My old laptop for self hosting just croaked, and I’m thinking of buying a 2nd hand mini pc, but this time I want to do it proper. I want to optimize the electricity consumption and specs needed/ future upgreadability, considering how expensive everything is now.
My use case is just for self hosting files (infrequent access and reducing reliance to google drive), and occasional dev workload via ssh. I’m thinking of buying a used optiplex with at least i6 gen cpu (SFF or micro form factor), but I want to see if there are better options.
There was a link posted in this subreddit about power consumption comparison of different mini pcs (raspberry pi, n100, etc), and I regret not saving it.
If anyone could suggest me better options it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
The SFF or MT form factors are a lot better, I’d say MT is the best as it has full height PCIe slots. Keep in mind the dell/hp/lenovo models all use proprietary motherboard form factors and power supplies, but not that big of a deal I think since there are so many parts available if something does break.
I highly recommend 7th gen intel or newer, as you get the much better quicksync support and quality.
If you get a desktop class CPU (i5-7500 for example), the whole computer will typically draw around 15W at idle with an SSD, which is pretty decent.
If you need less idle power draw then you’ll want a mobile/notebook class CPU (like an i3-7100u) as the idle usage should be less than 5W. But those typically only come in the micro/mini form factors.
Also good to remember that every 3.5" HDD draws around 7W when idle and spun-up (typically difficult to spin down on servers since there’s always some process accessing files).