Any x86 devices that can come close to ARM for power efficiency?

elsmandino · 21. Februar 2023

Hi there.

I currently have a number of individual servers that I would like to combine into one machine:

Raspberry Pi3B+ - running Homeassistant

Odroid HC2 - running Openmediavault (with TVHeadend)

Rasberry Pi1 - running PiHole

I have been patiently waiting for a Raspberry Pi4B (8GB) to become available but I have started to wonder whether ARM devices are necessarily the way to go.

With energy prices the way they are, I want to keep energy usage to a minimum wherever possible.

Are there any mini PCs that can use a similar wattage to ARM devices?

mischka · 21. Februar 2023

A Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB Ram (OMV + Docker for Pihole and Home Assistant) is usually sufficient for this purpose. My Mini-ITX computer with J4105 CPU, 8 GB RAM and 3 SSD (data 1 TB + 2 TB and system 16 GB on USB3) draws a power of almost 6 watts in idle and 12 watts when booting the computer. With a newer Asrock J4125 board, the power consumption should be similarly high. The Raspberry Pi 4 should have a similarly high power consumption under the same conditions.

For the x-86 computer, the OMV autoshutdown when not in use can be effectively used because the computer can be restarted with Wakeonlan. That also saves energy. The automatic shutdown when not in use also works with the Raspberry Pi, but unfortunately the automatic start-up when required does not work.

elsmandino · 22. Februar 2023

Thanks Mischka.

What exact parts did you use for your build? 6 Watts in idle seem really very good.

I was looking at building something from scratch, which would help have the advantage of being able to put my 3.5" drive in a case, rather than having it attached via usb3. However, parts seem so expensive at the moment.

My other options seem to be a mini PC, based off something like Tremont, which are available on Amazon for not too much and seem to be very frugal on energy use.

The third option seems to be a used thin client from Ebay - something like a Dell Wyze 5050 J5005. From what I have read, these seem to have very low energy levels as well, though I have just noticed that they use M.2 Sata and not NVME - not sure if that is going to give me issues, further down the line.

backslash · 22. Februar 2023

Here is a great build guide based upon the J5040/J4125. Sadly in german but with Google you can translate it easily.

NAS Basic 2.1 - Mini-ITX Eigenbau-NAS mit 4x SATA und passiver 4-Kern CPU

Das NAS Basic 2.1 ist unsere aktuellste Eigenbau-Anleitung für ein Mini-ITX NAS. Wie schon bei den voran gegangenen Anleitungen setzen wir auch in diesem Bau..

www.elefacts.de

elsmandino · 22. Februar 2023

Thanks for that - I had no idea that parts were so expensive at the moment.

I think that this shall have to narrow my options to either a pre-built mini PC or perhaps a used thin client.

Would something like this suffice:

Beelink U59 Pro N5105 Processor Business Mini PC, Intel 11th Gen 4 Cores, 8GB DDR4 500G SSD, 4K Dual HDMI Office PC Mini, Auto Power On/Wake On LAN, 2.4G/5G WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, Type-C : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

or would it perhaps be better to consider something like a Dell Wyze 5070 J5005? They can be had on Ebay for less than £100.00.

There are a few N6000 PCs that seem to be available, using a really impressive 6w, but not sure whether the energy saving is worth the extra price.re

mischka · 22. Februar 2023

The Asrock J4125B-ITX is not that expensive (around 100 euros). But it only has two SATA ports. That's enough if you boot the system via USB3. The board has the same structure as the somewhat older Asrock J4105B-itx I used. I personally don't need a raid. The two SATA connections are sufficient. I don't know whether the Wyse 5070 has a SATA interface in addition to the M.2 slot (according to Dell, yes). Otherwise the part would also work. I don't know if the installation of OMV will be difficult at times. I've had bad experiences installing Debian on the Dell Wyse 3040. Wasn't that easy. The J5005 has roughly the same power consumption as the J4105.

mischka · 3. März 2023

I have now bought a used Dell Wyse 5070 with a J4105 processor. I like the device. The device does not have any SATA connections apart from an M.2 connection. In addition to LAN, it also has WiFi. I will deal intensively with the device in the next few days.

randomUser1234 · 3. März 2023

I use the J5040 board from AsRock. I bought it used at around 150€ a few months ago. Before that I used an AsRock Q1900. The later one now serves as my router/firewall but it would still be quite capable for the tasks you have listed. It probably costs around 30€-60€ right now.

With these boards the energy draw from two HDDs is significant larger than the board. The boards themselve draw 5-10 Watt with a minimal PSU.

lolek · 28. März 2023

Zitat von elsmandino

With energy prices the way they are, I want to keep energy usage to a minimum wherever possible.

Are there any mini PCs that can use a similar wattage to ARM devices?

Asrock B460 ITX + i3 10100 with 400W PSU GOLD (better would be 300W PSU GOLD) with 3VMs running takes around 12W with one SSD.

MarcS · 28. März 2023

These Asrock boards look interesting as faster alternatives to ARMs. Has anyne built a NAS with 4 or 8 HDs with it (maybe even 2.5'' HDs)? What casing do you recommend?

macosomv · 28. März 2023

I'm using a j5040-itx board in my omv. it has 4 SATA on board. I also have a Jmicron JMB58x m.2 2230 to sata adapter which adds another 2 ports. So 6 total right now, and if I need more drives I'll add a pcie card.

It's in a silverstone DS380 case, which is small but does hold 8 3.5" drives in hot swap bays (plus 4 2.5" internal).

If you get one I'd recommend 3d printing or buying a fan duct to ensure the hard drives cool properly.

Creating a Cooling Duct for the SilverStone DS380B

In the building of the DIY NAS: 2017 Edition, I’d made a potentially tragic mistake of putting it somewhere with zero airflow, which triggered an alert inside…

blog.briancmoses.com

Cooling Fan Duct For Silverstone DS380B Case by patshead.com on Tindie

A pair of carbon fiber fan ducts for Brian Moses's 2017 DIY NAS build

www.tindie.com

lolek · 28. März 2023

Zitat von MarcS

These Asrock boards look interesting as faster alternatives to ARMs. Has anyne built a NAS with 4 or 8 HDs with it (maybe even 2.5'' HDs)?

actually getting more than 3 hdd with ASrock will be tricky as it has only 4 sata and no storage capable M.2 you'll need some expansion using PCI-E and this can be also tricky as I found that many adapters aren't recommended.

Also Asrock is being quite picky with memory but in the end you can put there even 32GB of mem (16GB in each slot!)

For the case, it's ITX so it's only matter of what you will find. But if you have some dollars to spend, the Jonsbo N1 looks very good for what you need.

lolek · 29. März 2023

Zitat von macosomv

So 6 total right now,

can I ask why do you need 5 hdds?

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