Mini PC

[LunarMist]

I need a simple and small computer to replace one that is offsite and has died this week.
I'm leaning towards Intel NUC or maybe the smallest version of Lenovo ThinkCenter, Dell Orptiplex, etc..
The use case is rather limited currently, but I want something that should be useable for 3-5 years.
I will need to buy, set up and ship it next week.
I'm thinking that i5 8th gen, 8GB RAM, 250/256GB SSD is fine.
I my add an old 2.5" drive as a backup. Thanks.

 

[Stereodude]

Definitely get the Orptiplex because it has a great name.

 

[LunarMist]

That's not helpful.

 

[Stereodude]

About as helpful as can be expected given the lack of details in your first point. Why do you want such a tiny PC?

 

[LunarMist]

For portability and reduced shipping costs. Are the small ones less reliable?

 

[Stereodude]

For portability and reduced shipping costs. Are the small ones less reliable?

Well, they probably run hotter which isn't great for reliability. Are you the IT person?

 

[LunarMist]

Yes. I'm reading complaints about the poor Lenovo quality, lack of support and issues with Windows updates. Maybe a clean Windows on the NUC would be better in the long run for updates. I just don't know about Dell. The small towers have relatively higher power CPUs, but mostly are stocked with 1TB HDDs.

 

[Stereodude]

I wouldn't want to be responsible for the warranty, but maybe you feel differently or are already the IT person.

 

[Chewy509]

My only recommendation would be either the Dell Optiplex 3070 mini with 5yr onsite warranty, or the HP EliteDesk 800 with 3yr onsite warranty... Note, both Dell and HP offer all-in-one variants, and small form factor variants of the above as well.

The reason I point these models out, is the companies offer next day onsite warranty support, so let them handle replacement of hardware onsite.

The Intel NUC's will most likely do, providing you're happy dealing with warranty issues yourself.

But without specifics, can't be more helpful.

eg OS environment? cloud infrastructure being used? Windows AD environment? Boot from LAN or OS deployment from LAN setup? RDP, Citrix or other remote desktop? Typically applications used? MS Office, LibreOffice, SAP, Oracle ERP, etc?

 

[Stereodude]

But without specifics, can't be more helpful.

Not to worry, you won't get them.

 

[Chewy509]

And.... you're correct...

And no mention of what he/she went with either?

 

[LunarMist]

I was joking about the cameras. It seems like every other movie on cable there was one back in the 80s-90s. LOL

 

[Stereodude]

And.... you're correct...

And no mention of what he/she went with either?

Now it all makes sense. It needs to be small so there's no room for a spy camera in the vents.

 

[LunarMist]

No, I meant in the bathroom. Somehow this thread is about the PC. Later on that...

 

[LunarMist]

My only recommendation would be either the Dell Optiplex 3070 mini with 5yr onsite warranty, or the HP EliteDesk 800 with 3yr onsite warranty... Note, both Dell and HP offer all-in-one variants, and small form factor variants of the above as well.

The reason I point these models out, is the companies offer next day onsite warranty support, so let them handle replacement of hardware onsite.

The Intel NUC's will most likely do, providing you're happy dealing with warranty issues yourself.

But without specifics, can't be more helpful.

eg OS environment? cloud infrastructure being used? Windows AD environment? Boot from LAN or OS deployment from LAN setup? RDP, Citrix or other remote desktop? Typically applications used? MS Office, LibreOffice, SAP, Oracle ERP, etc?

I have no idea what most of that means. Imagine you have an 85 year old "uncle" or someone that like role model 1200 miles away.
I drove a fair distance to buy the mini Dells as time is essential with my July schedule. Dell offers an inexpensive onsite warranty, but I don't think that would be a good idea with the dogs.
Anyway, most all issues will be human error and lack of understanding. The OptiPlex seems to be fairly well made. Even under full CPU loads it only reaches the mid 60s°C on the six cores and is not too loud. There is space for one M.2 and one 2.5" drive. The latter is in a little tray with rubber isolators.

 

[LunarMist]

The mini Dell Optoplex lasted less a little over 2 years. It developed an intermittent issue with not outputting any videos from boot.
For a while it was left on 24/7, but Windows 10 updates create automatic reboots and then both videos (DP and HDMI) again die 80+% of the time. I would not recommend Dell POS OptoPlex.

 

[Mercutio]

I've been a big fan of the Lenovo m-Series Nano desktops. I have probably ~100 of them spread across various clients, and they're pretty easy to get as lease returned units as well. They're solid machines, but I do wish they had two more USB ports than they typically have.

 

[LunarMist]

I'm only seeing one model here M75n. Maybe there were others in the past.

 

[Mercutio]

There are m90 models as well, which I think are called Tiny rather than Nano. The m75 is Ryzen-based and the 90s are Intel. They're available with i9s and up to 64GB RAM, which is a pretty serious PC so long as you don't need a GPU, and they support 2xnVME and a 2.5" drive.

Everything with Think branding and an AMD CPU from Lenovo is half-assed.

 

[LunarMist]

I'm probably not configured correctly. Anyways, it's unlikely that we'll ever need one again. After using the last experince with the NUC, I'd just get another one like that.

I'm hoping Intel can reduce the powers in the next generation.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm hoping Intel can reduce the powers in the next generation.

Supposedly that's the big thing we get out of Adler Lake, with the Efficiency cores and all. I feel like I like AMD's full-fat "Cores are Cores" approach. If I were concerned about efficient cores I'd be entertaining Apple's M-series, but as it stands, I can use a Chromebook with a mediocre MediaTek SOC to remote in to a big-boy PC if that's what I'm worried about. Battery life is almost a non-issue on those guys.

Unfortunately, I've been doing enough video work that now I'd like to make sure whatever laptop PC I buy next can run Resolve at some reasonable fraction of what my desktop can handle. My current Thinkpad does not do that, even though it has a discrete GPU and an 8 thread CPU.

 

[LunarMist]

The few Intel 13th generation NUCs are all huge!
Is there any indication when we will see 13th generation "NUC 13" in the traditional small form factor?

 

[Mercutio]

The current Core CPUs night be too hot for the little VESA box form factor. The little NUCs don't have a whole lot of cooling built in at all.

 

[sedrosken]

I don't think the main constraint is explicitly wattage for these newer chips, I think it's thermal density. It's a lot more difficult to wick heat away from something when the die's so small it can only barely make contact with a heatpipe. It's the main reason why there was a minor stink about Zen3 and how much warmer it idled than Zen2 and Zen1/+.

 

[Mercutio]

I just ran across this on Ebay, but I imagine the Newegg link is probably more appreciated since it has more info. 8c16t, Zen 2 GPU, 2x DDR5, SATA and nvme. Seems like an absolute dream of a NUC-alike to me.

 

[ddrueding]

That looks roughly the same as this one?

 

[LunarMist]

It seems that the lower powered Ryzen mobiles are Zen 3+, not yet Zen 4.

 

[LunarMist]

That looks roughly the same as this one?

No, that is Intel. ASROcs makes both Intel and AMD NUCs. Here is an article about the ASrock 1360P NUC. In the larger case it is also at the https://www.newegg.com/asrock-nuc-box-1360p-d4/p/N82E16856158090]NEWegg. I can't fix the link in the window.