3 ms·

Same here. Just spent €150 on something more powerful and versatile and more complete than this pi. IMHO the pi is tremendously overpriced.

by spockz 2y ago

FrustratedMonky 2y ago
What was it? Model?
- nosioptar 2y ago
  Not parent, I'm mostly looking at small thinkcentres for that price. The last one I looked at was about $60 for a unit that needs a power supply (about $20) and a couple drives. I haven't figured out a specific model I want yet.
  - FrustratedMonky 2y ago
    Thanks. Do yo mean Lenovo thinkcentres?. Checked out their page, and they seem a lot more expensive.
    - nosioptar 2y ago
      They are, I should have specified that I'm looking at used ones.
      - FrustratedMonky 2y ago
        I missed them. Was under different category. They do look good. Though, I think aimed at business. So probably some upcharge. https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-Tiny-Desktop-Mini/dp/B0DFR6GW1Z/ref=asc_df_B0DFR6GW1Z?mcid=50888ca7af3e35dfbf940e315c122866&hvocijid=8177130061350249235-B0DFR6GW1Z-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8177130061350249235&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9219436&hvtargid=pla-2281435177818&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-Tiny-Desktop-Mini/...
        LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
        They are excellent. I have a few of these with Intel Core i5-7500t and Core i7-7700t (both 35W TDP), with either 65W or 90W powerbricks, each with 32GB and varying SSDs. Excellent because of the quality of their BIOS/Firmware. You can throw anything at them, and it just runs without errors. Even most exotic stuff like https://genode.org https://genode.org , not to speak of any *BSD, Solaris-derivative, or some Linux. Suspend to RAM, and successfully waking up from that works every single time, without special setup, no matter where and what. Hibernation/Suspend to disk is up to you and the setup, but no problems there, either. Rock solid experience even with the 'most riced' kernels and userland by https://cachyos.org https://cachyos.org running Plasma/KDE on 'oh noez! BTRFS!1!1!!' If the number of ports and their speed is enough, they are good for homelabbing and even casual desktop-use. Expansion not so much, except via USB3. (5Gb/s only) I know nothing about later models, but these are more than enough for my uses. Very stress free.
- bayindirh 2y ago
  GMKTec G3 is a very good N100 PC. It's not the smallest one and its SATA port is also M2, but its NVMe port is x2 instead of x1. Another alternative is BeeLink's S12 series, which accept 2.5" SATA drives and M2 NVMe drives. However, the NVMe port on these systems are x1. Both are silent (for active cooling), dependable systems, but not as silent and small as a passively cooled RPi5.
- spockz 2y ago
  It is a minisforum UN100L. I disabled WiFi and other devices I don’t use in the bios. And then run Linux with the power saving mode. I also applied all the suggestions from powertop. Some suggest to also disable boost. Although it does save a bit of power by preventing spikes of power, it also makes the whole machine that much slower. So I’m content with the device using 4W idle, 8W-12W for busy, and a max of 24W when maxing out the CPU and GPU.

Same here. Just spent €150 on something more powerful and versatile and more complete than this pi. IMHO the pi is tremendously overpriced.

by spockz 2y ago

Same here. Just spent €150 on something more powerful and versatile and more complete than this pi. IMHO the pi is tremendously overpriced.

FrustratedMonky 2y ago

What was it? Model?

nosioptar 2y ago
Not parent, I'm mostly looking at small thinkcentres for that price. The last one I looked at was about $60 for a unit that needs a power supply (about $20) and a couple drives. I haven't figured out a specific model I want yet.
- FrustratedMonky 2y ago
  Thanks. Do yo mean Lenovo thinkcentres?. Checked out their page, and they seem a lot more expensive.
  - nosioptar 2y ago
    They are, I should have specified that I'm looking at used ones.
    - FrustratedMonky 2y ago
      I missed them. Was under different category. They do look good. Though, I think aimed at business. So probably some upcharge. https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-Tiny-Desktop-Mini/dp/B0DFR6GW1Z/ref=asc_df_B0DFR6GW1Z?mcid=50888ca7af3e35dfbf940e315c122866&hvocijid=8177130061350249235-B0DFR6GW1Z-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8177130061350249235&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9219436&hvtargid=pla-2281435177818&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-Tiny-Desktop-Mini/...
      - LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
        They are excellent. I have a few of these with Intel Core i5-7500t and Core i7-7700t (both 35W TDP), with either 65W or 90W powerbricks, each with 32GB and varying SSDs. Excellent because of the quality of their BIOS/Firmware. You can throw anything at them, and it just runs without errors. Even most exotic stuff like https://genode.org https://genode.org , not to speak of any *BSD, Solaris-derivative, or some Linux. Suspend to RAM, and successfully waking up from that works every single time, without special setup, no matter where and what. Hibernation/Suspend to disk is up to you and the setup, but no problems there, either. Rock solid experience even with the 'most riced' kernels and userland by https://cachyos.org https://cachyos.org running Plasma/KDE on 'oh noez! BTRFS!1!1!!' If the number of ports and their speed is enough, they are good for homelabbing and even casual desktop-use. Expansion not so much, except via USB3. (5Gb/s only) I know nothing about later models, but these are more than enough for my uses. Very stress free.
bayindirh 2y ago
GMKTec G3 is a very good N100 PC. It's not the smallest one and its SATA port is also M2, but its NVMe port is x2 instead of x1. Another alternative is BeeLink's S12 series, which accept 2.5" SATA drives and M2 NVMe drives. However, the NVMe port on these systems are x1. Both are silent (for active cooling), dependable systems, but not as silent and small as a passively cooled RPi5.
spockz 2y ago
It is a minisforum UN100L. I disabled WiFi and other devices I don’t use in the bios. And then run Linux with the power saving mode. I also applied all the suggestions from powertop. Some suggest to also disable boost. Although it does save a bit of power by preventing spikes of power, it also makes the whole machine that much slower. So I’m content with the device using 4W idle, 8W-12W for busy, and a max of 24W when maxing out the CPU and GPU.