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Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

thesizzle.com.au

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Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#51

Post by scarface74 »

cottsak wrote: post #32

Still won't be good for a file server, backup server, media server if you care about decent write/read speeds. Sure it will prob read fast enough for your biggest 4K MKVs but those CPUs are always the limiting factor in disk IO performance. Get a fast SSD, get a platter disk - who cares! So you've got 100MB/s of throughput on your gigabit eth. Too bad! These CPUs do AT BEST 30-40MB/s write theoretical - most folks ge…

And the article said it would be a pretty good Plex Server as long as you don't care about transcoding. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of a Plex Server? If I wanted a small single use, flexible, media server, I would get an Nvidia Shield for $200.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#52

Post by elchief »

wyager wrote: post #28

I've been using a $140 chromebox flashed with Ubuntu as an HTPC and seedbox. It works very well and has very nice IO (lots of USB 3, HDMI, gigabit, etc.). The only minor problem I've run into is that the processor is just slow enough that it chokes on high-entropy 1080p video. 99.5% of the time it's fine, but if there's something on screen with lots of tiny objects moving in lots of different directions (a swarm of l…

RPI has hardware mpeg decode

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#53

Post by scarface74 »

decryption wrote: post #36
mdip wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever tried an Atom processor for running Plex? I've always been curious how it would perform. I had an older Atom device running Plex server for quite a while, but back then I almost never needed full transcoding for playback -- usually 'stream direct' which just shifts the MKV container to MP4 -- relatively easy work. And when I did have full transcode, it was either from h.264->h.264 with slightly differen…

The Atom is fine for Plex, just don't try to transcode any video, hah - it sucks at that. 99% of everything I watch doesn't need transcoding though. Sometimes the audio needs transcoding, but the Atom 230 in the FX160 handles that.

I have an old Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz laptop that can handle 2 streams transcoding at once with Plex. You can buy a refurb Core 2 Duo for less than $200. Why bother with an Atom?

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#54

Post by htsh »

gcb0 wrote: post #43

just get an AMD 5350 APU. 4 or 8 cores at 2+ghz plus a very decent gpu. with a high end motherboard you get it for $100! and there is one itx motherboard that cames with a 20V input plug to not even need a psu! best part: mine with a ssd and a hdd streaming movies to the tv in 1080p (supports 4k but i get tearing) de will only consume 35W!

If you have a microcenter near you, you get the cpu / ASRock mini-itx mobo (with dc input) for < $50. I have a couple of these in tiny m350 cases and have been very happy.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#55

Post by Snowe »

eddieroger wrote: post #50
jMyles wrote: post #40

A giant difference between the two, which goes unmentioned here, is that the FX160 runs on AC power at 120 volts. If you have a deployment scenario where you already have 5 volts DC but not 120 volts AC, the pi obviously makes way more sense.

Great point. Also, the Pi can be powered off USB batteries, so you could run it basically anywhere for a non-trivial amount of time, really easily. The Pi's lack of reliance on wall power is one of it's neatest features, I think.

Yep, I was running a beaglebone black doing basic network services from the USB port on my DSL router! Very handy.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#56

Post by jsz0 »

tyingq wrote: post #11

Depends on what it's for, I suppose. These have no ram or hdd. I'd spend $75 on a used Asus Chromebox instead. Then you get 2gb ram + 16gb ssd. And you can reflash it to run regular Linux. Has an open ram slot too. Or, if you want a fast dev board, the Odroids are $35 to $60.

Used laptops are a great option for a home server. I think people tend to overlook them because it seems counter intuitive to use a laptop as a server. It's actually super practical though. Nice to have things like a built-in display, keyboard, wifi, battery, etc when you need them.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#57

Post by oblib »

oblib wrote: post #49

This is a pretty sweet deal on a Pi 3: https://www.wdc.com/products/wdlabs/wd-picompute-centre.html...

I purchased one of these and installed CouchDB, Apache web server, and some webs I've made and it will serve those apps just fine to a small office full of desktops connected to a LAN.

I've made web apps for managing Contacts, Quotes, Invoices, Expenses, Income Reports, ToDo, Chat, and others. I can back up all my data to a remote server (IBM Cloudant for example), and to another Pi in-house as well.

And I've configured it to boot off of the Hard Drive. You don't even need an SD card in it to boot.

Plus, it comes with all the apps already installed on Raspbian so it works well as a desktop PC too. That's a pretty sweet deal.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#58

Post by dingo_bat »

ibic wrote: post #37

My main usages with RPi 3 includes: - SSH tunnel from outside when I concern about security / privacy - Media box (Kodi runs pretty well) - Running daemons (DDNS updates, torrent, etc) - Running some nodejs scripts RPi 3 does these very well, why bother with a more power-consuming box? Not to metion RPi 3 has WiFi builtin (I know it's slow, but good enough for my usage)

I tried to use mine as a media box, but as the article notes, rpi can't power an hdd over usb. And I am too lazy to get a powered usb hub and arrange a power cord for that too.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#59

Post by chx »

phaedrus441 wrote: post #5
throwanem wrote: post #3

A somewhat controversial claim, but only until you discover that it's the low-profile home server use case under discussion here. I'd go with a Qotom box for that, but something like this would be about as good and, at the cited prices, a fair bit cheaper - and wouldn't involve the same US Customs import encumbrance that I've found Qotom hardware to entail, besides. But I think it would depend on being able to find u…

This is the first I've heard of Qotom, can you elaborate?

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B019Z8T9J0 this is not Atom but a proper Broadwell core -- obviously a bit on the slower side but still it'll wipe the floor with any Atoms especially in single core performance. Look at http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2506&cmp[]=272... for example. It has HDMI and four Ethernet ports (not a switch, see my review down below), serving as router and media player both. My review https://www.amazon.com/review/R6U6MT4R6SQS4 here.

Re: Consider a Dell Optiplex FX160 Instead of a Raspberry Pi

#60

Post by mark-r »

mdip wrote: post #39
logicallee wrote: post #16

The main thing that will be of interest to people about the comparison: >Raspberry Pi, case, power adaptor AUD$73.26. Dell Optiplex FX160 around AUD$60 translated to USD: >Raspberry Pi, case, power adaptor US $54.19. Dell Optiplex FX160 around US $44.39. (I used Google to convert the currency, didn't look up prices.)

Gah - thanks for pointing this out! I made an error that I'm guessing a few others' did -- I compared the $35USD against the $59AUD price. This makes a little more sense. There are a few things that offset this, though. The eBay OptiPlex ships without RAM. The author points out that this adds a minimal $20AUD, but that offsets the sticker price difference. In addition, if Hacker News is the target audience and you fo…

50W would appear to be a maximum, the article shows a meter at 20W which is presumably total power from the wall socket. Once power consumption gets low enough it should cease to be a consideration. Everybody will have their own threshold for "low enough", but I personally wouldn't stay awake at night over 20W.
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