Re: Re: Machine recommendations?

On 03/14/2015 01:43 PM, Duncan wrote:
> Thanasis posted on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:30:20 +0200 as excerpted:
>
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130759
>>
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113364
>
> Thank you very /very/ much!  That's very close to perfect for the
> router... and googling I see others already using it for such. =:^)

Actually overkill for just a router's use.
You can even expect decent compilation times on it.

>
> I haven't worked with mini-ITX before and thus didn't realize how close
> it is to what I was looking for.  And with what's included...  Embedded
> graphics, not really necessary on the router but it'll make working with
> it far easier, and embedded audio, should let me play media on the router
> and shut the main machine off.

Yep, if you locate it next to your desk, then it makes a decent desktop too.

> And there's the single 16x PCIE slot @ 4x
> speed, perfect for the quad-port Ethernet card.
>
> The quad-core, 2+ GHz CPU @ 25W power dissipation should be plenty of
> power, even for playing media (one review said 80% usage of all four
> cores for 1080p, however, which it'll handle, but realistically not 4k,
> when I eventually even have a display that'll do 4k), and it should de-
> clock and power-down for routing-only.

I think you should ask others using it as router about what its 
practical mean power consumption is, when only doing a routing job.

> And that dissipation, quite fans
> shouldn't be a big issue.
>
> And the suggested bundles, while not exactly what I want, hint that
> $200-300 for the system, plus the $80 ethernet card, is a very reasonable
> budget.
>
> I'm looking at cases and power-supplies now,

If you don't care about the case's aesthetics and size, you could use a 
used medium sized standard ATX case, and an efficient power supply like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151113

> since I have some idea what
> I'm going to install with them.  And now that the idea is beginning to
> come together, I can take a closer look at the available Ethernet cards,
> too, including checking drivers...
>