Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    New low power build (which cpu)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    20 Posts 9 Posters 5.7k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • T
      tirsojrp
      last edited by

      @bryan.paradis:

      There are a couple decent deals on ebay as well right now

      http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-ADVANTECH-AIMB-270-A1-MAIN-BOARD-With-I3-CPU-AND-8GB-MEM-/111264859820?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e7e706ac

      http://www.ebay.com/itm/Advantech-aimb-270-i3-330m-8gb-combo-mini-itx-mobile-qm57-/171220932079?pt=US_Motherboard_CPU_Combos&hash=item27dd9015ef

      http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADVANTECH-AIMB-270-01-Mini-ITX-Motherboard-Intel-Core-w-8gb-RAM-and-i3-CPU-/290957780124?pt=BI_Control_Systems_PLCs&hash=item43be6f649c

      Only if you don't mind the noise coming from a 6000+ RPM fan just to keep the CPU below 50c while idle. Also be aware that there is a mini-pcie port on the backside that makes quite difficult to find an adequate case.  I have to add plastic washers to the mb's standoff, use larger screws and forget about the I/O shield for a while.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • C
        Clear-Pixel
        last edited by

        @ Steve
        Could you list the configurations of the systems you have running the G1610 series and do a Kill-Watt check and report back?

        –------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The die size for all are the same.... All spec's are the same except for the clocks..... Transistor count should also be the same.

        G1630   2.8 GHz  55w
        G1620   2.7 GHz  55w
        G1610  2.6 GHz  55w
        G1620T 2.4 GHz  35w
        G1610T 2.3 GHz  35w

        http://ark.intel.com/products/family/43521/Intel-Celeron-Processor/desktop

        Did did they turn off something in the CPU for the T's or is it just the clocks affecting power consumption?

        Maybe the voltage is lower and better silicon for the T's?

        Utilizing Power-D this will affect the power efficiency of the CPU's it would be nice to have some test data.

        Will they all perform the same for they all would be clocked the same running under Power-D?

        –------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The J Series at 10w look rather interesting. Will have to see the Passmarks once they get published on http://www.cpubenchmark.net/.

        HP EliteBook 2530p Laptop - Core2 Duo SL9600 @ 2.13Ghz - 4 GB Ram -128GB SSD
        Atheros Mini PCI-E as Access Point (AR5BXB63H/AR5007EG/AR2425)
        Single Ethernet Port - VLAN
        Cisco SG300 10-port Gigabit Managed Switch
        Cisco DPC3008 Cable Modem  30/4 Mbps
        Pfsense 2.1-RELEASE (amd64)
        –------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Network Power Consumption - 29 Watts

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • B
          bryan.paradis
          last edited by

          @tirsojrp:

          @bryan.paradis:

          There are a couple decent deals on ebay as well right now

          http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-ADVANTECH-AIMB-270-A1-MAIN-BOARD-With-I3-CPU-AND-8GB-MEM-/111264859820?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e7e706ac

          http://www.ebay.com/itm/Advantech-aimb-270-i3-330m-8gb-combo-mini-itx-mobile-qm57-/171220932079?pt=US_Motherboard_CPU_Combos&hash=item27dd9015ef

          http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADVANTECH-AIMB-270-01-Mini-ITX-Motherboard-Intel-Core-w-8gb-RAM-and-i3-CPU-/290957780124?pt=BI_Control_Systems_PLCs&hash=item43be6f649c

          Only if you don't mind the noise coming from a 6000+ RPM fan just to keep the CPU below 50c while idle. Also be aware that there is a mini-pcie port on the backside that makes quite difficult to find an adequate case.  I have to add plastic washers to the mb's standoff, use larger screws and forget about the I/O shield for a while.

          Maybe standoff washers depending on if your standoffs are set on islands or not. Usually they are. Why on earth would you need a 6000+ RPM fan to keep a mobile processor <45w tdp below 50c while idle?. Makes zero sense.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            dreamslacker
            last edited by

            @ck42:

            Appreciate the response.
            As for 2.1.1-Pre, how stable is it at this point?  This isn't going into a production environment or anything commercial, but if it tanks, a couple people around me won't be happy.  ::)

            It should run fine.

            If you want to go Haswell, I've tested 2.1 release on the Gigabyte H87M-D3H and Asrock H87M-Pro4 and they run fine.  For the AsRock board, you'll need to set the SATA controller to AHCI and the i210 NIC will not work with 2.1 (2.1.1P has the updated drivers for it).  The 8111F on the Gigabyte board runs fine with the realtek drivers in pfSense 2.1.

            I imagine there aren't going to be much issues with the Haswell platform other than potentially unsupported onboard NICs (with pfSense 2.1.1P, this is probably limited to boards using 8111G & Atheros Attansic NICs).

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              @Clear-Pixel:

              @ Steve
              Could you list the configurations of the systems you have running the G1610 series and do a Kill-Watt check and report back?

              I don't have any to report I'm afraid.
              I'm sure there's extensive documentation somewhere about the differences between the standard and low voltage types but yes I exepect they are selected good silicon that can run at a lower voltage. It's probably a number of factors. Just remember that the TDP is simply the maximum power the package is designed to dissipate. It's useful when calculating how much cooling you will need but doesn't necessarily reflect the low load power consumption.

              Steve

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • D
                dreamslacker
                last edited by

                @Clear-Pixel:

                Did did they turn off something in the CPU for the T's or is it just the clocks affecting power consumption?

                Maybe the voltage is lower and better silicon for the T's?

                Utilizing Power-D this will affect the power efficiency of the CPU's it would be nice to have some test data.

                Will they all perform the same for they all would be clocked the same running under Power-D?

                The T's, at least in that range, are simply clocked slower and have lower operating voltage.

                As to Power-D, clock for clock, they will perform the same.  However, EIST affects VID so it is likely that a T chip will consume less power at lower-loads and perhaps about the same at near idle - silicon limits of how just how low you can get.  Not to mention, issues with digital logic threshold mismatches with the memory and PCH.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • T
                  tirsojrp
                  last edited by

                  @bryan.paradis:

                  @tirsojrp:

                  @bryan.paradis:

                  There are a couple decent deals on ebay as well right now

                  http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-ADVANTECH-AIMB-270-A1-MAIN-BOARD-With-I3-CPU-AND-8GB-MEM-/111264859820?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e7e706ac

                  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Advantech-aimb-270-i3-330m-8gb-combo-mini-itx-mobile-qm57-/171220932079?pt=US_Motherboard_CPU_Combos&hash=item27dd9015ef

                  http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADVANTECH-AIMB-270-01-Mini-ITX-Motherboard-Intel-Core-w-8gb-RAM-and-i3-CPU-/290957780124?pt=BI_Control_Systems_PLCs&hash=item43be6f649c

                  Only if you don't mind the noise coming from a 6000+ RPM fan just to keep the CPU below 50c while idle. Also be aware that there is a mini-pcie port on the backside that makes quite difficult to find an adequate case.  I have to add plastic washers to the mb's standoff, use larger screws and forget about the I/O shield for a while.

                  Maybe standoff washers depending on if your standoffs are set on islands or not. Usually they are. Why on earth would you need a 6000+ RPM fan to keep a mobile processor <45w tdp below 50c while idle?. Makes zero sense.

                  Ask the manufacturer, there is no way to control the fan speed on the AIMB-270 and it gets quite hot. I have 4 and all of them behave the same way. And TDP tells you how much heat the cooling system must able dissipate to keep the CPU under operating temperatures. Such small heatsink needs a fast fan to do the job.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • A
                    Aluminum
                    last edited by

                    @Clear-Pixel:

                    Did did they turn off something in the CPU for the T's or is it just the clocks affecting power consumption?

                    Maybe the voltage is lower and better silicon for the T's?

                    Those are more like marketing tiers/worst case scenario than hard specs.

                    Case in point, here are some "55W" cpus.

                    Take a long hard look at the clock speeds, cache sizes and even gpu configuration.

                    Those all come off the same wafers and they selectively disable things so they can sell multiple models, binning isn't that magical. (some might be from partially defective chips, but by all accounts they aren't hurting much these days)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • B
                      bryan.paradis
                      last edited by

                      @tirsojrp:

                      there is no way to control the fan speed on the AIMB-270

                      True there is not a way as far as I can tell on the AIMB-270. This doesn't stop you from adding a passive reducer, changing the fan or changing the cooler.

                      @tirsojrp:

                      and it gets quite hot.

                      How hot are you talking? What power management setting are you using in the bios? Espescially at idle it shouldn't be very hot.

                      @tirsojrp:

                      I have 4 and all of them behave the same way.

                      What CPU's are you using? I have a I7-620M running in my laptop on my desk and I can't hear it except when I pin it at 100% for long periods. It uses the cooler attached below shared with a dedicated videocard and the intel chipset.

                      ![2014-01-28 10_17_12-downloadt.advantech.com_ProductFile_Downloadfile3_1-G86VIN_User Manual for AIMB-.png](/public/imported_attachments/1/2014-01-28 10_17_12-downloadt.advantech.com_ProductFile_Downloadfile3_1-G86VIN_User Manual for AIMB-.png)
                      ![2014-01-28 10_17_12-downloadt.advantech.com_ProductFile_Downloadfile3_1-G86VIN_User Manual for AIMB-.png_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/2014-01-28 10_17_12-downloadt.advantech.com_ProductFile_Downloadfile3_1-G86VIN_User Manual for AIMB-.png_thumb)
                      $T2eC16dHJH8E9qSEW87CBRh8,Oje!!~~60_57.JPG
                      $T2eC16dHJH8E9qSEW87CBRh8,Oje!!~~60_57.JPG_thumb

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • T
                        tirsojrp
                        last edited by

                        50c idle, ~60c under load.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • B
                          bryan.paradis
                          last edited by

                          @tirsojrp:

                          50c idle, ~60c under load.

                          These boards are ment to be hidden away serving signage or other industrial applications. Hence the high rpm fan. Are you sure you have power management set to: Power Efficient? If it is set to something else Speed Step may be disabled. Your load versus idle temperature is only a 10c difference. These processors are safe 80+ but I would rather keep under <75 full load in the summer. They may start throttling above that. With a new fan, new heatsink or just a fanspeed reducer there should not be a problem with noise.

                          Just like with every build if you want quiet you may have to replace a fan, lower the voltage to the fan or replace the heatsink.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • T
                            tirsojrp
                            last edited by

                            I live in the Caribbean, summer is all year long. I am planning to mod a cooler for the i7 board and leave the i3 the way it is, I will probably use it to replace my demo pc.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              @tirsojrp:

                              I live in the Caribbean, summer is all year long.

                              Tough.  ;)

                              Steve

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • F
                                foonus
                                last edited by

                                @tirsojrp:

                                I live in the Caribbean, summer is all year long.  I am planning to mod…

                                Get one of them high horsepower large cockroaches in the wheel running that thing, cheap on power and an abundance of them down there ;)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • First post
                                  Last post
                                Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.