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dandy722-Aug-24 4:20

2-Aug-24 4:20

Absolutely.

As mentioned, I have a few of them. There are instances where I picked a model with a smaller/cheaper drive, but just replaced/complemented it with a spare I already had.

Likewise with RAM, I've got systems I intentionally bought with less memory than offered as I replaced it anyway with a separate 64GB kit. Right now I have more spare 8/16GB DDR4 sticks than I'll never need...

pkfox5-Sep-24 22:07

5-Sep-24 22:07

Do the beelinks have any spare M2 2280 slots in them ?

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

dandy726-Sep-24 3:31

6-Sep-24 3:31

As a spare, no - most models have a regular SSD (empty) slot for their spare/secondary, while the primary is M.2 (except, I believe, for their cheapest models, which might not even be made anymore).

Although I'm not sure about physical dimensions; your best bet is to check with BeeLink itself (https://www.bee-link.com/), since Amazon listings are often not 100% accurate.

charlieg31-Jul-24 1:16

31-Jul-24 1:16

$800 seems extremely expensive...

then again, looking at piece parts at Home Depot, I'm stunned.

Charlie Gilley

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

Has never been more appropriate.

honey the codewitch31-Jul-24 1:50

honey the codewitch

31-Jul-24 1:50

They're usually around $300. Sometimes about half that.

Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

rnbergren30-Jul-24 9:16

rnbergren

30-Jul-24 9:16

Thankyou. Did not know about this site. Good info

To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

Roger Wright30-Jul-24 20:16

Roger Wright

30-Jul-24 20:16

I just received a Geekom IT13, rated #4 in your list, and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. It's a bit more powerful than the full-sixed tower I7 machine I built a year ago, and about half the cost.

Will Rogers never met me.

RickZeeland30-Jul-24 21:45

RickZeeland

30-Jul-24 21:45

Very powerful indeed, but the downside is that it can get a bit noisy.
A less powerful and more quiet model is the GEEKOM A7, here is a test with Windows 11 and Ubuntu:
GEEKOM A7 Review: This AMD Ryzen 7040HS series mini PC hits the sweet spot - Liliputing[^]

Jeremy Falcon30-Jul-24 6:58

Jeremy Falcon

30-Jul-24 6:58

Why not just get a newer NUC?

Jeremy Falcon

pkfox30-Jul-24 9:00

30-Jul-24 9:00

Because it's just getting louder and running hotter all the time when not really doing anything stressful

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

charlieg31-Jul-24 1:57

31-Jul-24 1:57

Everything is clean inside right?

I'd look hard at the cooler, maybe re-do the paste on the cpu with a new cooler fan and see what happens.

Charlie Gilley

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

Has never been more appropriate.

pkfox31-Jul-24 20:58

31-Jul-24 20:58

From what I've read Charlie it's a common fault with ageing NUCs

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

charlieg1-Aug-24 2:21

1-Aug-24 2:21

I believe you. the small units are very focused. Still, if you get 10 years out of a system... In my heavy development days, after my laptop hit 3 years, I would start shopping. For my non laptop systems, I build them myself. I know exactly what is going into them. I'm looking at my Ryzen 9 machine that is thundering along after 5 years. The goal was to have sufficient horsepower to run multiple VMs. Eventually I'll get to all VMs.

Charlie Gilley

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

Has never been more appropriate.

dandy722-Aug-24 4:27

2-Aug-24 4:27

pkfox wrote:
it's a common fault with ageing NUCs

That's certainly been my experience, and IMO is the untold reason Intel exited the NUC market - thermal management has always been a problem for Intel, and packing that much hardware in a tiny enclosure isn't something they can do while also providing something that'll last.

I still can barely hear the fan in my oldest Beelink even if I stick my ear right on it. When both of my NUCs were near the end of their respective lives, I could hear their fan 24/7 at a distance. I did blow dust out of them regularly with compressed air.

pkfox2-Aug-24 10:21

2-Aug-24 10:21

I received my new box today and have spent most of the day installing stuff and so far its excellent

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

dandy724-Aug-24 5:03

4-Aug-24 5:03

Sweet

I love these little boxes.

People keep their computers these days for a lot longer than they used to, but every time someone comes to me and asks for recommendations, this is where I start.

I have a relative who had to deal with a dead computer in his small carwash business. The Beelink I recommended blew his mind, to the point where - even though there was no problem with it and he's not a computer guy - he bought a second one to replace the old tower he was using at home.

dandy7230-Jul-24 7:31

30-Jul-24 7:31

Both Intel NUCs I got died prematurely. Both started life very quiet, but each one's fan got progressively louder and louder (they started running hotter and hotter). One just gave up one day, and the other simply never came back up after a regional power outage (despite being on a UPS).

These days I have a bunch of Beelink systems. My most high-powered ones are a pair of SER5 Ryzen 5 (5700U), which have both been loaded up with 64GB of RAM. Both replace my older full-tower VM host, an i7-4820K - which was still going strong, but I needed to split the workload between it and something else. I also have a bunch of cheaper ones (one's hooked up to my projector, another is sitting on my desk and I remote into the VMs hosted by the other two).

I love these little boxes, to the point where whenever I see one's on sale, I have to try hard to resist getting another.

As far as Intel's concerned, it's just as well they exited the NUC market. They lost the plot - they got progressively bigger and just as expensive as desktop systems.

theoldfool30-Jul-24 7:34

theoldfool

30-Jul-24 7:34

I am running 2 systems that host virtual machines. One is running ESXi from VMware (don't ask) and the other boots to a Debian 12.5 image or a Debian 11.5 (backup system), dual boot. Both systems are Dell Precision workstations, 5820 purchased on eBay. The latest one was less than $400, but no video. Both systems are 64GB Ram and multiple SSD's. Main system has NVME M.2 drives (3). Quiet for me but I am HOH. I have always had great luck on eBay. YMMV.
I also host a web site and Plex server on Pi 5's. Just installed the M.2 Hat with 256 GB "drive", Debian 12, gave hdparm of 750+ MB/sec. Hat is $12, drive was about $40. I am a sucker for Pi stuff.

>64
It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.

charlieg31-Jul-24 1:18

31-Jul-24 1:18

oldfool, I like you. Smile | :)

engineering wise

I love Pi's and I am stunned what they can do.

Charlie Gilley

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

Has never been more appropriate.

Thanks chaps keep em comin

fgs196330-Jul-24 7:37

fgs1963

30-Jul-24 7:37

If I recall correctly Intel sold their NUC business to Asus...

FWIW - I have an Asus ExpertCenter PN64-B w/ i5-13500H, Integrated Iris graphics, 32Gb DDR5 4800, 1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2 SSD (System) plus a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO mSATA SSD (Back Up). I'm running Fedora WS.

It's generally fast and pretty quiet.

pkfox30-Jul-24 9:03

30-Jul-24 9:03

Thanks chaps keep em comin

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

charlieg31-Jul-24 1:33

31-Jul-24 1:33

So, a quick google search says this system is roughly 8 years old. Based on what you have posted, requirements:

- quiet
- storage
- ram

The cpu will be much faster by definition, you'll likely double your ram and ssd's have gotten larger and cheaper. So your focus should be on quiet. Go for a lower power cpu (less cooling == quiet). Maybe an NVME ssd? But you may want something else. Other than that, a higher end cooling fan.

Don't know what your budget is, but from other comments $800 seems really high.

Charlie Gilley

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

Has never been more appropriate.

GameDevMadeEasy31-Jul-24 3:36

GameDevMadeEasy

31-Jul-24 3:36

I have a Lenovo ThinkCentre M910q i5-6500T. 32GB of ram and 1TB NVMe in it. Quiet, small and not very power hungry.I have Arch installed on it and it runs beautifully.

pkfox31-Jul-24 20:59