Another Noobie pfSense "What Hardware do I need for 1 GIG FTTH" Thread
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You definitely save money with that configuration. Just motherboard & CPU alone is $110 cheaper than my configuration.
I guess I wanted to have the best possible experience and be able to tinker with several pfSense options. Several competent pfSense people did recommend those single-board setups, provided you can avoid using CPU intensive features. I suppose if I ever start playing with packet inspection that's when my overbuilt configuration will start to shine.
I'm still awful happy spending $400 (although to add wireless bumps it another $130), my last several consumer routers have each run $200-$300 range and the FTH provider was recommending another $200 upgrade because my RT-N66U would only provide about 836 Mbps (in their tests).
I have setup a permanent OpenVPN connection between an old ASUS router and pfSense so I can hopefully record some cameras over it to keep an eye on a distant property, but without exposing the cameras to the internet and all that goes with that.
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If buying a powerful router for cheap is the goal then you won't beat eBay (read: used systems from any source).
eBay is full of used end-of-lease workstations without HDD's containing i3-i5's that have AES-NI for <$100.
Buy one of those and install to either a pair of thumb drives or a cheap SSD.
Add an eBay i340-tX and you can have a very powerful system for ~$100.The only real downside is power usage, but without a HDD it really won't be that much higher, probably ~10W or less delta in most comparisons to systems with comparable performance. Translates to ~$8-18/yr in the CONUS for a 24/7/365 box.
This combo would cost you about $125-150 after tax & shipping depending on where you live (CONUS) and gets you an i5 with a passmark a little better than an i3-7100 for about 15W hotter TDP and it even comes with a HDD & 6GB of RAM. That's a whole system for about the same price as an i3-7100 after tax+shipping.
Bottom line is if you want performance for cheap then buy used. You simply will not beat the price/perf. ratio.
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I figured the savings in electricity would be more substantial. I don't have one of those old architecture setups to slap on the kill-a-watt meter, but even if the difference was substantial (like several tens of watts difference at idle) it would definitely take years to payoff the difference in price (used vs new).
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If buying a powerful router for cheap is the goal then you won't beat eBay (read: used systems from any source).
eBay is full of used end-of-lease workstations without HDD's containing i3-i5's that have AES-NI for <$100.
Buy one of those and install to either a pair of thumb drives or a cheap SSD.
Add an eBay i340-tX and you can have a very powerful system for ~$100.The only real downside is power usage, but without a HDD it really won't be that much higher, probably ~10W or less delta in most comparisons to systems with comparable performance. Translates to ~$8-18/yr in the CONUS for a 24/7/365 box.
This combo would cost you about $125-150 after tax & shipping depending on where you live (CONUS) and gets you an i5 with a passmark a little better than an i3-7100 for about 15W hotter TDP and it even comes with a HDD & 6GB of RAM. That's a whole system for about the same price as an i3-7100 after tax+shipping.
Bottom line is if you want performance for cheap then buy used. You simply will not beat the price/perf. ratio.
pfBasic, I just wanted to thank you for turning me on to the idea of buying a used SFF + intel NIC. I was planning to build a much more expensive low-power box to replace my aging supermicro atom d515 that's been chugging along for years, but it was not nearly up to the task of routing a new 1Gbit/s connection. I found a dell SFF with about the same specs as the HP you listed for $120 and an i340-t2 for $20. Easily handles the fast connection and power is relatively low at ~40W idle. As you said, can't beat the price/perf ratio.
Thanks again.