Thinking about using a firebox, some questions
-
There are faster compatible cpus. The Pentium-M 765 is probably the best you could get at 2.1GHz. However they almost never appear for sale and they command a very high price when they do. Just not worth it.
Although there are dual core cpus that phisically fit and are basically two pentium-m chips in one package they aren't electrically compatible.
If power is your highest priority there are low power and ultra low power pentium-m cpus but I've never seen one that is socketed, though it seems they may have been available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Pentium_M_microprocessorsSteve
-
What about this SL7F3, it is 1.4ghz with only TDP 10 watts for 10 bucks on Ebay… It even has speedstep. Do you think it'll be strong enough and will work with the x750e? All of those other low powered ones they want like between 50 to 130 bucks for them; that's crazy.
-
It should work. I.e. the voltage regulator on the board has to be able to go down to those low voltages but that shouldn't be a problem. It may not be any actual power saving over a standard Pentium-M. If you look at the voltage it's not any lower that some other CPUs, it's the high voltage that is lower. If your chip is running at idle most of the time (like mine is) then this may not save power. It would be interesting to find out though.
It will be faster than the standard Celeron CPU. It's clocked higher, has more cache and more recent core revision.This would depend on you being able to get this CPU in a Socket 479 package and NOT a FC-µBGA. Personally I have never seen a LV Pentium-M that wasn't soldered to the board.
Steve
-
Ah dang.. That cpu I was looking at is bga and not a socket type, crap.
-
Steve:
Hey, you said you have the x750e down to 22 watts at idle here:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,37022.0.html
That's exactly what I'm looking to do to with mine and that sounds like great news to me. So this is possible? What exactly were your steps to obtain this, did you buy a PicoPSU or something? Which CPU code number are you running with?
-
That was using a Chinese dc-dc power supply, like a picoPSU but bigger.
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,20095.msg170839/topicseen.html#msg170839Steve
-
What is "kirf" and which PicoPSU, the 60, 80, 120? Is the power brick serving 12v or is it one of those 6-26 volt models? What is the model number of the Toshiba power brick? Do you have a link to this chinese power supply, is it cheaper or better than the picopsu?
–-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I went ahead and ordered a PicoPSU 120 WI version. I have a dell power pack to tide me over. What is the Toshiba model number and revision? That's the most important part of the power consumption equation.
So here's what I've purchased so far:
Firebox x750e
Sandisk Extreme 8GB 60mb/s (on sale couldn't resist)
CF reader/writer (dirt cheap)
PicoPSU 120 WI (pricey booger)
1x to 16x adapter for visual curiosity (cheap)
null modem cable
I hope the 2GB ddr2 ram modules register in the system. I have several pairs of those
Cheap winning jackpot bid on ebay so now I'll have my choice. I hope that dirty SL7EM in the rough works. :-*
I hope it all works…
-
Ah, sorry!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=KIRFIts a wide input model, 8-28V. The brick is 75W (15V, 5A) it gets quite warm so a better power brick might help.
The PICOPSU is almost certainly far superior!Steve
-
Ah, sorry!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=KIRFIts a wide input model, 8-28V. The brick is 75W (15V, 5A) it gets quite warm so a better power brick might help.
The PICOPSU is almost certainly far superior!Steve
What is the model number of that power pack and the kirf pico that you have, though? If it's a lot cheaper than what I bought already, I can use them on other machines. I went ahead and bought a supposedly genuine oem Toshiba labeled power brick @ 19v & 120w to match the picoPSU 120 WI I bought. If it's overkill, I can still use it in one of the another two Atom boards I have or try it in a bigger 775 machine :)
-
The dc-dc power supply is 120W. I don't have it here right now but I imagine its marketed as different things anyway. I used a Toshiba power brick only because I happened to have it. I have no idea if it's particularly efficient.
Steve
-
Cool. The CPUs, CF reader/writer, CF card and null cable all came today. The Fireboxs are still on the way. I think the next time I post I'm just gonna open my own PFsense Firebox build thread since it's no longer questions about getting the hardware, but fact, that I have and not thinking about it anymore :)
Thank a lot for the help, Steve. You have a lot of valuable information on this site.
