CPU or system recommendation for game server & potentially NAS

müllerchen · ‎07-24-2024

Hello,

I would like to build a system with minimum power draw — I live in Germany and pay about 0.33 Euro per kWh — when used while still being good enough for a Minetest server (less than 10 users; expect less than 5 most of the time) and potentially light NAS usage (one user).

And before I just get a midrange CPU that "idles at 5W" but might actually draw more... I just thought why not ask in the Intel communtity. Especially since I do have a system with a team red CPU that has a pretty much constant draw of 100W with the CPU (3700X) set to ECO mode in UEFI. Even when doing nothing more than displaying a terminal on a connected monitor. However the new system will be headless and the old system has a external graphics card but still the CPU easily draws the 45 W set vis Eco mode constantly... maybe some missing software or something however.. Well, whatever, the new Intel system will likely run headless most of the time.

So far I noticed that running a Minetest server with just a few mods can barely work for a single user when a Pi 4 is used. At least when I use Gentoo.

So a few times the power of the CPU of the Pi4 might be enough. Any recommendations for a fitting, low-cost CPU I can build a system with or even some system (which then might even have LPDDR5, passive cooling and other things to bring the total power draw down)?

Have a great day!

CoolBook · ‎07-24-2024

Hi @müllerchen,

Seems the N100 would be enough.

Amazon.de : n100

AlfredoS_Intel · ‎07-26-2024

Hi Müllerchen,

Thank you for creating a thread in Intel Communities.

I appreciate your interest in considering to use an Intel processor to power your planned low wattage system.

I would need to confirm some information from you to precisely answer your question:

1. Are you looking for a system-on-chip CPU like a PI4 or a desktop CPU that you can integrate to a system that you are trying to assemble?

2. Do you have CPU speed, number of cores, cache, or security features requirement?

3 If you have tried to look into the processors that we have currently in the market, do you have a CPU model that you are looking into? If yes, can you provide the model of it?

Awaiting your response.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

müllerchen · ‎07-26-2024

Hello, thanks for both replies so far. Getting a build with a N100 is a bit expensive and some "NAS" MB for the N100 seem to have a high power draw according to ratings on Amazon... Well, sub 100 Euro if possible for Motherboard + CPU (excluding RAM, storage an power supply in that sum) would be good, however I could spend more if there are good arguments for it. The 100 Euros are not really a real limit but if it's over 200 Euro I would really need to think if it isn't wiser to buy a refurbished system for a fraction of that that will have a few more watts power draw but will get me less total cost in 10 years...

To answer your three questions Alfred:
1. Technically it can be either however for assembling I would also take recommendations on a power efficient motherboard. The size of the system doesn't matter that much to me (can be up to 34.5 cm x 37 cm x 74.5 cm) but really mainly the power draw when it is used. I plan to run a Minetest server 24/7 on it and potentially attach the HDDs currently in my personal PC in it (would be good if it had 6x SATA or more but in worst case multiple 5 Gbit/s USB ports should do it too... currently in my PC are 4 HDDs and I have one lying around that I just got. However two of the HDDs in my PC are pretty silent and one of the louder ones is "only" a 2.5" 1 TB one I don't really need in a PC... so 2x SATA could do it as well... however a a PCIe slot for adding a SATA expansion card might be also an option that would be fine for me.) and use them as network storage — to get noise out of my room. The new system will likely be put in a cabinet in the floor. Hole will be drilled into the cabinet and fan will be attached to get heat out.

2. I would say about four times the computing power of the Pi 4 might be good, maybe more. Doesn't need that many cores since I noticed on the Pi 4 that Minetest uses a single thread most of the time but at least 2 cores would be good. CPU architecture doesn't really matter either. Minetest is available for x86_64, ARM architectures and I have seen even a risc-v package for it.

3. It doesn't matter that much to me which CPU as long as it is power efficient while performant enough.
The previous commentor mentioned the N100. N series looks promising but I heard it was made for the Chinese market, which might also explain the high prices and the availability — it doesn't appear to be that easy to get one of those CPUs without a NUC-like system... Well, it might certainly be nice to get ahold of a system with maybe DDR5 memory even and even better if it was then (soon?) possible to find a MB with LPCAMM2 for potentially even less power draw without the need for soldered RAM but it's not a must for me. Especially not when e.g. attractive-looking things with e.g. the more powerful N300 are 500+ Euros already...
When looking at "Raspberry Pi alternatives" advertised on deal platforms, I see e.g. devices with e.g. J4105, J5005, G5400T, i5-6500 and some Pentium Gold. In comments I say people saying that processors in general have a low idle power draw. However, well the only thing idling or sleeping in my system will be HDDs but I doubt the CPU will idle when the Minetest server is running 24/7...

Sorry that the post is a bit longer but I think it's better if I put out my thoughts as well so you can see things I stumpled upon and what I think would be nice to have (even tho those things are certainly not a must for me).

Have a great weekend!

CoolBook · ‎07-26-2024

@müllerchen

Troll, right!

But hey, here we go....

We are talking dumpster diving budgets here, so all requests of specifications are off the table. I think you already knew that?

Old used sub 100 Euro systems will definitely use a lot of power, unless someone finds you reasonable new Atom or ARM based system.

Atoms like Baytrail, Apollo Lake and Elkhart Lake etc. won't give you good bang for the buck if you purchase new, but perhaps some old used appliances could be found for your target price.

The N100 uses the same e-core as Alder Lake. That has almost Skylake class performance at a good power budget. You could even configure it to a lower TDP if needed.

DDR5 hahaha, good one!

Talking about China. I would aim for a Rockchip based SBC that you could play around with. That would be the perfect fit for your budget.

Dan0987 · ‎07-30-2024

@müllerchen wrote:
Getting a build with a N100 is a bit expensive and some "NAS" MB for the N100 seem to have a high power draw according to ratings on Amazon...

You may want to consider a cheap N100 board like ASUS Prime N100I-D D4 (~95 € on amazon) and get around the SATA port shortage by using an m.2 to SATA adapter, like this (~30 € on amazon, ~17 € on aliexpress). Another advantage of this solution is that this controller should support ASPM, which is not guaranteed with Chinese NAS boards. Finding a cheap and efficient in sub-10W loads ATX power supply will be more challenging.

You might also want to take a look at these threads, especially if you are considering used hardware:

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/threads/die-sparsamsten-systeme-30w-idle.1007101/
https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/threads/alltagstaugliche-desktop-systeme-mit-6w-idle-verbrauch-inkl-haswell-beispiel.1001484/

müllerchen · ‎07-30-2024

Thanks, Dan. (Didn't see your comment before.)
I will check the site out. Also stumpled upon a device with a 2.5 GBit/s port which uses a RK3588s and draws less than 1 W in idle... tested by a user on the same website you linked to. However with an SSD.
And N100 also doesn't seem to be of the game for me. Apparently recently a SBC using that processor launched. It also comes with a 2.5 GBit/s port but also no SATA connections, but with a P2040 and GPIO at least so potentially a HAT can be added I hope.

AlfredoS_Intel · ‎07-28-2024

@müllerchen

Thanks for the quick response.

I have an additional question to properly give you advice. What is your target power draw? Is it less than 5W?

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

müllerchen · ‎07-29-2024

I think about 5W should be fine (with board together it shouldn't take more than 10W; also active connected HDDs will also draw some watts...) but feel free to recommend options below that as well. Every watt saved is 8.76 kWh per year saved and at a price of currently 0.33 Eurocent per kWh — will likely be able to get a bit below that in the future but still... — 2.89 Euro per year saved. It can easily happen that I use the hardware for 10+ years but I would say at least 5 years.

Thank you as well, Alfred.

AlfredoS_Intel · ‎07-30-2024

Hi müllerchen,

Much obliged for sharing your requirement.

Here is a list of our processors (https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=213356,213357,207904,185280,185281,185282,97538,97461,95452,95441,95449,92124,91710,88198,88202,88197,88199,86826,87259,85234,84666,84669,84672,84311,83610,83611,83612,82102,80900,80902,82485,80904,81329,81072,80901,80903,79050,78476,76754,79084,58916,49656,49660,49662,55664,55663,...) that has the target wattage that you are after,

If you notice the processors are either of the embedded or mobile variety, so I am afraid there is no version that you can easily integrate to a desktop machine and you may need to have a custom design board to use this processors. If you would like to know more information about the embedded offerings, please let me know, so I can transfer the thread to our embedded processor team, for you to get more information about it

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

müllerchen · ‎07-30-2024

Thanks for that list. I will look at it in more detail later and will search for existing products using the processors listed there.

Not sure if contact to the embedded team makes sense. If they can recommend me something existing or upcoming then sure!
For making an order for a individual, new design... I would be surprised if Intel offered something like this at a low price.