Considering Ultra Small FF, or MAYBE computer on a stick - but I know nothing about them...

King_V

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Ok, so, right now, I have my primary system, which is mostly games, web browsing, etc. My home PC.

I have a second PC as well, notably less powerful, but right now, it's a dual-boot that has Windows 10 Home (which I barely use on this machine), and Lubuntu 17.04. It's a Dell Inspiron 3647 Small Desktop with the following specs:
- Pentium G3220 (Haswell)
- 4 GB DDR3 1600
- 500 GB hard drive
- whatever integrated graphics came with the G3220 - but at my native resolution of 3840x1600, it can only run a max of 30Hz refresh.

I would say almost all the use is in Lubuntu, doing some web-browsing, where I might have up to a dozen browser tabs open, though usually less, and using VPN to connect up to work using a client for Windows remote desktop. Currently, I use Remmina for that.

Given this, the heaviest demand on the system is usually Firefox if I have a bunch of Facebook tabs open. I don't think YouTube puts much demand on it, but sometimes Facebook will start causing the browser to eat up RAM. Sometimes will max out the CPU, though that's less frequent.


However, it's a bit overkill even for this. So, I was thinking I'd replace it with an uber-small, ultra-low-power PC. What I would need is:

- Run Lubuntu with not a whole lot of extra software (my current Linux install is taking up only 12GB, though I'd obviously want more storage than that, just to give me some headroom)
- Physical ethernet port (I want it wired, not wireless)
- USB ports - 1 for kb/mouse (they're combined on a single plug), 1 for USB headset, maybe 2 more for other needs
- HDMI 2.0 output (I would like to get 60Hz at 4k, EDIT: but could live with it if I were stuck with 30Hz)
- audio output (I still use an old set of speakers with the 3.5mm audio plug when I'm not using the headset)
- enough CPU to do what I currently do

I assume that the need for the numerous ports means that a stick computer is completely out of the question.

I know there are the ultra-low-power CPUs (Celeron and Pentium with the Jxxxx and Nxxxx model numbers, for example), but wondered how limited they are.

I don't really know, though, how limited those sorts of CPUs are. In fact, I actually have no idea what I'm doing, as what knowledge I have is limited to your normal desktop-sized PCs.


Also, I don't know where to begin looking, or if such are all "some assembly required" or complete units, etc. I do know Dell USED to sell something along these lines, though the amount of storage they came with made the thought of Windows 10 being on them laughable. I don't need Windows 10, but that's how they sold them. Yikes!

Thoughts, suggestions, etc?
 
Well you can look at the NUC line directly from Intel. Gigabyte and few other have their own vartiations of this type. Basicly a laptop components but in a very small desktop form factor.

You can also look at the ASRock Deskmini. A little bit bigger than the NUC line but for the extra space you get a desktop grade CPU slot so you can jam a full i7 (or anything lower) if you wanted to.

Both styles require you to install your own RAM and HDD/SSD.
 

You can use a USB hub to plug multiple devices into a single USB port. Just be aware that AFAIK USB 3 hubs have to be powered to achieve USB 3 speeds (you'll need an additional wall wart).

I know there are the ultra-low-power CPUs (Celeron and Pentium with the Jxxxx and Nxxxx model numbers, for example), but wondered how limited they are.
They're based on the old Atom cores. Whereas your G3220 is based on the desktop (Haswell) core. Performance should be fine for web browsing, just don't expect to get the same performance clock for clock.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldmont

Video playback shouldn't be a problem since h.264 and h.265 decode are handled in the GPU. The exception is streaming services like Netflix. Hollywood is paranoid that you'll capture those streams to make a copy of the movie. So on general purpose computing devices (i.e. PCs) they require the stream to be decrypted inside an encrypted virtual machine. That prevents using the dedicated hardware decoder in the GPU. The CPU has to do it all by itself. I'm pretty sure the newer Goldmont processors (can't call them Atom anymore because Intel's marketing started branding them Celeron and Pentium to confuse people) can decode 1080p when streamed from these services. But I dunno if they're powerful enough to decode 4k Netflix. 4k YouTube (which is decoded by the GPU) is supposed to work though.

As mentioned above, a NUC or VESA-case PC could let you do all this is a smaller form factor with a desktop CPU (Kaby/Coffee Lake). Personally those a pricey enough that unless you need that exact form factor I just tell people to get a used or low-end laptop. The components are the same (except for a soldered CPU), just the form factor is slightly different, and you get a built-in keyboard and screen. I'm not really sure what your goal here is, but if it's smallest size and power consumption, I'd investigate a stick PC + USB hub. See if that'll be powerful enough for your needs. And go up to a laptop or NUC/VESA enclosure only if it's not.
 

King_V

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Ah, I should clarify a little, I don't need the 4k to stream 4k video (I do Netflix on my TV, and when I use YouTube, it's the free stuff)... I mentioned the refresh rate at 4k simply because it seems like when I run my PC that only does the 30Hz @ 4k, YouTube videos (even the lower res ones, even when not fullscreen) seem to display issues like a video game with a lack of vysnc, thus a little tearing.

It's not bad, though, so I could live without the guaranteed 60Hz support for 4k. But, all in all, I'd be looking at h.264 and h.265 playback, and not doing streaming services on this proposed new machine.

A shame that the NUC/VESA-case PCs are pricey. Bummer. That was sort of what I was favoring.

OTOH, I hadn't considered the low-end-laptop route.

Hmm, my KVM switch also doubles as a USB hub, maybe a stick PC might be the way to go...