My 4th gen xeon is getting old. The fact dell/hp/lenovo all make nice 1 liter pcs that are firly upgradable is there any reason not to get one?
Any reason not to get a micro PC. nickname 1 liter
- Thread starter Fordiesel69
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If you do anything that needs a dedicated GPU you're SOL but for daily usage browsing the web, office work, streaming, etc. the onboard graphics are more than enough.
Intel killed off their NUCs but like you mentioned, a lot of competition in this space. I'd go Lenovo, Dell, HP, in that order if I was buying one. You can get a gently used, one or two year old model, dirt cheap on eBay, etc. for way cheaper than new.
They are basically laptop hardware in a small box.
so as long as you dont want to upgrade (memory and hdd/ssd is upgradable)
and dont need more than onboard graphics.
you will be fine.
This 110$ box would be fine for basic browsing etc.
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This 238$ amd is even faster-- from a 5min look I'd get this one.
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so as long as you dont want to upgrade (memory and hdd/ssd is upgradable)
and dont need more than onboard graphics.
you will be fine.
This 110$ box would be fine for basic browsing etc.
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I know our warehouses use micros. Dell 7010.
Whereas corporate gets laptops. I’m likely talking something else, however.
So is laptop gear in a small case any worse performance than a larger motherboard and larger ram sticks?
Nope. You'll be limited to that one CPU in the mini-PC since those are not upgradable compared to a desktop motherboard/CPU, but compromises. Since you've been rocking a 2013 CPU this long, I think you'll fit right into using a mini-PC as long as you don't game on it.
I like the mini-PC stuff though for when you don't need more power than a laptop but need a bigger and more useful screen than a laptop. School IT departments love them a lot.
Well you have to compare the processor. Desktop processors usually use 3-10x the power.. yes they can be faster..
but since they all have model numbers a quick google will tell you the expected performance.
For example the ryzen 5 5500u is around 13000 cpumark.
In the same budget there is not much performance difference.
Now if you want to spend 300$ on a mini pc or 1000 on a desktop.. I'd hope it was faster.
I don't know that upgradeability is such a big deal for most users. Even back when I was into gaming and overclocking, usually, you'd replace the board/CPU/video card/memory all at one go anyways, so it's not a whole lot different just replacing the whole computer.
Those days are long behind me, and the BeeLink unit I just upgraded to was still something like 80% faster than my old AMD A10 APU.
The only thing that would hang you up is if you're doing a lot of work with optical drives still. I can't remember the last time I burned a BluRay or DVD, so I didn't bother with getting a UBS/external one. I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it. I can always fire up the machine I just replaced if I need to burn something, but I don't see that happening any time soon.
I'm pretty happy with the upgrade overall. Does everything I need it to.
Those days are long behind me, and the BeeLink unit I just upgraded to was still something like 80% faster than my old AMD A10 APU.
The only thing that would hang you up is if you're doing a lot of work with optical drives still. I can't remember the last time I burned a BluRay or DVD, so I didn't bother with getting a UBS/external one. I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it. I can always fire up the machine I just replaced if I need to burn something, but I don't see that happening any time soon.
I'm pretty happy with the upgrade overall. Does everything I need it to.
They work fine. We have a ton of the Dell Micros on campus and they work quite well and have decent specs for the price. I have a Optiplex 7070 Micro at work with an i-5 and I upgraded it from 16GB to 32GB of RAM. Works great and I run quite a few programs on it (Win 11).
Not everyone needs a giant gaming tower to surf the web and check e-mail.
What is your use and habits on a PC? A Xeon implies you either got an old computer 2nd hand or possibly used it for something requiring many cores.
That all being said an i5 or i7 (if you need cores) is likely a great path. Even i3 would suffice if you describe usage.
I don't see the point of these mini desktops. If I wanted a workstation class machine or a gaming rig, I'd use a bigger case. If I just needed something for office work or development, or even just for surfing the web, a laptop and a USB docking station are ideal.
In an environment where portability is not needed and desk space is limited or there's no feasible/safe place to put a tower, a miniPC works since it can mount onto the back of a monitor and can still operate/more user friendly than being limited to laptop real estate. In a business environment, this means we can clear up desk space by mounting the miniPC to the back of a monitor and reuse our current keyboard/mouse/monitors. We're not limited to the surface area taken up by a laptop, even when it's used in a desktop situation and not having to replace the entire unit if somebody decides to spill BBQ sauce on their computer.
When I built it in april of 2014, the xenon e3-1245v3 was 100 bucks cheaper than the i7-4770, and I was not going to overclock so I was not going to spring for the K version anyways. The xenon is the same chip but with better cut of silicone, you just had to make sure it had proper bios / uefi support. The Haswell-E was not out yet. Honestly I overbuilt it so I could keep it long term, and my plan paid off. It still feels like a modern machine for the most part (other than the high idle power consumption, and when using youtube im over 120 watts on the killawatt meter. Our 12th gen computers at work idle at 6 watts and peak at 34 watts watching 4k video.
So if I was looking at a 1 litre, what brand is the best? Dell / HP / Lenovo?
