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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

#101

Post by meitham »

chx wrote: post #59
phaedrus441 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I have my pfsense firewall running on this, and it's been very reliable and great performance.

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

#103

Post by STRiDEX »

ktta wrote: post #92
STRiDEX wrote: post #80

Here's a google spreadsheet someone put up the last time other options were talked about https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TCugLk0GSukeWjhsLu73...

Are you the owner of the spreadsheet? If so it is missing many x86 options like Udoo, JaguarBoard, UP board and others.

Nope, but i do hope someone makes something more complete

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

#104

Post by astrodust »

matheweis wrote: post #82
jalayir wrote: post #48

The hackability of the GPIO pins is what keeps me going back to Raspberry Pi.

You may want to check out the rapidly growing number of RPi clones... cheaper and often more powerful, besides still having GPIO pins. You can find a nice list of options on the Armbian download page: https://www.armbian.com/download/

There's a lot of clones, which is a good thing, but they are kind of a mixed bag on software support.

The one advantage of the Raspberry Pi is it's the one with the most of everything. Other noble competitors, like the Beagle, are pretty good too but getting anything to run on them can be really frustrating.

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

#105

Post by kogepathic »

elchief wrote: post #47

No thanks. I'll take new over used. Just just got a W zero for $24 CAD shipped (Vancouver)

> I'll take new over used.

The irony is that most corporate class hardware will last until well beyond obsolescence before breaking. I've heard people say they don't want to buy a refurbished ThinkPad because they're worried about longevity.

Those things will outlast any consumer grade laptop you buy today.

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

#106

Post by ekianjo »

matheweis wrote: post #82
jalayir wrote: post #48

The hackability of the GPIO pins is what keeps me going back to Raspberry Pi.

You may want to check out the rapidly growing number of RPi clones... cheaper and often more powerful, besides still having GPIO pins. You can find a nice list of options on the Armbian download page: https://www.armbian.com/download/

problem is That a lot have terrible hardware support. and virtually no community following.

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

#107

Post by therealunreal »

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?

It seems they're popular for routers running pfSense. Just make sure you get a CPU that supports AES-NI, because pfSense 2.5 requires it.

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

#108

Post by oneguynick »

voltagex_ wrote: post #35
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…

C2758 seems to handle one Plex transcode (H264->H264, maybe with AC3 to AAC) fine. If there's any particular benchmark you'd like me to run, let me know.

Can also confirm no issues with this transcoding on the C2758. I built a SuperMicro 4 drive NAS a few years ago based on this CPU and it has been very solid. Doesn't run well in Docker, but runs well baremetal.

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

#109

Post by Jaruzel »

I was almost convinced there, as a low cost retro games emulator that didn't look horrible under my TV... until I noticed that there are no audio ports on the back of the unit. As there's also only VGA/DVI you are stuck for a nice clean way to get a video+audio signal to your amp or TV.

The moment you start having to plug extra bits in (i.e. USB to SPDIF) you've completely undone the the reason to get one imho.

I'll stick to my bread-box mini-itx units. That said, I do like the custom integrated PSU in the Dell.

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

#110

Post by pmiller2 »

cpach wrote: post #85
Animats wrote: post #81

I use Asus 1001PX subnotebooks that way. They're available for about $40 on eBay. You get a keyboard, screen, WiFi, Ethernet, 250GB hard drive, and USB ports. Usually a power adapter, too. (Only use the real ASUS power adapters; the no-name 3rd party units overheat, don't provide enough power, or in at least one case, catch fire.) When I get one in, I put in the Xubuntu USB stick and run the memory diagnostic for an…

Is one hour really enough for the memory test?

I would think of it more as a smoke test than a burn-in test.
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