I have a (silent) PC in the living room, which ran numerous virtual machines including a music/media one. However, there were some complications with that idea, so ultimately the whole PC became dedicated just to browsing the internet and streaming/playing music & movies on the TV. Even running the crossovers, DSP & EQ became farmed out to a raspberry Pi in USB 'gadget' mode. The big PC is therefore a bit unnecessarily large and under-utillised for this, so I intend to pass it onto a relative with more needs than myself, and build a more modest little media/HTPC machine for myself.
I know there are lots of tiny fanless machines that would suffice, but I'm reluctant to downgrade 'too' far or lose too much flexibility/connectivity (external ports, RAM and nvme SSDs etc). Partly because I want years of future-proofing and partly because I don't need to achieve the 'absolute' minimum in power or size. It won't be left on 24-7 and something like a 2u rack-mount case would fit quite nicely with my amps. It really just needs to be modest 'enough' to cool passively without fans or tall internal heatsinks (and I don't want the complication of water cooling etc). So, maybe a 'T' flavour of an intel CPU (though they seem less readily available to consumers) or a standard i3 CPU might be the sweet spot. The latter are around 60W TDP but rising to only 90-110W even on turbo. I vaguely recall it is possible to cap the turbo on some higher-end CPUs too, though whether that is wasteful over getting a lower-end one to begin with I don't know.
My thoughts (so far) are for a modest but normal desktop processor in a case with sides (and/or front) that comprise heatsink(s). Such passive HTPC cases are available - at huge price - and suggest that handling a CPU up to ~95W is a reasonable aspiration. But I already have several large Conrad heatsinks, of the type sometimes seen forming the walls of class-A or AB amps. Also, heat-pipes are available for the DIYer, which could be used to thermally bridge the CPU to the case's wall, so I think/hope that a DIY solution may be possible for modest money.
Though I'm probably reinventing the wheel here, so if anyone has been there or got useful suggestions I would of course be interested to hear!
Kev
I know there are lots of tiny fanless machines that would suffice, but I'm reluctant to downgrade 'too' far or lose too much flexibility/connectivity (external ports, RAM and nvme SSDs etc). Partly because I want years of future-proofing and partly because I don't need to achieve the 'absolute' minimum in power or size. It won't be left on 24-7 and something like a 2u rack-mount case would fit quite nicely with my amps. It really just needs to be modest 'enough' to cool passively without fans or tall internal heatsinks (and I don't want the complication of water cooling etc). So, maybe a 'T' flavour of an intel CPU (though they seem less readily available to consumers) or a standard i3 CPU might be the sweet spot. The latter are around 60W TDP but rising to only 90-110W even on turbo. I vaguely recall it is possible to cap the turbo on some higher-end CPUs too, though whether that is wasteful over getting a lower-end one to begin with I don't know.
My thoughts (so far) are for a modest but normal desktop processor in a case with sides (and/or front) that comprise heatsink(s). Such passive HTPC cases are available - at huge price - and suggest that handling a CPU up to ~95W is a reasonable aspiration. But I already have several large Conrad heatsinks, of the type sometimes seen forming the walls of class-A or AB amps. Also, heat-pipes are available for the DIYer, which could be used to thermally bridge the CPU to the case's wall, so I think/hope that a DIY solution may be possible for modest money.
Though I'm probably reinventing the wheel here, so if anyone has been there or got useful suggestions I would of course be interested to hear!
Kev
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People (me including) have excellent experience with thin client HP T640 https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/hp/t640/ . Professionally designed, standard DDR4 up to 64GB, boots from NVMe (second NVMe can be added, for drive mirror safety), top-brand power supply adapter. The display ports can be passively converted to HDMI. Performance https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/9938124 , after tuning with ryzenadj https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/9938598 . Refurbished for some 50EUR + extra RAM + NVMe. Just an example.
In my case it runs a large 200GB database on ZFS with mirrored NVMes, 32GB RAM, rock solid.
In my case it runs a large 200GB database on ZFS with mirrored NVMes, 32GB RAM, rock solid.
Giving my 2 cents (after too much coffee):
You mentioned:
Water cooling?
Are you doing bitcoin mining or something???
90W CPU? Are you kidding? There is no need for this amount of dissipation for watching some movies, etc.
Fanless?
I used to be "all in" on fanless PCs. Mini type PCs with small fans were always noisy. But then, over the past couple of years, I found a few Ryzen based mini PC from e.g. Minisforum or Beelink with fans that were essentially noiseless or hardly ever spooled up. A fan is pretty useful when everything is packed into a tiny space. If you will be watching video, etc. you probably have some minimum GPU requirements. A Pi5 could work, but guess what? It is best when used with a fan. There is a really nice small case with a fan made by a company called "Electro Cookie" that might work well, like this one:
https://www.amazon.de/ElectroCookie...ndem-Umgebungslicht-5-Rosa/dp/B0CV78T3LK?th=1
Sorry I only have a link to the product for the DE Amazon site.
These days IMO the Pi is not the cheap, lightweight computing option it once was when you add up all the costs (board, storage, case, power supply). In the USA I was able to find some decent low cost mini PCs that were around US $250 for everything. Low end CPU power is still 5x the Pi or more. I try to find something in the Ryzen 5 or 7 mobile family of CPUs that has low TDP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Ryzen_processors#Mobile_processors
My darling was the 5560u for example. I have a 17" HP laptop that uses the 5500u and we use it to watch movies on the couch all the time. Works great and it cost me like $300 like-new from Ebay. Do not buy a mini PC with a CPU that has a TDP greater than 30W - it's just going to be too much heat dissipation from a small space and the fan will need to work hard and will make more noise.
Example Ryzen mini PC:
The 8G/500G 5650u version of this: https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-SER5-5560U-Computer-Support/dp/B0CRL3PL4X
This is just an example. Do your homework and see which might work best for your own needs.
Honestly, I would not worry about "future proofing" your computing hardware - are you doing that with your cell/mobile phone??? These days such electronics have been commodified into consumables. They are used and than discarded or resold when it is no longer useful. Sad by true.
Finally, keep your amps and audio gear separated. That way you are flexible about what parts can be upgraded or replaced at any time.
You mentioned:
Water cooling?
Are you doing bitcoin mining or something???
90W CPU? Are you kidding? There is no need for this amount of dissipation for watching some movies, etc.
Fanless?
I used to be "all in" on fanless PCs. Mini type PCs with small fans were always noisy. But then, over the past couple of years, I found a few Ryzen based mini PC from e.g. Minisforum or Beelink with fans that were essentially noiseless or hardly ever spooled up. A fan is pretty useful when everything is packed into a tiny space. If you will be watching video, etc. you probably have some minimum GPU requirements. A Pi5 could work, but guess what? It is best when used with a fan. There is a really nice small case with a fan made by a company called "Electro Cookie" that might work well, like this one:
https://www.amazon.de/ElectroCookie...ndem-Umgebungslicht-5-Rosa/dp/B0CV78T3LK?th=1
Sorry I only have a link to the product for the DE Amazon site.
These days IMO the Pi is not the cheap, lightweight computing option it once was when you add up all the costs (board, storage, case, power supply). In the USA I was able to find some decent low cost mini PCs that were around US $250 for everything. Low end CPU power is still 5x the Pi or more. I try to find something in the Ryzen 5 or 7 mobile family of CPUs that has low TDP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Ryzen_processors#Mobile_processors
My darling was the 5560u for example. I have a 17" HP laptop that uses the 5500u and we use it to watch movies on the couch all the time. Works great and it cost me like $300 like-new from Ebay. Do not buy a mini PC with a CPU that has a TDP greater than 30W - it's just going to be too much heat dissipation from a small space and the fan will need to work hard and will make more noise.
Example Ryzen mini PC:
The 8G/500G 5650u version of this: https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-SER5-5560U-Computer-Support/dp/B0CRL3PL4X
This is just an example. Do your homework and see which might work best for your own needs.
Honestly, I would not worry about "future proofing" your computing hardware - are you doing that with your cell/mobile phone??? These days such electronics have been commodified into consumables. They are used and than discarded or resold when it is no longer useful. Sad by true.
Finally, keep your amps and audio gear separated. That way you are flexible about what parts can be upgraded or replaced at any time.
I have this kind of minipc based on an Intel N97 processor.
Bought without memory and ram.
So amazing that I bought a second one....For my daughter.
The max consumption is 20 W, processor at 100%.
The average consumption is 8W.
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005...333e-fa3f-46c2-868e-89dee47dafa6-9&pdp_npi=4% 40dis%21EUR%21132.42%21132.39%21%21%21133.30%21133.27%21%40210156fc17371969959381363edeb3%2112000044194 484125%21sea%21FR%21746260639%21X&curPageLogUid=I3iDtsdKOavl&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A
Bought without memory and ram.
So amazing that I bought a second one....For my daughter.
The max consumption is 20 W, processor at 100%.
The average consumption is 8W.
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005...333e-fa3f-46c2-868e-89dee47dafa6-9&pdp_npi=4% 40dis%21EUR%21132.42%21132.39%21%21%21133.30%21133.27%21%40210156fc17371969959381363edeb3%2112000044194 484125%21sea%21FR%21746260639%21X&curPageLogUid=I3iDtsdKOavl&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A
Regarding the N97 CPU:
The performance should be between the Intel Processor N100 and Intel Processor N200 and clearly below the Core i3-N300 and N305 due to the reduced core count.
The N100 is not even 2x powerful than a Raspberry Pi 5. GPU performance is limited. Fine for web browsing or office software.
A system based on the Ryzen 5560u CPU is 5x more powerful but costs Euro 125 more. See:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5337vs6054vs4883/Intel-N97-vs-BCM2712-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-5560U
The performance should be between the Intel Processor N100 and Intel Processor N200 and clearly below the Core i3-N300 and N305 due to the reduced core count.
The N100 is not even 2x powerful than a Raspberry Pi 5. GPU performance is limited. Fine for web browsing or office software.
A system based on the Ryzen 5560u CPU is 5x more powerful but costs Euro 125 more. See:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5337vs6054vs4883/Intel-N97-vs-BCM2712-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-5560U
Maybe... But 4k hdr and multichannel sound via usb dac doesn't scare him....
I have a 9th generation core i9 too, which consumes 5 times more...
Useless power for multimedia....
The N97 is good for me. 👍
I have a 9th generation core i9 too, which consumes 5 times more...
Useless power for multimedia....
The N97 is good for me. 👍
Thank you, everyone. It is interesting that most of the suggestions are for quite such low power/performance (and sometimes low cost) devices. I don't particularly need to go that low, so it seemed a bit unnecessarily limiting, but clearly I should consider it in light of the enthusiasm for these things. Though I won't be going for a Raspberry Pi; IMO there are so many more complete options for use as 'bog-standard' everyday computers (I still use them for specific/dedicated purposes though).
It is a slight pity that the 'T' suffix intel CPUs are not easily available retail, since for me that might be the sweet spot. Low TDP but with normal desktop motherboards and all the compatibility, bios/uefi, and expansion goodness they can offer. Maybe I'll look to the second-hand market for such things. Or yes, mobile-based CPUs would be similarly fine, just limited on what motherboards they'll work with (short of getting an actual laptop base, anyway).
I suppose that if I'm to consider these more modest/limtied options I should consider my specific requirements and then look at what they might be missing. CPU & GPU and RAM need not be much by modern standards, they just need to run reasonably modern codecs/protocols etc. in hardware. Fast data-transfer ports (LAN, USB etc) are going to be more important, and I'd be dissapointed with anything which couldn't handle a couple of SSDs on a native bus. Decent boot times would also be nice, as it will be booted up on demand.
But yes, maybe I could also go higher power (which would IMO be easier) and compromise on near-silent fans. My current PC, for all its unnecessarily high-ish spec, is passively cooled and therefore quite big.... to which I still added fans to come on if necessary; I purposely chose a motherboard with bios/uefi that lets me control them in firmware and also had good passive VRM cooling etc, and thats the kind of person I am. 🙂
It is a slight pity that the 'T' suffix intel CPUs are not easily available retail, since for me that might be the sweet spot. Low TDP but with normal desktop motherboards and all the compatibility, bios/uefi, and expansion goodness they can offer. Maybe I'll look to the second-hand market for such things. Or yes, mobile-based CPUs would be similarly fine, just limited on what motherboards they'll work with (short of getting an actual laptop base, anyway).
I suppose that if I'm to consider these more modest/limtied options I should consider my specific requirements and then look at what they might be missing. CPU & GPU and RAM need not be much by modern standards, they just need to run reasonably modern codecs/protocols etc. in hardware. Fast data-transfer ports (LAN, USB etc) are going to be more important, and I'd be dissapointed with anything which couldn't handle a couple of SSDs on a native bus. Decent boot times would also be nice, as it will be booted up on demand.
But yes, maybe I could also go higher power (which would IMO be easier) and compromise on near-silent fans. My current PC, for all its unnecessarily high-ish spec, is passively cooled and therefore quite big.... to which I still added fans to come on if necessary; I purposely chose a motherboard with bios/uefi that lets me control them in firmware and also had good passive VRM cooling etc, and thats the kind of person I am. 🙂
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The other thing to consider for systems with a fan is that if the CPU is not worked very hard and the TDP of the CPU is not high, there is just not much heat to dissipate and the fan may barely be turning. This can ensure silent running even with a fan.
Thanks, Charlie. Yes that was almost the aim with the (outgoing) bigger PC, except I was more binary in my thinking. The passive, albeit rather huge, CPU cooler would suffice for most situations, except in abnormally demanding ones. After which the CPU would ordinarily throttle back and self regulate, which modern ones do these days, and might be considered acceptable as a solution; it can cope with short peaks without throttling. Except I then added the fan to further prevent/delay the need to throttle. So essentially the best of both worlds; a silent PC in normal use (listening to music), yet lots of headroom for when more power was needed - e.g. making mp3 copies of my FLAC library.
As you indicate, I could probably persuade myself to make the threshold lower now though. I have some Noctua fans which are very impressively quiet and yet will give quite useful airflow below audible levels; even small airflow tends to give big cooling improvements over passive convection. With the right bios/uefi they too can be set to ramp up if/when needed (e.g. for higher CPU performance).
So I'd be happy to let the fans cut in much earlier or maybe even run slowly all the time. That latter option might also be good for other components like VRM and chipset, which the UEFI on some more modest motherboards might not be able to monitor or regulate.
As you indicate, I could probably persuade myself to make the threshold lower now though. I have some Noctua fans which are very impressively quiet and yet will give quite useful airflow below audible levels; even small airflow tends to give big cooling improvements over passive convection. With the right bios/uefi they too can be set to ramp up if/when needed (e.g. for higher CPU performance).
So I'd be happy to let the fans cut in much earlier or maybe even run slowly all the time. That latter option might also be good for other components like VRM and chipset, which the UEFI on some more modest motherboards might not be able to monitor or regulate.
A little more research into this, and it has indeed already been done. Streacom make some cases for mATX and smaller mainboards with heatpipes taken to the case sides:
The CPU uses only the heatsink on one side of a 2U rack height case, which is said to manage up to about 65W TDP processors. Tests people have done seem to verify that it can, without the CPU throttling-back in normal use. Though sometimes only just and of course results will depend on the environment around the heatsink. But if I used a modest mobile CPU or one of the 'T' flavours of Inted desktop CPUs (that are only about 35W TDP) it should be pretty comfortable.
Sadly the ready-made cases are very costly by my standards, so I'm still thinking DIY, should I try to go this way. It would be fiddly to get right, but with heatpipes being readily available it doesn't look like rocket-science, it seems more in the implimentation; the need to shape them and clamp them accurately/closely.
It is about half the size of what I currently have, so a very useful reduction, though still bigger than actually needed. Perhaps the main attraction is that I already have a rather expensive fanless ATX power supply and DDR4 memory, as well as the heatsinks, so it wouldn't necessarily cost very much to stay with the normal/full PC approach. I also like modern, faster external ports for data/library transfer and backing up, which older low-end ex-business machines tend not to have.
The CPU uses only the heatsink on one side of a 2U rack height case, which is said to manage up to about 65W TDP processors. Tests people have done seem to verify that it can, without the CPU throttling-back in normal use. Though sometimes only just and of course results will depend on the environment around the heatsink. But if I used a modest mobile CPU or one of the 'T' flavours of Inted desktop CPUs (that are only about 35W TDP) it should be pretty comfortable.
Sadly the ready-made cases are very costly by my standards, so I'm still thinking DIY, should I try to go this way. It would be fiddly to get right, but with heatpipes being readily available it doesn't look like rocket-science, it seems more in the implimentation; the need to shape them and clamp them accurately/closely.
It is about half the size of what I currently have, so a very useful reduction, though still bigger than actually needed. Perhaps the main attraction is that I already have a rather expensive fanless ATX power supply and DDR4 memory, as well as the heatsinks, so it wouldn't necessarily cost very much to stay with the normal/full PC approach. I also like modern, faster external ports for data/library transfer and backing up, which older low-end ex-business machines tend not to have.
But of course it is still rather large compared to the above recomendations, and it might be nice to drop down to 1U height. I'm also attracted by the overall lower energy use of the mini-PCs and thin clients so that is my next area for investigation.
I wouldn't be averse to a bit of DIY on them either, if putting them in a slightly larger case helped thermals (I don't need absolutely miniscule). Maybe (e.g. to accomodate a larger and so quieter fan than many of them have, or get a bigger passive heatsink on. I'd prefer a mostly passive design, and very much like the 'no moving parts' approach, but am not completely averse to near-silent fans if they don't come on audibly or often in normal use.
I'm currently using windows-11 and expected to move to 12 when the time comes, which might be a limitation for hardware requirements (without fudging things). But not a hard limitation; until recently I ran linux so could easily return to it, I'd just need to abandon a few preferences for software.
I wouldn't be averse to a bit of DIY on them either, if putting them in a slightly larger case helped thermals (I don't need absolutely miniscule). Maybe (e.g. to accomodate a larger and so quieter fan than many of them have, or get a bigger passive heatsink on. I'd prefer a mostly passive design, and very much like the 'no moving parts' approach, but am not completely averse to near-silent fans if they don't come on audibly or often in normal use.
I'm currently using windows-11 and expected to move to 12 when the time comes, which might be a limitation for hardware requirements (without fudging things). But not a hard limitation; until recently I ran linux so could easily return to it, I'd just need to abandon a few preferences for software.
I'm decided now that I shall go for a mini-PC. They are actually smaller than I need, which comes with some restrictions on expansion and fan size, so seemed a bit unhelpfully tiny. However, they tick all my other boxes and some models are getting the right kind of attention in terms of modern technology - of interest to me is the efficiency of current mobile CPUs and faster port-speeds. In fact those with latest USB and Thunderbolt would allow things to be done externally that I'd traditionally have wanted inside, which actually makes their size less restrictive. Third-party passive cases are also available for some models.
The 2U rack case PC idea would have been possible, but awkward and ultimately less appropriate so I've gone off that option. Motherboards and CPUs for desktops are obviously not as power-efficient as mobile platforms, which is fine but the extra cooling needed is a little unhelpful. In fact the lowest power (mainstream) desktop CPUs are still 35W TDP and aren't available retail (just second-hand or in prebuilt machines). The height of the case also precludes any bigger (quieter) fans blowing front to back, so I'd lean towards still wanting fully/mostly passive cooling. Yet my existing expensive passive PSU would have no room to vent out the top; starting to negate the main attraction of already having some of the more expensive donor parts.
I've not fully decided on a specific model of mini-PC yet, but likely an (asus) NUC due to much of the above as well as having good Linux support, driver updates, good uefi/bios options and good support from 3rd-party case manufacturers etc. They offer a core-3 100U variant which is new to me, so I'll need to check what codecs and virtualisation etc it'll support, and that it'd be enough for my needs. But it 'seems' at first glance comparable to mobile core i3 CPUs of around 15Watts TDP, so reasonable for modest applications like mine.
There are of course also faster CPU choices like core 5 CPUs at twice the cores and threads, but also almost twice the power. Which is still <30Watts so would still be easy enough to cool passively if wanted. But with the smaller CPUs it seems more likely that I'd put up with the stock fan noise; the bigger CPUs are likely to malke it come on faster and/or more frequently. Though it is also possible that I wouldn't be happy with the stock fan with any CPU (I am a little irrationally annoyed by fan noise), in which case I would be looking at passive cases or bigger DIYcoolers and could go with any modest mobile CPU.
The 2U rack case PC idea would have been possible, but awkward and ultimately less appropriate so I've gone off that option. Motherboards and CPUs for desktops are obviously not as power-efficient as mobile platforms, which is fine but the extra cooling needed is a little unhelpful. In fact the lowest power (mainstream) desktop CPUs are still 35W TDP and aren't available retail (just second-hand or in prebuilt machines). The height of the case also precludes any bigger (quieter) fans blowing front to back, so I'd lean towards still wanting fully/mostly passive cooling. Yet my existing expensive passive PSU would have no room to vent out the top; starting to negate the main attraction of already having some of the more expensive donor parts.
I've not fully decided on a specific model of mini-PC yet, but likely an (asus) NUC due to much of the above as well as having good Linux support, driver updates, good uefi/bios options and good support from 3rd-party case manufacturers etc. They offer a core-3 100U variant which is new to me, so I'll need to check what codecs and virtualisation etc it'll support, and that it'd be enough for my needs. But it 'seems' at first glance comparable to mobile core i3 CPUs of around 15Watts TDP, so reasonable for modest applications like mine.
There are of course also faster CPU choices like core 5 CPUs at twice the cores and threads, but also almost twice the power. Which is still <30Watts so would still be easy enough to cool passively if wanted. But with the smaller CPUs it seems more likely that I'd put up with the stock fan noise; the bigger CPUs are likely to malke it come on faster and/or more frequently. Though it is also possible that I wouldn't be happy with the stock fan with any CPU (I am a little irrationally annoyed by fan noise), in which case I would be looking at passive cases or bigger DIYcoolers and could go with any modest mobile CPU.
One fanless option is:
https://noctua.at/en/nh-p1
Be aware that water pumps are noisy and very annoying when idle.
https://noctua.at/en/nh-p1
Be aware that water pumps are noisy and very annoying when idle.
Looks like the same model I'm using. I got the smaller version without the sata drive bay, and a Core Ultra 5 125H. Works very well and K only ever hear the fan for a bit when booting or when installing updates. When listening to music or watching video it's completely silent.
That is very useful to hear, Henrik, thank you! That seems almost perfect, exactly what I want! 🙂
Yes that is what I'm using currently, on a 65W TDP CPU. It is pretty huge, and still needs a fan for more than brief periods above base speed, unfortunately. So really using a CPU with much lower TDP and having a fan for peak loads seems the best way to reduce size.
I decided to go with an ASUS NUC, and after a lot of deliberation have ordered the core ultra-5 CPU version. The core 3 would have sufficed (certainly for immediate needs), but the ultra-5 seems such a significant step up in both cpu and (inbuilt) GPU that in the end I couldn't resist. Slightly more power to sink but not a lot, it is still a laptop/mobile CPU, so the passive cases will still work with it if I can't get along with the fan.
I did consider getting used corporate mini-PCs but they tend not to have such a ggod selection of the modern ports that appeal to me. Similarly I looked at older machines (say 8th gen intel) but of course they are no better in that respect, and it is hard to know how much life they may have left. So as I'm replacing what is a pretty decent PC with this little thing, I decided to go with a new one.
So, it'll take a few days to arrive and a few more to set up, then we shall see how it goes.
I did consider getting used corporate mini-PCs but they tend not to have such a ggod selection of the modern ports that appeal to me. Similarly I looked at older machines (say 8th gen intel) but of course they are no better in that respect, and it is hard to know how much life they may have left. So as I'm replacing what is a pretty decent PC with this little thing, I decided to go with a new one.
So, it'll take a few days to arrive and a few more to set up, then we shall see how it goes.
The NUC I ordered is just a more recent example of the same kind of idea really, certainly not a reinvention. Rated for 24/7 use, proper Linux support and decent bios/uefi options (even available with vPro, if you wanted it). So just with more modern features and - I hope - significantly more life expectancy than a used 6th (intel) generation machine.
For context, I did consider older machines; I myself have a couple of 6th (intel) gen thinkpads that I use regularly and can still give adequate performance with Linux. Though it is becoming marginal; my 11th gen is considerably better - faster, cooler, quieter (such is progress). But either way, in this case the aim is not to spare the last penny. I use my media/TV PC more than any other machine, many hours each evening; for local playback of course but also audio and video streaming, general browsing websites etc. Budget is a concern, but I decided spending a bit more would be worthwhile for what it can get.
Lots of computing power (by modern standards) is not needed, and I've no need to go looking for dedicated GPUs either as my 3d/gaming use is minimal. But things like the size of media libraries, speed of backing up, local network rates and easy compatibility (with other modern stuff that I use) all draw me to more modern port types/speeds. I'm also not keen to buy extra local storage or memory that is getting obsolete (maybe a NAS could alleviate that - but then I would want a faster NIC). There is also a large difference between decoding/encoding on even a basic modern CPU that offers it in hardware versus trying to do it in software on much older slower CPUs.
So all in all, I've decided to come into the modern age for my media kit, but reasonably modestly.
For context, I did consider older machines; I myself have a couple of 6th (intel) gen thinkpads that I use regularly and can still give adequate performance with Linux. Though it is becoming marginal; my 11th gen is considerably better - faster, cooler, quieter (such is progress). But either way, in this case the aim is not to spare the last penny. I use my media/TV PC more than any other machine, many hours each evening; for local playback of course but also audio and video streaming, general browsing websites etc. Budget is a concern, but I decided spending a bit more would be worthwhile for what it can get.
Lots of computing power (by modern standards) is not needed, and I've no need to go looking for dedicated GPUs either as my 3d/gaming use is minimal. But things like the size of media libraries, speed of backing up, local network rates and easy compatibility (with other modern stuff that I use) all draw me to more modern port types/speeds. I'm also not keen to buy extra local storage or memory that is getting obsolete (maybe a NAS could alleviate that - but then I would want a faster NIC). There is also a large difference between decoding/encoding on even a basic modern CPU that offers it in hardware versus trying to do it in software on much older slower CPUs.
So all in all, I've decided to come into the modern age for my media kit, but reasonably modestly.
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Except.. the 'in stock' item I ordered from & delivered by amazon has now been given a delivery date up to almost a month away. Presumably someone else beat me to the last one. So I've cancelled and will be trying an alternative retailer.
As the NUC has been (essentially) taken over by asus, I still want to buy from a retailer with their own decent return policies (in case of hardware problems). Thankfully there are a few left over here who remain 'very' good IT retailers; they just don't have amazon lockers or tend to offer things like local/store collect. So there will now be a delay in ordering as I need to negotiate a known (rather than random) day off from work, in order to plan/take a next-day delvery.
On a wider note, and to grumble, this is an ongoing bind for me in most audio projects (and beyond) as almost nothing is available to buy locally anymore, and yet very few online/distance retailers offer anything other than 'to the door' delivery. Where I live, anything that is left outside or entrusted to next door would essentially vanish. This has led to many sub-optimal purchases over recent years, just because I can't get the items that I actually wanted delivered somewhere safe; such is modern life.
As the NUC has been (essentially) taken over by asus, I still want to buy from a retailer with their own decent return policies (in case of hardware problems). Thankfully there are a few left over here who remain 'very' good IT retailers; they just don't have amazon lockers or tend to offer things like local/store collect. So there will now be a delay in ordering as I need to negotiate a known (rather than random) day off from work, in order to plan/take a next-day delvery.
On a wider note, and to grumble, this is an ongoing bind for me in most audio projects (and beyond) as almost nothing is available to buy locally anymore, and yet very few online/distance retailers offer anything other than 'to the door' delivery. Where I live, anything that is left outside or entrusted to next door would essentially vanish. This has led to many sub-optimal purchases over recent years, just because I can't get the items that I actually wanted delivered somewhere safe; such is modern life.
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