At my day job, embedded and a bit of classic EE work, we had our PCs replaced with a mini pc. I don't know which one (I don't really care tbh) but they have 64gb and a Ryzen 9 with a 1TB NVME and they are fricking fast. This got me curious.
My hobbies are messing with embedded Linux, learning UE5, and light gaming. Can any anons give input if a Minisforum UM790 Pro could do the following, or share personal experience?
cross compiling to arm
compiling large C++ e.g. Chrome browser
UE5 editor, I'm still learning so I just want to know if it's viable for larger projects
Run games like BAR, Knights of Honor 2, Torchlight 2, Arma 3, Helldivers 2
I'm open to any alternatives, I just don't need a huge tower taking up a lot of space in my room. I will probably retire it to a server for misc. tasks. Cloud computing can go frick itself.
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point of these minipcs is mostly just to get older gen cpus to the public, I like them because you can have some low power devices that lets you still run basic services like syncthing, backups and similar, for beef and fast work I have beefy machine
the i9-13900T has the same TDP of 35W as the 7940HS, but intel still about 25% more performant, plus you get twice the thread count, and you can get the whole thing in box that small
>i9-13900T
where do you even buy these
>the i9-13900T has the same TDP of 35W as the 7940HS
>but intel still about 25% more performant
probably because TDP is meaningless and Intel consumes double anyway
13900T 35W rating is at 1.1GHz P core / 800MHz E core.
yikes
personally I wouldn't use one as anything other than a /hsg/ box or a HTPC (which I do, by the way), but they are pretty good considering what you pay for them
just make sure you completely nuke the drive before use, considering that bootloader spyware thing that happened a little while ago
dunno if I'd ever consider using it for vidya beyond PS2 emulation though
>bootloader spyware thing that happened a little while ago
What bootloader spyware thing that happened a little while ago?
>just make sure you completely nuke the drive before use, considering that bootloader spyware thing that happened a little while ago
as someone who has a minisforum UM760 pro I bought bare i still had concerns over WPBT (windows platform binary table where windows will grab an EXE from the UEFI table and just run it)
it's an awful feature and microsoft are shitbags for including it. luckily it seems absent from the UM760
>bootloader spyware
I think he's referring to Baton Drop / Black Lotus, a UEFI bootkit. Clever, nasty stuff.
I have a beelink mini s 12 pro or some shit. It's pretty good n100 CPU is all that I need.
I have it as a basic server running OMV and Plex and qbittorent running using docker. Got it so I could keep seeding after moving to my gfs place where there is no room for my rig as every square inch of space is covered in plants.
plants are cool don’t be a dick about it
All information I find on these are server related applications, I guess they are not for my daily use. In my case, I live in a small apartments and space is precious. I already used up all the available space in the laundry closet for my server and nas. Hoping to find a rich qt who can provide me more space lol
This can be run as a daily driver but there are other ryzen based ones that would be better for gaymen.
I also have a steam deck as I travel a lot and it would be pretty good if you want something more capable. The gaymen value really comes from the support from valve and the controls, legit the best controller I have used.
>arma 3
>fotmdivers 2
you still need a discrete GPU to run pretty much every game listed there with bearable performance
except torchlight, but only because it's old as shit and was made by devs that were forced to accommodate the hardware of the time
as long as you get an AMD box it'll make a decent desktop, but don't expect miracles
Well I really do need to run these games at max settings. I did research on Youtube and I already knew it runs like crap even at low settings. And I game for a long periods of times so I would probably murder the mini pc, I was just hoping maybe some anons had different experiences. But yeah, I will most likely just keep my rig till the end of time.
Towers are only an esthetic issue so don't pretend otherwise. When they were the only PCs available no one even noticed. Get creative about placement and they can be out of your way.
I hang a 1U server on my wall and could put a framed poster or painting over it if I cared (I don't) using two L-hooks costing pennies each. Two small generic brackets you can make or buy for next to nothing at a hardware store or online can be screwed or bolted to your PC case so it's off your floor or table.
Computers give no fricks if they're on the ceiling and you already have a large display yours could live behind. If want you can use display arms instead of stands which really do free up desk space. I discard my stands.
Smol PCs are handy though so I'd still get one unless you already have multiple PCs. If you score more you can build a home cluster.
>I hang a 1U server on my wall
Do those tiny fans ever get annoying buzzing away?
Not to me but I don't run high RPM spinner drives (often loud as fans) and if want you can interpose a cheap inline fan control between mobo and fan.
>if want you can interpose a
Something buying MiniPCs won't even look into. I'm still not seeing the benefit of a 1U server PC other than being able to mount it discreetly on a wall or under a desk or something Which a MiniPC will be able to be placed infinitely better than any 1U server blade.
your best bet is a gaming laptop
minipcs don't have a discrete gpu and igpus are simply not powerful enough for gaming
another alternative is miniITX builds, but these imo are not worth the effort and money while a gaming laptop offers you most of the stuff (less space, performant, good power efficiency, portable)
I love mini pcs
I wish Intel didnt discontinue their nuc line
ASUS took it over but immediately butchered it
Frick!
They dont even have ones that can support the 4090
>i love airplane fans brŕrrrrrvrrrrrrrrrr
Theyre not
Look at the Intel NUC 13 Extreme
Custom board for the 13900K and custom cooling unit to run it at stock and stock overclock speeds
Man they were so great
Just what anyone needed for gaming/productivity
I wanted one so badly but couldn’t afford it at that time and now theyre gone
>Theyre not, look at the [ $1,179 model]
sure
a $6k mac pro is not bad either if we're talking extreme hypotheticals instead of N100 and i3 shitboxes everyone buys
the Asus ones look fine to me, what is your issue
good goy
t.pol was here
tesla p4 might be a discrete gpu option to consider. cheap, half height, single slot and crazy efficient, especially considering its age
Got one of these in an sff optiplex together with an i7 4770, for 135€ total honestly not bad at all.
UM780 chad here.
These little laptop chips are great, but the gpu is comparable to a gtx1650. Sure, you could probably run arma, but it would look a lot nicer if you used the oculink adapter and an egpu.
It looks like this newest intel generation will take the lead with the best integrated GPUs.
If I could do it over again, I would buy the ryzen 7840hs on a little itx mobo. It would be nicer to have the full size pcie x16 slot.
>These little laptop chips are great, but the gpu is comparable to a gtx1650
no it's not moron
post game benchmarks to support your amdjeet claim instead of benchmarks where you cheat @ 300%tdp for 10 seconds or get the frick out
The easiest way of looking at mini pcs is they're just laptop hardware in a stacked motherboard configuration. Laptop motherboards are tiny even compared to miniATX, then they fold them in half for a miniPC.
I have one acting as a HTPC in my living room and bedroom and used it to place some rather lightweight games like emulators, stardew, C&C remastered at 4k, and some other older games, stream 4k, and do general normie stuff. Other than initial power on, I simply cannot hear the fan and I hear fricking everything in my house. They make so much more sense than buying a new laptop because I'm not buying a screen and battery, but I'm still getting the benefit of the best possible hardware doing the actual work for the price.
If I had to guess, $300 miniPC will perform on the same level as a $900 laptop because of the lack of a screen, battery, keyboard, and everything specific to laptops. If you're wanting something tiny, low powered, and silent while still having reasonable power determine your budget, find a decent APU to play older games, and still able to push 4k reasonably well (for monitors or TVs) and you'll fall in love with it. Minisforum, Beelink, and I think 1 or 2 other super-chinesey names are out there. I got a beelink.