Which one of these mini systems should I go with?
-
The Celeron 1037U is actually faster than the Atom D2550. Significantly so in some workloads.
-
The Celeron 1037U is actually faster than the Atom D2550. Significantly so in some workloads.
Not sure on your atom, but I've got a 1037u fanless box that draws around 14 watts.
-
The Celeron 1037U is actually faster than the Atom D2550. Significantly so in some workloads.
Isn't it really only faster on memory-bound applications? The Atom has a higher clock out of the box, but the Celeron has better memory bandwidth and more instructions.
-
The Celeron 1037U is actually faster than the Atom D2550. Significantly so in some workloads.
Not sure on your atom, but I've got a 1037u fanless box that draws around 14 watts.
My current box is a VIA C7 CPU and 512MB RAM. It was a small form factor build from a company called LodgingLink that designed systems/software for places like motels/hotels/etc. I ended up with it through work and while it makes a great pfSense box it's bigger than I'd like it to be, and it's aging hardware. No idea what the power consumption is but I guarantee either option linked above will be substantially less.
-
So…recommendations on one or the other? Any other similarly priced options I should look at? Like I said I'm looking for at least dual core, silent isn't a big deal, but must be small and the lower the power consumption the better. Would like to keep it under $200.
-
Also
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Celeron-1037U-vs-Intel-Atom-D2550I'm happy with my Celeron 1037U system so far. Your linked one seems largely identical to mine (no card reader on mine) purchased from a different supplier on AliExpress for the same price.
Runs around 12W idle and highest I've seen is 20W with a 2.5" spinning disk.
-
It's not letting me buy the one from aliexpress, keeps saying there's something wrong with my bank when trying to use my Visa debit card. I've purchased stuff from China before, specifically from FastTech. ???
ETA: Just had to use CC instead of debit. Weird. Anyway, the new box is on the way. Should be here in a month or so.
-
I would go with Celeron too. I'm running plenty of services (samba, DHCP, DNS, HTTP proxy) on similar motherboard (mini-itx) without any hardware constraint (for about 5 to 10 users).
On the other hand, purpose being firewall, Atom will do the job too. What will definitely make difference is services you intend to run:- if goal is to run firewall only, CPU doesn't really matter, depending on your expected bandwidth usage.
- if you intend to run additional services like HTTP proxy, VPN, captive portal, then this is another story. VPN, e.g. can require significant amount of CPU depending on number of clients and usage.
Thus answer is not that obvious and requires to be more accurate in term of target.
What I would pay attention too is network interfaces: Intel will definitely be more reliable than Realtek here (if you have choice)
-
If the wifi works, that could be a nice travel router
-
It's not letting me buy the one from aliexpress, keeps saying there's something wrong with my bank when trying to use my Visa debit card. I've purchased stuff from China before, specifically from FastTech. ???
ETA: Just had to use CC instead of debit. Weird. Anyway, the new box is on the way. Should be here in a month or so.
I have the exact same 1037u box - although I think the newer versions may be better because they now have Intel NIC's (mine is Realtek). Anyway - I've been extremely happy with it.
-
I'm trying to decide if it would be worth it to pick up a nice mini-pcie wireless adapter for this thing. Right now I have an Asus RT-N56U hooked up to my current pfSense box.
Is there a preferred 2.5" HDD people are using for these? I was thinking of just throwing a WD Black in there since I've had such good experiences with them. Not sure there's enough of a benefit to throw in an SSD.
-
I'm trying to decide if it would be worth it to pick up a nice mini-pcie wireless adapter for this thing. Right now I have an Asus RT-N56U hooked up to my current pfSense box.
My experience with wirelss cards is in 2.1. However, with that version I tried several internal wireless cards without much luck. I was not able to get pfSense setup with high 'N" speeds in any kind of reliable fashion and had all sorts of UI issues (e.g would let me change things that actually caused the drivers to crash). Others on the forums have reported good luck with the latest version of 2.2
I have an Asus RT-N66U setup as an access point and running the Merlin version of the firmware. The Asus has been rock solid and has great WiFi coverage. I have a hard time believing any internal card could compete…
Is there a preferred 2.5" HDD people are using for these? I was thinking of just throwing a WD Black in there since I've had such good experiences with them. Not sure there's enough of a benefit to throw in an SSD.
I'm using an Intel SSD. It has been great. I'd warn you away from any cheap SSD's though - I've managed to kill several cheapys (probably compliments of DG/Squid).
-
Ended up going with the WD Black 500GB and a 2x2GB RAM kit. Pretty excited about this box. 8)
-
I'm running a celeron 1037u box with Intel lan ports from Aliexpress along with a 64Gb SSD and it is solid as a rock.
Personally I wouldn't bother trying to put wireless inside it though, much less hassle to simply use an external AP. I have my eye on the Ubiquiti AP's at the moment, just waiting for the funds to be available :-)
I expect you will be very pleased with your new box when it arrives.
Cheers
Robin -
The Celeron 1037U is actually faster than the Atom D2550. Significantly so in some workloads.
Isn't it really only faster on memory-bound applications? The Atom has a higher clock out of the box, but the Celeron has better memory bandwidth and more instructions.
Clock speed is a poor measure of performance.