Question MINI PCs UNDERPOWERED - HELP NEEDED FOR A BUILD

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sdph536

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Dec 5, 2015
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I have a need for a Mini PC so I have purchased three different ones by brand and specs.

All will be running windows 10

I am curious to know is there anything I can install that would run performance tests on them to see which one perform better?

I am going to use it to run a CNC machine and the software for that is rather light duty but does have a 3d viewer and my understanding that is the most taxing part of the software.

I am comparing this to my prior computer I was using which is a ACER Iconia W700p tablet which booted extremely fast and the CNC program was fully responsive and the 3d viewer was fluid like.

The reason I am trying to change out is the ACER screen is 11.6 and I wanted to move to larger touchscreen and in doing so wanted to use a Mini PC to drive it in a light duty work station.

20210201-215813.jpg


I first started with an ACE PC AK1 - Celeron J3455 up to 2.3ghz, 4gb DDR3/64gb eMMC

While this one worked I did note that the boot time was much slower and the 3d viewer in the CNC program was choppy.

I am going to test these additional three:

  • ACE PC AK 1 - Celeron J3455 up to 2.3ghz, 120gb ROM, 8GB Ram DDR3

  • Beelink T34 Intel N3450, 6gb DDR4, 128gb SSD

  • Minis Forum U500-H , Intel I3-5005U, 8gb LPDDR3 Ram, 128gb SSD
I am an novice with computers so looking for any advice on how to test these or perhaps these three are all in the same ballpark and I shouldn't expect any difference... not sure.

thx.
 
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The system's you have are all from yester-years. If I were you I'd have built something with concurrent parts and passively cool it or even look at concurrent NUC's though I think you're going to get a much more favorable experience while on the i3. BTW, nice workshop there 😉 wish you progress and work during the looming pandemic!
 
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Lutfij said:
The system's you have are all from yester-years. If I were you I'd have built something with concurrent parts and passively cool it or even look at concurrent NUC's though I think you're going to get a much more favorable experience while on the i3. BTW, nice workshop there 😉 wish you progress and work during the looming pandemic!
Click to expand...

Do you think I could build something that small for like under $270 - that is the most I paid for one of these units....

I am not sure where I would begin because I don't know what the smaller parts are all called. I have built a larger style ATX system but nothing this small and that is why I was looking at these on Amazon.
 
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sdph536 said:
Do you think I could build something that small for like under $270 - that is the most I paid for one of these units....

I am not sure where I would begin because I don't know what the smaller parts are all called. I have built a larger style ATX system but nothing this small and that is why I was looking at these on Amazon.
Click to expand...

You may ask why so small and that is because I want it mounted on the swivel workstation ...

20210201-215833.jpg

I do have a ron paulk style table but do not want to throw a PC in there as right now I use it for storage but will eventually built it out to have sliders for more tools.
 
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I thought I could get by with one of these cheap mini pcs from Amazon - it was suggested to me by a fellow CNC users on a CNC forum - He said he had no issues but when I tried the 4gb version of this ACE PC AK 1 - it was terribly choppy and the boot time took way way longer than the Tablet I have. The tablet boots really fast in my opinion.

ACE PC AK 1 - Celeron J3455 up to 2.3ghz, 120gb ROM, 8GB Ram DDR3

Bench Mark Tests - I noticed on this site it said all three tests were incomplete so other than web browsing thinking these are not what I am looking for....

UserBenchmarks:
CPU: Intel Celeron J3455 - 26.2%
SSD: Hoodisk SSD 128GB - 81.3%
USB: Generic STORAGE DEVICE 8GB - 17.1%
RAM: ABCD 123456789012345678 4x2GB - 27.6%
MBD: Default string


I have two more coming tomorrow to test but I am thinking I might as well throw some extra money or get out of my head that a MINI will work and look for something else not so compact.

  • Beelink T34 Intel N3450, 6gb DDR4, 128gb SSD
  • Minis Forum U500-H , Intel I3-5005U, 8gb LPDDR3 Ram, 128gb SSD
If anyone knows of something that may do the trick I am open to options... I really do not want to spend more than $300-400 on this including having windows license so that in of itself may be very unrealistic.
 
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USAFRet said:
Beelink
Seriously. I have one. Serving as my HTPC right now.
Build quality is outstanding.

www.bee-link.com

Beelink | Beelink mini PC-Connect to a wonderful life

www.bee-link.com www.bee-link.com
Adjust to meet your budget and requirements.
Click to expand...
So you think the Beelink model I chose is OK?
  • Beelink T34 Intel N3450, 6gb DDR4, 128gb SSD

I will get both the Beelink and the Mini Forums tomorrow if USPS delivers on time. Plan on doing the same tests tomorrow ....

I ran it on my PC that my kid helped me build... of course they are no where near the same... Just trying to understand this bench marking.

UserBenchmarks: Game 70%, Desk 92%, Work 65%
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 - 90.5%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660 - 71.9%
SSD: Crucial P1 3D NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB - 127.5%
SSD: CT1000BX500SSD1 1TB - 102%
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB - 87.4%
MBD: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02)
 
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My two options now are to go back to using the tablet and the $120 on the touchscreen was for nothing.

Or

Build something -- I really do not want to spend more that $300 - $400 but I'm thinking that is unrealistic given Windows 10 is like $139 just for the Home version which is fine....

I just need something that is comparable to my tablet, in a small for factor if possible.

Can I move the windows 10 from the tablet to a new build ??
 
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USAFRet said:
Neither of those mini systems fit the bill?

Move the Win 10 from the tablet?
No, neither the actual OS or the Win 10 license.
Click to expand...
I didn't want to spend this much but ended ordering the same Beelink you have. Hopefully it will perform.

Much easier to just spend more money than trying to source the parts and put it all together and net net would end up spending the same amount.
 
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