From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Aug 19 22:24:34 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CA71910656A8 for ; Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:24:34 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from depocatcher@gmail.com) Received: from mail-iw0-f182.google.com (mail-iw0-f182.google.com [209.85.214.182]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 899078FC19 for ; Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:24:34 +0000 (UTC) Received: by iwn36 with SMTP id 36so2561637iwn.13 for ; Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:24:33 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:reply-to :user-agent:mime-version:to:cc:subject:references:in-reply-to :content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=QwrMR50vCP8wzya38Vdjj3ru4uMvTu5oVX9sKu7zI/o=; b=wIgQxBwVv7hFHbgRd/plWq8woLdA9f3FOgXt6OMd4L8KUgBGUhEbbUEBH/5y4oyptB 0Fzh3SbwfKAhYhE/BdG8WAU4y0ic0BZQ3m0H6kLYUywGIXQZE4jyeBVLlQCaMdRwQCnj 77Dp7Gqkppn2R3L5jROVym2YtXtPFsJHGqxJQ= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:reply-to:user-agent:mime-version:to:cc:subject :references:in-reply-to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=LJqlBAxvmq+N/eARbSR5J3GWHnT4dWVt72v6ZN5c6PBJ+ZaKiUZvVYhwgcCumjHS3/ 6/IK+f+q/J2uUPfcdPfGB+jdqWwcxBGRb5H0pnjE1B2PX0413HXDVBUKJ5Q2mH0lDDyE UYflINDgaGRUHgL9UvC+C/XVInkR8040YgEoQ= Received: by 10.231.167.67 with SMTP id p3mr583432iby.20.1282256673557; Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:24:33 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.17.10] (c-98-240-166-249.hsd1.mn.comcast.net [98.240.166.249]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id j2sm1824493iba.6.2010.08.19.15.24.31 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:24:32 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <4C6DAF27.9080309@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:24:39 -0500 From: Depo Catcher User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100802 Thunderbird/3.1.2 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Gary Kline References: <20100819011024.GA10288@thought.org> <4C6CA223.2040801@gmail.com> <20100819040156.GA72647@comcast.net> <20100819203421.GD90635@thought.org> In-Reply-To: <20100819203421.GD90635@thought.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: well, i guess it's time to ask..... X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: depocatcher@gmail.com List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:24:35 -0000 >> There are Atom-based systems available with Nvidia graphics. Gary might >> want to consider one of those, although it probably won't be as dirt >> cheap or as low-wattage as a Pineview system. (I have no experience >> with them myself.) > > jeez, and to think i was a =hardware= major. hm. is there a > website than can explain the pros/cons? > > a friend is helping me move from 5 tower cases to two. money is > always a concern, but saving watts is more important. > > gary > Money wise for Motherboard, memory and CPU the Atom or 775 (Core 2 Duo) will probably be cheapest. Then i3 and most expensive is i5. AMD also have options that would probably be cheaper, but I'm not familiar with their product line. I would set your budget of $X and then compare the best system in each class you can get for that price. Power wise; if it's idle, the Atom and i3/i5 should be about the same. With 775 (core 2 duo) probably drawing the most. In fact, in some cases the i3/i5 might draw less power at idle: http://www.servethehome.com/intel-core-i5-650-v-atom-n330-nvida-ion-review/ The other thing to concern is when it's under load, the Atom will be the clear winner here. The i3/i5/c2d can and will draw a good amount under load. Atom doesn't go up much under heavy load, the other systems can skyrocket in power usage when hit hard. The other thing you have to concern is how many devices you'll have hooked up to this. If you need an external video card it's going to be drawing more power... as with external NICs, sata, sound, etc In general I would suggest picking up a board that has most of what you need and nothing of what you don't. For example, I don't use sound on my home server, so I always buy a board without integrated sound. Also the Atom, i3 and i5 all have integrated video in their CPUs. That might save some power if you find one that supports that (and not an embedded integrated video) Performance wise, i3/i5 is winner then 775 and last atom. This thread has some links to some reviews: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1538918