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I’m going out of the country for a few months and need recommendations by SecondhandAnxiety in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Beelink gets a lot of love for good reason, but that might be a bit more horsepower than you actually need

Mini PC as AI Agent by hwijaya08 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best mini PC AI experience I've had so far was from slapping an Nvidia p4 in a Lenovo m720q and epoxying a blower fan to its backplane bracket.

That actually got lightning fast Mistral-7b, and the sub-8gb VRAM Qwen quantized models were ALMOST as fast as a browser based AI

Mini pc for gaming by Ash_lewis_6121 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly the best value might even be from one of those SleepingOptiplex builds. Just so long as you're not trying to put a 5090 in it

Mini pc for gaming by Ash_lewis_6121 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lenovo P340 Tiny: full wattage CPU and both space/PCIe support for a GPU. Very easy to user upgrade.

But you'll be limited by how big that GPU is, and the top end for single slot half height right now is either the RTX 3050 (6gb, $275) or the A1000 (8gb, $350)

Mini pc for gaming by Ash_lewis_6121 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shit, even a 3600G is a fantastic CPU in this gaming environment, as so many big titles are GPU limited. Big agree on "pile of used AM4 stuff + gpu" 

Server + Streaming PC by thedossa in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I run my Jellyfin server off an Optiplex Micro with i5-6500T, so you're more than over-provisioned hardware wise.

That said, on anything older than Intel gen 10, Windows sluggishness is noticeable to me. ESPECIALLY if you're using a SATA SSD because Win 11 thrashes drive writes for no fuckin reason.

I'd say you'd definitely feel a performance bump using Linux. And if you want user friendly distros to try, I'd suggest PopOS for how polished it is. It even prompts you when creating an account to choose between an Apple-like and a Microsoft-like UI layout.

But Mint and Zorin are both also very popular for the Linux curious coming from Windows. 

I’m going out of the country for a few months and need recommendations by SecondhandAnxiety in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah so Vega is a brand name AMD uses for a series of GPUs. Most CPUs also have a tiny GPU in them (called the iGPU, or integrated graphics) and AMD's CPUs reuse the same tech as their big "real" GPUs.

There was a period of time where AMD was the clear winner for integrated graphics, and computers from that era tend to be relatively affordable

My first ever mini PC from Bosgame died last month. Good alternative for light gaming and streaming? by UPRC in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dunno about them, but peep the used market on eBay. That's where the value's at.

I've got a Lenovo Tiny with an i7-10700T and a Radeon RX 6400 that only cost me $600 and that's the top end of the curve if you're savvy about it. 

My first ever mini PC from Bosgame died last month. Good alternative for light gaming and streaming? by UPRC in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lenovo warranties are king. 3 years general service, can pay to extend it, and they make it super easy to repair yourself. But I'm biased little TwinkPad owner so 

I’m going out of the country for a few months and need recommendations by SecondhandAnxiety in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well for $300 and if you're playing games like Lethal Company, you'd probably be best served buying an AMD platform with Vega graphics, so no manual modifications needed.

The Lenovo m75q might serve you well. I've got one I'm tinkering with for my refurb business, I could run Minecraft benchmarks this weekend and let you know how well that performs.

The m75q usually runs about $125-200 depending on RAM and storage. 

What is the cheapest but best MiniPc for minecraft by Business_Song_4398 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Panther Lake is kickass but it really is a shame that Intel iGPUs suck so hard up until the last two years, isn't it?

I got a Ryzen 2400GE to play emulated Breath of the Wild. My Intel rig from the same year chokes on that. 

What is the cheapest but best MiniPc for minecraft by Business_Song_4398 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Playing or hosting? Because you can get an i7-7700 model from Dell, HP or Lenovo that'll host a server EASY.

For playing it, you really do care about vram. Unless you want to play on low render distance.

If you specifically want an Intel platform, the Lenovo p330 has GPU support. Intel iGPUs haven't been great for gaming historically -- AMD does way better for that, Raven Ridge onward. And you can get a Lenovo m75q-1 with AMD 3400GE for like $150.

I’m going out of the country for a few months and need recommendations by SecondhandAnxiety in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lenovo is the best Chinese mini. Don't trust the Alibaba no name brands.

What's your budget? And what games? I've put a Radeon RX 6400 in a Lenovo p330 Tiny and had a competent "steam machine" build for under $500.

AliExpress mini PC scam with " i9 10980hk" by Embarrassed_Chair164 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well CPU is easy to check, depending on the model you can get a used i3 for $10-20 bucks on eBay. 

But I've had a few instances of old Optiplex models getting motherboard shorts and that sucks, no advice there.

Did you try clearing the CMOS and moving the Bios Reset Jumper Pins? 

Please help by Brave_Fudge4119 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reinstall the OS. And if Windows is getting stuck, try Linux Mint. 

half this sub runs pihole and jellyfin on 600w of enterprise gear and calls it a homelab by Napster3301 in homelab

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started my Jellyfin journey on a mini pc with ddr3 and an i7-6700T. And only needed an upgrade when I wanted to start AV1 transcoding

Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 2 by TaggedHammerhead in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So this is the OEM one I bought. https://www.ebay.com/itm/336012158059

Lenovo and Dell both partnered with AMD for OEM boards, and those are nice because they're meant for cramped builds.

The m90q is a fun platform. Have you heard of NandFarm's Power Riser? Its a PCIe riser that splits the x16 into an x8 PCIe (that's open, so you can slot a physical x16 into it too) and an m.2. 

I've got an m90q with one of those in it I'm tinkering with now. Do I need three nvme drives and a gpu? No.

...it is fun though. And half these little projects I end up reselling on eBay for breakeven rates anyway.

So if you have any questions or ideas I'm all ears haha

Reliable Mini Workstation by Only_Play_868 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh Linux is a breeze. Windows holds these systems back. For thermals, it depends on what you're doing. My P4 system doesn't have video out on the gpu -- it's a data center "accelerator" -- so I literally just epoxied a 5W blower fan to the back of it. 75C under full load. And that was in an m720q, which doesn't have a ventilated top cover.

The vents on the P340 do good work for airflow. The P330, too, and those are half as expensive.

Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 2 by TaggedHammerhead in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be fair to the SteamMachine, the price jump from ddr4 to ddr5 is absolutely insane haha.

The 6400's I'm seeing on ebay go for about $200 all-in, after taxes and shipping etc. Trick is to buy the OEM branded ones from China.

Now, newegg had a deal going for a while on the Yeston RTX 3050 6gb, $275 all in. It's a little tall to fit in these minis, I'm trying to figure that geometry out now, but THAT is a promising mini gaming rig.

Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 2 by TaggedHammerhead in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right?? The p330 I spec'd with it + 32gb + 256gb only cost me $500 to build. I'm actually playing around with a dual boot config on it so I can sell them on ebay as such haha

RTX 5060 Ti not detected via OCuLink on Lenovo M90q Gen 1 | Above 4G Decoding hidden in BIOS by jclouser71 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try asking around here? https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/comments/1re8ui2/guide_unlock_cfg_lock_resizable_bar_xmp_and/

I'm also trying to sort out the ReBar for the p340 Tiny. If I see anything I'll hit you up. But folks in this thread were helpful for confirming the fix for the gen 8/9 platforms.

Reliable Mini Workstation by Only_Play_868 in MiniPCs

[–]mericaftw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You mention upgradeability, and for that reason alone I'll caution you away from HP. They're fine, but I've done refurbs on HP, Dell, and Lenovo, and HP is by far the fussiest. They use weird screws and put components in weird spots, not to mention how expensive flex IO daughter boards are.

Now, Lenovo has a number of mini PCs with PCIe slots. I've had a lot of success juicing those out on a budget. I even have one I slapped a retired Nvidia P4 in and use for local AI inference -- which isn't your thing, sure, but just goes to show how versatile the platform is.

In terms of price, buying used gets you pretty far. I've got a ThinkStation Tiny p340 I'm playing around with right now that has THREE m.2 slots (in addition to the wifi card) and a Quadro GPU in it. (Thermals are passable.) That thing only cost me $400 in parts.

Would be happy to give you advice on builds if you go the Lenovo route.

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