If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
Due to unreliability problems I'm scrapping my old units & going over
to Barebones computers. I have one already operating with an M2 drive & a 500GB SSD. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...-kits/nuc.html Is there any fundamental problem with these small units? Are the classical tower machines any better? |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
Peter Jason wrote:
Due to unreliability problems I'm scrapping my old units & going over to Barebones computers. I have one already operating with an M2 drive & a 500GB SSD. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...-kits/nuc.html Is there any fundamental problem with these small units? Are the classical tower machines any better? Most people would judge these things on price. If you got a 4C 8T processor in a desktop or a 4C 8T in a NUC, which costs more ? I like my desktops, because I can plug cards into them and add interfaces. The trick is selecting just the right card. For example, for a long time, add-on USB3 was always a hair short of "full performance". There is one chip out today, with a PCI Express x2 interface, that improves on the older PCI3 x1 cards, and finally, it is able to match Southbridge USB3. Some day, a Thunderbolt host will be offered that way, not that anyone will care at that point. Thunderbolt peripherals are too expensive. Paul |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
On 7/17/2019 6:51 PM, Peter Jason wrote:
Due to unreliability problems I'm scrapping my old units & going over to Barebones computers. I have one already operating with an M2 drive & a 500GB SSD. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...-kits/nuc.html Is there any fundamental problem with these small units? Are the classical tower machines any better? I've been building and using Shuttle "Cube" computers for years now but they are, obviously, huge compared to those little NUC machines. I guess how "good" any computer is depends on what you intend to do with it. If you need massive heatsinks and cooling for overclocked gaming with multiple GPUs you will obviously need a correspondingly huge case. On the other hand if you are doing lightweight tasks a tiny computer is probably more than anybody will need. I find that the Shuttle machines are a good in-between solution since they will allow a double-wide graphics card and their built-in cooling is very efficient with a reasonably-rated CPU. Except for internal storage I'd think that one of the Intel NUCs would make a great home theater computer but if media is stored on the network that would eliminate the storage problem. My home theater computer is in a half-height case and has a 6tB hard drive and SSD. I finally had to give in to the inevitable and start putting media file on the network as the 6tB got too full. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 19:16:32 -0400, Paul
wrote: Peter Jason wrote: Due to unreliability problems I'm scrapping my old units & going over to Barebones computers. I have one already operating with an M2 drive & a 500GB SSD. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...-kits/nuc.html Is there any fundamental problem with these small units? Are the classical tower machines any better? Most people would judge these things on price. If you got a 4C 8T processor in a desktop or a 4C 8T in a NUC, which costs more ? I like my desktops, because I can plug cards into them and add interfaces. The trick is selecting just the right card. For example, for a long time, add-on USB3 was always a hair short of "full performance". There is one chip out today, with a PCI Express x2 interface, that improves on the older PCI3 x1 cards, and finally, it is able to match Southbridge USB3. Some day, a Thunderbolt host will be offered that way, not that anyone will care at that point. Thunderbolt peripherals are too expensive. Paul Another reason for the change is to have a physical-computer backup. With the advance of USB tech, HDMI, and especially HHD & SSD enclosures I end up with more desk space and portable drives. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 20:08:46 -0400, John McGaw
wrote: On 7/17/2019 6:51 PM, Peter Jason wrote: Due to unreliability problems I'm scrapping my old units & going over to Barebones computers. I have one already operating with an M2 drive & a 500GB SSD. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...-kits/nuc.html Is there any fundamental problem with these small units? Are the classical tower machines any better? I've been building and using Shuttle "Cube" computers for years now but they are, obviously, huge compared to those little NUC machines. I guess how "good" any computer is depends on what you intend to do with it. If you need massive heatsinks and cooling for overclocked gaming with multiple GPUs you will obviously need a correspondingly huge case. On the other hand if you are doing lightweight tasks a tiny computer is probably more than anybody will need. I find that the Shuttle machines are a good in-between solution since they will allow a double-wide graphics card and their built-in cooling is very efficient with a reasonably-rated CPU. Except for internal storage I'd think that one of the Intel NUCs would make a great home theater computer but if media is stored on the network that would eliminate the storage problem. My home theater computer is in a half-height case and has a 6tB hard drive and SSD. I finally had to give in to the inevitable and start putting media file on the network as the 6tB got too full. I am not a gamer so I've not pushed things to the limit. I do not notice any change in performance in reading photos or videos. The only further adjustment I must make is for a stand-alone optical drive enclosure. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
On 18/07/2019 11:16 AM, Paul wrote:
Peter Jason wrote: Due to unreliability problems I'm scrapping my old units & going over to Barebones computers.Â* I have one already operating with an M2 drive & a 500GB SSD. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...-kits/nuc.html Is there any fundamental problem with these small units?Â*Â* Are the classical tower machines any better? Most people would judge these things on price. If you got a 4C 8T processor in a desktop or a 4C 8T in a NUC, which costs more ? I like my desktops, because I can plug cards into them and add interfaces. The trick is selecting just the right card. For example, for a long time, add-on USB3 was always a hair short of "full performance". There is one chip out today, with a PCI Express x2 interface, that improves on the older PCI3 x1 cards, and finally, it is able to match Southbridge USB3. What chip is that Paul? I've been very disappointed with the various USB3 expansion cards I've tried. While my PC doesn't have a PCIe x2 (or a PCIe x4) slot it does have a spare PCIe gen3 x16. (It has native USB3 but you can never have too many fast USB ports for external HDDs.) Cheers. -- Shaun. "Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy little classification in the DSM" David Melville This is not an email and hasn't been checked for viruses by any half-arsed self-promoting software. Some day, a Thunderbolt host will be offered that way, not that anyone will care at that point. Thunderbolt peripherals are too expensive. Paul |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
~misfit~ wrote:
On 18/07/2019 11:16 AM, Paul wrote: For example, for a long time, add-on USB3 was always a hair short of "full performance". There is one chip out today, with a PCI Express x2 interface, that improves on the older PCI3 x1 cards, and finally, it is able to match Southbridge USB3. What chip is that Paul? I've been very disappointed with the various USB3 expansion cards I've tried. While my PC doesn't have a PCIe x2 (or a PCIe x4) slot it does have a spare PCIe gen3 x16. (It has native USB3 but you can never have too many fast USB ports for external HDDs.) Cheers. What's important here is the chip, not the brand. https://www.startech.com/ca/Cards-Ad...rd~PEXUSB312A2 Chipset ID ASMedia - ASM2142 And you're buying this for performant USB3.0 (as in 500MB/sec), as it would likely clip a little off USB3.1 rev2 operation. By picking a card which attempts to operate at "one higher standards version", it gives better performance on the *previous* standards version. If you get my drift. The chip has a 2 lane interface (2 lanes of a PCI Express x4 minimum). You should be able to plug that into a PCI Express x16 slot (what I would likely be doing in practice). On PCIe Rev1.1 = 2*250MB/sec = 500MB/sec = "cramped" On PCIe Rev2 = 2*500MB/sec = 1000MB/sec = "good enough for USB3.0" (PCI Express always has overhead and can't actually run at the full rate) The chip is Rev3 capable, but not everyone will have a slot with that on it. 2x1000MB/sec would be sufficient to give a good shot at USB3.1 Rev2 1000MB/sec operation on one port. http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...x=175&item=178 I bought the thing assuming a Rev2 slot would be available, like on my Typing Machine. On the Asmedia page, there is now an ASM3142, but I don't see what is significant on that chip versus 2142. Paul |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Scrapping mid & large-tower cases?
On 19/07/2019 4:12 AM, Paul wrote:
~misfit~ wrote: On 18/07/2019 11:16 AM, Paul wrote: For example, for a long time, add-on USB3 was always a hair short of "full performance". There is one chip out today, with a PCI Express x2 interface, that improves on the older PCI3 x1 cards, and finally, it is able to match Southbridge USB3. What chip is that Paul? I've been very disappointed with the various USB3 expansion cards I've tried. While my PC doesn't have a PCIe x2 (or a PCIe x4) slot it does have a spare PCIe gen3 x16. (It has native USB3 but you can never have too many fast USB ports for external HDDs.) Cheers. What's important here is the chip, not the brand. https://www.startech.com/ca/Cards-Ad...rd~PEXUSB312A2 Â*Â* Chipset IDÂ*Â*Â*Â* ASMedia - ASM2142 And you're buying this for performant USB3.0 (as in 500MB/sec), as it would likely clip a little off USB3.1 rev2 operation. By picking a card which attempts to operate at "one higher standards version", it gives better performance on the *previous* standards version. If you get my drift. Yep, that makes sense. The chip has a 2 lane interface (2 lanes of a PCI Express x4 minimum). You should be able to plug that into a PCI Express x16 slot (what I would likely be doing in practice). On PCIe Rev1.1 = 2*250MB/sec = 500MB/sec = "cramped" On PCIe Rev2Â*Â* = 2*500MB/sec = 1000MB/sec = "good enough for USB3.0" Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* (PCI Express always has overhead and can't actually Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* run at the full rate) The chip is Rev3 capable, but not everyone will have a slot with that on it. 2x1000MB/sec would be sufficient to give a good shot at USB3.1 Rev2 1000MB/sec operation on one port. http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...x=175&item=178 I bought the thing assuming a Rev2 slot would be available, like on my Typing Machine. On the Asmedia page, there is now an ASM3142, but I don't see what is significant on that chip versus 2142. Â*Â* Paul Thanks for that. My x16 slot's Rev3 - Dell calls it 'gen3'. The PC is a Optiplex 9020 mini-tower with an i7-4790, Samsung 860 EVO SSD and 32GB RAM. Unfortunately it only has 2 internal HDD bays so I'm using mainly USB3 attached storage. I found this on ebay that seems to use the ASM3142 and it's quite affordable. https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-3-1-PCI-Express-Card-2-Ports-Superspeed-10Gbps-Raiser-Adapter-PCI-E-3-0-X4/192961582012? Money's a bit tight this month so it's on the wish-list for now. When I checked Amazon for cards using this chip most of them have USB-C ports, a couple had a single USB-A with the rest USB-C. I'm not in the US so need to look to international suppliers. Cheers, -- Shaun. "Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy little classification in the DSM" David Melville This is not an email and hasn't been checked for viruses by any half-arsed self-promoting software. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
who makes cheap tower cases with BLACK bottom? | [email protected] | Homebuilt PC's | 2 | June 3rd 14 11:55 AM |
Large cases for hard disks | Charles Christacopoulos | UK Computer Vendors | 1 | June 13th 04 01:00 PM |
Anyone on the fence about getting the chieftec large tower cases - get one | Lane Lewis | General | 0 | November 18th 03 07:55 AM |
ATX Midi Tower Cases | Wolfi | General | 1 | November 2nd 03 06:24 PM |