common in refurbished mini pcs like the Lenovo Tiny series which should be in your price range.

The T series isn't worth it IMO. Second-hand non-T CPUs and PCs are usually the same price as the T ones, and you can achieve the same effect of lower power consumption by limiting the max clock speed of the non-T CPUs.

The Lenovo tiny series is not a thin-client; it's a mini PC. I wouldn't get a thin client since they're not designed to run much on them - a thin client literally just connects to a server via remote desktop. Get a mini PC or SFF PC at least.

The Lenovo tiny series is not a thin-client; it’s a mini PC

Fair enough, got my terminology wrong there.

CPU cores. I think the i5 6500 was my lowest option ide get. I believe it has 6 cores?

I didn't look into i3 at all though.

I also looked for the one with the best USB speeds.

I think 8000 series is the suite spot. I've gotten a few optiplexes between $110-140 with an i3-i5

I wish that was the case here. I can’t find an 8000 series below $200. Most in the $100 range is 4000-6100 series with 6500 being $120+.

Kinda leaning towards an N100 even though it’s a bit more ($250ish)

I've been thrilled with my dell 7060 micros. SSD+nvme, 64gb of RAM, 8th gen Intel and very low power.

I bought an Optiplex 7050 SFF for $100 USD at the start of 2023. Upgraded it to an i7-7700, 32GB RAM, 300W PSU from an XE3 model (stock is 180W), and threw in a spare Nvidia K1200 Quadro for shits and giggles. Runs almost my entire suite of self-hosted applications without a hitch.

But then you also spend much more than $100 😂 I already have a NAS with a a 7th gen i7, 16gb ram, 32TB hdh, and a 1070 for decoding but it uses too much power to stay on all the time. I only turn it on to watch plex and then power it down to save electricity.

Well, to be fair, I actually bought it to use as a desktop and upgraded it accordingly. Then a few months later I decided to build a Ryzen system. Optiplex got moved to server duty.

Try without gpu and make sure hdd spindown is enabled, it should use much less power. I have much cheaper 7th gen g3930 and its at ~25W (~25€ a year here where I live)

I have a Lenovo ThinkCentre m900 sff. It has an i5-6500T (low power) and I added an Nvidia Quadro p600 for transcoding in Plex. The m900 was about $80 and the Quadro p600 was about $50.

Just saw that you're in Denmark. So yeah the prices will probably be a little higher.

Oh wow, I didn't know SFF machines have the space and the port to use a dGPU. That opens a lot of doors to me.