Hi everyone,

I am looking to upgrade my current home server: a Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) for something more capable, but still with low power consumption. Nothing overkill. My current setup on the Raspberry Pi 4 is based on OpenMediaVault, and I run Jellyfin, Navidrome, Radicale, Trilium and Syncthing as Docker containers. This has two HDDs connected: a 6TB almost full with movies and series, and a 4TB with around 1 TB of music and the data from Docker. It works mostly OK, but Jellyfin eats the RAM quite easily (the library is not that small) and I need to restart it or it will eventually crash the whole thing.

I have seen here and in similar forums people using and recommending miniPCs with an intel N100 processor, often purchased on AliExpress. I have never used AliExpress and don’t have a deep knowledge of processors, power consumption, etc. So my main questions are:

  • is a miniPC with an N100 processor still a good option these days for an amateur like me (enough power, low energy consumption)?
  • is AliExpress a reliable place to buy a computer for this purpose (shipping to EU)?

I already looked around in AliExpress and found some options, from brands like Bmax, MLLSE, GMKTec, FIREBAT… first time I heard of any of them. From what I have seen there my preference would be:

  • GMKTec G3 Mini PC, which seems to have the option to upgrade the RAM (this is not fully clear from what I see on AliExpress) and also has the option to add a second SSD drive. It has 4 USB3 ports so I can add more HDDS in the future in addition to the 2 I currently use. It comes in 2 variants: 8GB RAM + 256GB SSD drive for 112.39€ / 16GB RAM + 512GB SSD drive for 133.39€.

or the

  • Bmax B4 Plus. This one seems to not have the ability to upgrade the RAM, but it claims to have a 2.5 inch hard drive slot, so I could add an HDD to it. It comes with 2 USB3 ports and 2 USB2 ports, plus a USB-C port. With 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD drive, it has a price of 132.02€.

Does anyone have any of these miniPCs and can confirm if the RAM/SSD are upgradable? Would you recommend them or something completely different?

  • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    14·
    4 hours ago

    Similar cost, more flexibility, quite a bit more power - usff PCs. Tiny / mini / micro, used. Less wattage than an incandescent light bulb, and some can compete with a pi 5 in idle power consumption.

    I’ve got an elitedesk 800 (i5-7500t) clocking in at about 6W at idle. Take a look and see if it will work for you.

      • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusEnglish
        2·
        1 hour ago

        Oh definitely they are my preferred overall.

        I tend to find mostly dells, with a few HP’s and lenovos. Next to me are… 3 lenovos, 4 dells, and 2 HP’s. A few more are in the bin behind me I’ll need to test and sort out before I put into use (anything dead I salvage what I can).

        Edit: And the lenovos almost always seem to have a full GPU in them which is nice

    • parse_error@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      3 hours ago

      Second this. There are so many used cheap on eBay. You can usually upgrade the RAM and storage if needed. For Jellyfin pay attention to what video chipset is embedded. Also, pay attention to the listing, some don’t include a power supply, which can get you good deals, but make sure you know so you can price the PSU in.

    • sramder@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 hours ago

      My 14 year old intel system with 5 hard drives uses 78 Watts… which is less than a 90 Watt lightbulb :-) I’ve got LED bulbs that pull more than 7 ;-)

      • sramder@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        3 hours ago

        Oh yeah… RAM and SSD are upgraded in those systems. At least the GMK cubes. I use those as clients for the media server. Delightfully easy too, the top just pulls off, SSD and RAM are right there.

        Some models have EMMC storage that isn’t upgradeable but they also have an SSD.

      • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusEnglish
        2·
        3 hours ago

        Completely fair, I was thinking of the little 15W desk lamp stuff, but the bigger/brighter incandescents could rival my desktop for sure!

        • sramder@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          3 hours ago

          I was pretty surprised it was that low. I think there’s a 500W power supply in there. I never measured it when it was my desktop and had GPU.

  • tomkatt@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 hours ago

    I use an AMD mini-PC with Ryzen 5700u, 32GB RAM, connected with my home NAS. Similar software stack, the server is hosted via Proxmox, no issues.

  • ZealotOfLuna@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    3 hours ago

    Another option might be to go with a Raspberry Pi 5 if you want an upgrade but stay in the Pi ecosystem. I currently run a box off of one and it’s been great.

    • oneser@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      3 hours ago

      Amy idea what it’s like tunneling into a pi based server via the internet? I’m looking to see if I should upgrade before I go further…

      • AtariDump@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        It works. I do it with a Pi 3; the limiting factor is usually the WAN and not the 10/100 NIC on the Pi itself.