SuperMicro Fanless SYS-E100-9AP
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Thinking of pulling the trigger on this barebone unit. I have several APU2's but this might be a more robust solution. Just got a quote from TechData for 347.65.
https://www.supermicro.com/products/system/Mini-ITX/SYS-E100-9AP.cfm
Any thoughts?
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I think it's packaged nicely but otherwise an expensive paper weight with a little processing power. I've got to believe you can find better hardware that's just as low power usage or close to and as small a footprint for the same amount or less.
I'm not a fan of them, but many love the qotom units….Well I like them, they just don't fit my wants.
and not to totally bash you idea, it will do just fine as a pfsense unit. but i don't know what your network speeds and demands are.
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So i was looking at the Qotom but I noticed some mentioned that the fan-less solution actually ran quite hot and have added fans. The point of fan less is to not have to add a fan yet it operates within an acceptable temperature range.
QOTOM-Q355G4
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I've added a fan on top of the Qutum for one reason only. I'm not comfortable with fanless machines locked up in a cabinet with no airflow around them together with 2x NAS units that warm up the ambient air considerably.
To be clear this is not an issue with the device, it run super stable without the fan, I just don't like HW running at 50c continuously especially when the fan is silent and the cabinet insulates all the noise anyway.
Any fanless i5 unit would be in the same position due to the 14watts needing dissipating somehow so your real alternative is to look at lower TDP parts if you want fanless and are not comfortable with a 50-60C operating range. The CPU will work till 100C or so, so it's not like the unit is overheating.