The MiniPC Revolution • Hacker News Board

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#21

Post by D13Fd » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:28 PM UTC

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #15

I have a homelab which is a zimaboard, a dumb netgear switch, and six mini-pc's (5560U/16GB/500GB). The zimaboard runs pfsense & an nginx reverse proxy, then all six of the mini-pcs run proxmox. 4 mini-pcs run k8s clusters (talos) and the other two run home services and selected one-offs (home-assistant, plex, bookstack, build-tools, gitea, origin servers for a subset of projects). It was a lot easier to set up than…

This does sound like a massive PITA. what is the point of it? What are you using it for?

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#22

Post by klipklop » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:31 PM UTC

clueless wrote: post #5

what are some hardware people would recommend (specifically looking for power efficiency)?

At the moment a good low power mini PC is anything with an Intel N150.

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#23

Post by CharlesW » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:32 PM UTC

01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote: post #3

Would benefit from one or two small pictures. I guess MiniPC means like a Mac Mini or an Intel NUC? > You can expect average power draws of 20-50W in usage and 6-12W in idle. > Put that in perspective with high-end machines with hardware concerned with performance and not power draw, that can easily idle at 100W. Have you measured that? I think my full ATX desktop only idles around 30 watts. (With a bunch of apps run…

Mac mini power consumption and thermal output (BTU): https://support.apple.com/en-us/103253

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#24

Post by layer8 » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:35 PM UTC

mcny wrote: post #19

My minisforum mini PC died within two years seemingly our of the blue. Support won't return my emails.

That’s unfortunately typical for Minisforum. They issue batches of products in a fire-and-forget manner, with hardly any after sales support.

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#25

Post by fckgw » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:36 PM UTC

mcny wrote: post #19

My minisforum mini PC died within two years seemingly our of the blue. Support won't return my emails.

Same issue here. Just no power at all.

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#26

Post by giardini » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:38 PM UTC

ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #7

Havoc wrote: post #2

> So you mean to tell me you’ve been using your torch to take a shit this last week because your light bulbs don’t work without the PC you watch Netflix on? This made me laugh. I’ve currently got a home assistant controlled floor standing light in my bathroom because all the old school switch ones in ceiling are dead and landlord is being well a classic landlord

What does a "dead light" mean in this context? Your landlord isn't changing your bulbs? I've mostly lived in 100+ year old homes with old janky wiring and have never had a light fixture die, just bulbs.

It likely means the OP has poor handyman skills and wisely has chosen not to learn by him/her self due to safety hazard. After all, these circuits are usually ~110 volts and there is almost always an unintended ground nearby (a water or gas pipe, a wet bathtub, etc.).

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#27

Post by glitchc » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:38 PM UTC

LarMachinarum wrote: post #18

having had quite a bunch of MiniPCs, mostly from reputable brands (Intel NUC series back when Intel had those, then Gigabyte Brix series, then some cheapo china ones), I have moved away from those, because every single one of them (independently of the brand) ended up dying spuriously not long after warranty end and in any case far sooner than any µATX desktop would (in fact I've very rarely had any of the latter die…

Yeah a Mac Mini seems to be the only one that can go the distance.

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#28

Post by micromacrofoot » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:38 PM UTC

giardini wrote: post #16

Havoc wrote: post #2

> So you mean to tell me you’ve been using your torch to take a shit this last week because your light bulbs don’t work without the PC you watch Netflix on? This made me laugh. I’ve currently got a home assistant controlled floor standing light in my bathroom because all the old school switch ones in ceiling are dead and landlord is being well a classic landlord

For a small price (probably less than the cost of a "home assistant controlled floor standing lamp") you could buy parts to repair the bathroom lighting? Better yet, pay someone to do it (and maybe show you the hows and the hazards). Then you could be living like a true American. And without risking the "standing lamp" falling into your bathtub!

it's the landlord's responsibility, you're a sucker if you pay a dime to fix what they own... especially considering the unfamiliarity with previous work and safety risks involved

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#29

Post by CharlesW » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:39 PM UTC

LarMachinarum wrote: post #18

having had quite a bunch of MiniPCs, mostly from reputable brands (Intel NUC series back when Intel had those, then Gigabyte Brix series, then some cheapo china ones), I have moved away from those, because every single one of them (independently of the brand) ended up dying spuriously not long after warranty end and in any case far sooner than any µATX desktop would (in fact I've very rarely had any of the latter die…

My 2008 Mac mini is still running, so it can be done. I'm shocked that Intel NUCs weren't more reliable for you.

Re: The MiniPC Revolution

#30

Post by kylemaxwell » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:40 PM UTC

These look like fun technology, but I don’t even know what the use cases would be anymore. I don’t need something to control my lights: I have an actual light switch for that. I don’t have endless terabytes of media that I need to serve within my household, so I just don’t know anymore what I would use this stuff for. Twenty or thirty years ago, I loved having a home lab, but these days I’m just not sure what I would do with it.