Which small case Linux box to choose?

[linux-works]

I have not checked celerons for a long time, but the atom's I've used were great for most things that didn't need a lot of cpu.  i/o was decent and the chipsets were decent enough, as well.

the nvidia ion gpu that was 'connected' to to the atom was quite good for its day.  still good for most video types.




this atom (n2800) is a low profile board and it fits the m350 case and allows a horizontal pci-e card to be mounted in a very small space.  not sure celerons are that low profile (?)

[Monkeh]

fanless atom mini-itx box.

done.

agree, atom is done atoms are dead-slow compared to other modern celeron CPUs.

Other modern Celeron CPUs like the J1900, which is a Bay Trail-D? You know.. an Atom.

The J1900 is an Atom with bits turned off (ECC, NX, AES-NI).

Avoton and Rangeley would like a word with you outside about being called dead slow.

[linux-works]

I bought this fanless heatpipe style case recently:

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Home-Theater-FLM-8-Black-aluminum/dp/B0072IRVKK

its a knock-off of the streacom brand (I have both, actually, and the streacom is slightly better made but only slightly; and its $60 more).

the lowest power i3 I could find was:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EUVEFEC

i3-4130t at 35w

truly a low-power cpu that can work well in a fanless case.

good mobo for it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KRUX0PU

in fact, I found a (pretty hard to find) i7-4790t:

http://ark.intel.com/products/80809/Intel-Core-i7-4790T-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz

via special order at my local store and its 45w, with 4 cores and 8 threads.  builds linux kernels from source in very quick time!  video encodes with all 8 threads very fast, too.  and still fanless.

forget about the i7, you won't be able to find that T-version.  but the i3 is quite affordable (I think so) and its a very capable cpu.  its my main work desktop and with 16gig of ram, it will be a while before I have any desire for an upgrade.

fanless is the only way I build, these days.  can't stand system noise!  and with those heatpipe cases, you can go fanless and not have to resort to super low-end cpus.

[Monkeh]

forget about the i7, you won't be able to find that T-version.

I think they're all being sucked up by OEMs and the upcoming i7 NUC.

[linux-works]

I don't have any pics of my fanless case inside, but here's one user who has some photos.  note, he mounted his heatpipe metal end-caps wrong, but that's his fault, not the case's   and I have no idea why he went with a fan.  kind of a waste of a $200 case if you buy heatpipes and then cram a fan in there (doh!).  but if you ignore his bizarre-ness, this is how that streacom case looks inside.  I liked it enough to buy two of those for myself:





when I take some shots of my own, I'll post those.  mine will look better than his, lol.

[linux-works]

forget about the i7, you won't be able to find that T-version.

I think they're all being sucked up by OEMs and the upcoming i7 NUC.

you can't normally buy the t (tray) versions and they only come with 30days warranty (in the US).  I had my store search them out and they found 5 of them (a few months ago) and they said that was it, no more left.

the new gen will have some low power chips in i7, too, I would guess, so if the haswell stock is gone, wait for the next chipset.

btw, with that i7 chip and the hd4600 video onboard, I am able to drive my vizio display (brand new, m-model 39") at 1920x1080@120hz.  yes, real actual true 120hz from the intel video out (hdmi 1.4) into the vizio.  120hz is NIIIIIICE!  I'm so glad I decided to splurge on the i7 for my htpc

[Monkeh]

I have no idea why he went with a fan.

That fan probably makes less noise than the mechanical HDD and will substantially help with cooling the rest of the system.

Now, as to why he put a mechanical HDD in there..

you can't normally buy the t (tray) versions and they only come with 30days warranty (in the US).  I had my store search them out and they found 5 of them (a few months ago) and they said that was it, no more left.

Oh, right, tray version. They're semi-available here but there can be delays. OEMs get priority. That one's been overdue at my usual supplier for about a week, it'll crop up again..

[zapta]

Is this a reasonable option?  I presume the 30G SSD is included and can later be upgraded and that Linux is supported.  I5, fanless, 4G ram and wifil.   12VDC adapter not included, right?

http://amzn.com/B00P7K19MQ



Edit: this one comes with 128G SSD.  http://amzn.com/B00P7KUNJQ

[Monkeh]

I would get something from a better known brand than ShenZhen Qotom Technology CO., LTD.

Options on Newegg around the $300-350 mark:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856102069
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164015
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164007

These all need an SSD and RAM as well, mind. But at least they come with proper power supplies.

Linux should not be a problem.

I believe they have fans but they are very, very low power at idle. They shouldn't be loud.

[linux-works]

if you can find it (and its not hard to) - its still a better idea to go with standard motherboards and standard parts.

the mini-itx is a nice small form-factor and its standard.  the nuc is not a standard (its intel-only) and other small bricks are proprietary.

in the long-run, its better to go with replaceable parts.

and don't settle for a fan.  its just NOT needed anymore.  don't be tempted.  stick to your goals of 100% fanless.  5 or more years ago, it was hard to do.  today, there are lots of fanless choices for system builds.

[linux-works]

I have no idea why he went with a fan.

That fan probably makes less noise than the mechanical HDD and will substantially help with cooling the rest of the system.

its just silly to spend $200 on a case - with big fancy heatpipes - and then hack in a fan where it never belonged.  maybe he picked a higher power chip but the solution is to use the 45w or lower chips (I would not even use 65w chips in that case) and not to garbage the whole thing up with a fan like that!

when I found an i3 at 35w, I grabbed it.  that's a nice number for passive cooling without needing a big heatsink.

[zapta]

and don't settle for a fan.  its just NOT needed anymore.  don't be tempted.  stick to your goals of 100% fanless.  5 or more years ago, it was hard to do.  today, there are lots of fanless choices for system builds.

My concern is also dust, this will sit on a floor near the cable modem and a fan will accumulate a lot of dust inside over the years.

As for power supply, if I will buy a Chineese product, I will make sure to replace the 12V power supply with a quality one and a better connector that don't come off easily. Basically I want to install once and forget about its physical existence.

[linux-works]

that was one appeal of that n2800 intel atom board.  atx voltages are broken out onboard so you give the board just an 18v laptop supply and the board (from intel, which I trust to not use fake parts) does all the important voltage regulation.

I like to minimize failure contact points.  so the m-sata drive 'bay' is a must-have for me, the onboard psu is, and if I can avoid having any option modules dangling from wires (like sata drives or pci-e cards) so much the better.  the atom cpu is soldered on, so no worries about sockets.  its heatsink is designed by the manuf, so no guesswork there.  its as industrial as you can get while still being consumer priced.

its an old model, though.  probably not buyable anymore, but it gives an idea of what to look for, in a mini-itx.  the less connections you have, the better.  one of my n2800's is my pfSense firewall.  throw it in a corner and forget it, just what you want.

[linux-works]

uploaded some pics of my fanless linux/win build:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/share-your-pc-build/msg613694/#msg613694