Mini Stick PC for torrents? energy saving

realityshow:_trusted_user::_sitefriend::_male::_sitelover:Posted at 2022-04-04 02:49:18(141Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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What with crazy energy prices i`m considering getting a seperate  low energy pc for torrents and watching content. currently i have a desktop pc for gaming and use it for everything at the moment.
My torrents are on external drives so reckon as long as it has LAN and usb 3.0 it should be ok, tho unsure if it will be powerful enough to handle thousands of torrent seeding.

i was looking at something like this

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CPU – Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core processor @ 1.50 / 2.50 GHz
GPU – 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600; 10W TDP
Memory – 4 GB LPDDR4
Storage – 64GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot
Video Output – HDMI 2.0 male port up to [email protected]
Audio – Via HDMI, and 3.5mm audio combo jack
Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, Dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 4.2
USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports
Misc – Power button, Kensington lock slot; BIOS features: Wake on LAN / PXE/ BIOS One-Step Reset/ Auto Power on
Power Supply – 5V/3A via micro USB port


(I havent looked at the other various models yet, there must be something more powerful and cheap on electric, if u have some other ones to look at please post)

This one uses 10 watts? which would be great if its true tho reckon i could go higher with watts at least under 50 watts? .  If i need more USB 3.0 ports i could just plug in a extra usb 3.0 hub with its own power supply maybe. Anyone have any experience with these mini stick pc`s or could recommend another solution? i figure i`d use my desktop for gaming and encoding only, and then this separately for  torrenting and watching my TV downloads. I seen other mini stick pc`s with fans not sure about this fanless design and heat generated. Would be curious to hear people thoughts  to this and the escalating cost of electricity, which could (hope not) stop people from sharing for fear of leaving their PC on for too long.. those energy grubbing b`srds trying to make life harder for us poor folk:(

Last edited by realityshow on 2022-04-04 03:00:15


 
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nd684dPosted at 2022-04-04 07:59:18(141Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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If you end up getting it let us know how it works.  That's super cool.  I'd love to know.  Many other uses for it too.

 
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1stGD:_blocked:Posted at 2022-04-04 08:35:22(141Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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Basicly:
-It will work.. add a solarcell ontop/beside it to charge an external battery..
thought off the same thing earlier but for inside a car or other viechle... download while you drive and watch the movie
before you go to bed and sleep for tmrrws drive...??

add some BT to it and use your tablet as a screen..and your car stereo to get your cinema sound?
(skipping the extra cables):_:-@

 
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RedBaron58:_vip::_trusted_uploader::_sitefriend::_male::_sitelover:Posted at 2022-04-04 11:05:42(141Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
Master of the Sky
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Torrenting is something that can be easily managed by a Raspberry pi.
My upload/download machine is a Raspberry pi 400 current price 93 euro,
but if you don't want to spend so much a Raspberry pi 3 or 4 (B models)
would do fine. Power consumption under 15 Watts and no fan necessary.
Using TightVNC you can control your torrent machine using your existing
keyboard, mouse and display which further reduces the cost.
This might help you.
https://www.howtogeek.com/142044/how-to-turn-a-raspberry-pi-into-an-always-on-bittorrent-box/

 
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realityshow:_trusted_user::_sitefriend::_male::_sitelover:Posted at 2022-04-22 07:04:21(138Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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nd684d wrote:

If you end up getting it let us know how it works.  That's super cool.  I'd love to know.
This is the one i ended up getting, mainly because i got a good price on it, tho no it does not have 512gb SSD drive like the picture it the cheaper one with 128gb SSD

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It came pre-installed with win10 of which i did a windows reset, updated it and ran freeware program which removes windows spying. As you can se it only has 2x usb 3.0 ports but an easy fix by adding a usb hub for extra ports so can add my 16TB & 8TB drives.

Below is a 5 second gif running on windows 10 highest performance power scheme showing the watts and processing whilst torrenting

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The highest i seen it go it about 14watts but mostly it runs at a steady 4 to 5watts. Sheesh! i got energy saving light bulbs using just as much or more! It even has a basic graphics GPU and can run some certain types of games.

Plays H.265 perfectly as well as the various other codecs.

Whats more i can leave this running 24/7 for to share/download torrents without worrying about my energy bill.

*edit
Tho by adding 2 x external 3.5 drives probably sends this to around 25-30 watts in total i`m guessing.

Last edited by realityshow on 2022-04-24 07:05:09


 
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TimmyBoy91:_blocked:Posted at 2022-04-22 10:10:05(138Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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Technology as gone crazy!:_:-@

 
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MadWatchdog:_moderator:Posted at 2022-04-27 16:55:14(138Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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just found it.
how about turning it to a seed box server.


 
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1stGD:_blocked:Posted at 2022-04-27 16:58:08(138Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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How a deep pocket you need?
barebone version? but with cpu..

 
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realityshow:_trusted_user::_sitefriend::_male::_sitelover:Posted at 2022-04-29 09:21:19(137Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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MadWatchdog wrote:

how about turning it to a seed box server.

1stGD wrote:

How a deep pocket you need?
barebone version? but with cpu..
There`s a bunch of tutorials online on how to turn a  spare PC into a seedbox which you may enjoy, Or if you have a stonking fast PC you can do one in a Virtual Machine. its possible tho i guess depends on  how fast your connection is etc.

 
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XannyFamily:_junkie::_turtle:Posted at 2023-09-11 05:50:10(66Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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That is very impressive especially running on top of Windows 10 which is not exactly a lightweight OS.

Who makes that little box you have there? I'm now very curious to get one to play with.

Would put Linux on mine though. Not for the less technically inclined, but if you are or just curious, slap a lightweight Ubuntu install on there and it'll use even less CPU and energy.

If you're a proper Linux head already just slap any headless server distro on there (i.e. no GUI just a command line, you manage it by remoting in via SSH) and use a terminal torrent client that lets you control it from an app on your phone.

Then put Jellyfin on it if you wanna use it as a media server, although I can't imagine it'd handle transcoding well without a big loss in quality so just direct play only - or put the streaming HLC URL generated by Jellyfin into VLC.

 
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realityshow:_trusted_user::_sitefriend::_male::_sitelover:Posted at 2023-09-15 06:12:43(65Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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XannyFamily wrote:

That is very impressive especially running on top of Windows 10 which is not exactly a lightweight OS.

Who makes that little box you have there? I'm now very curious to get one to play with.

Would put Linux on mine though. Not for the less technically inclined, but if you are or just curious, slap a lightweight Ubuntu install on there and it'll use even less CPU and energy.

If you're a proper Linux head already just slap any headless server distro on there (i.e. no GUI just a command line, you manage it by remoting in via SSH) and use a terminal torrent client that lets you control it from an app on your phone.

Then put Jellyfin on it if you wanna use it as a media server, although I can't imagine it'd handle transcoding well without a big loss in quality so just direct play only - or put the streaming HLC URL generated by Jellyfin into VLC.
The little tiny box PC is  a brand by GMK, if you type in GMK nucbox it should search easily. As it has intel inside it has Quicksynch encoding it can do x265 and x264 tho not superfast but alot quicker than it own cpu. The only downside i have found with it is whilst it is 4 core,  it does not have hyperthreading! which is something i had presumed all quad core would have but apprently not. It`s fine for my torrents but when at high download speed it seems to affect the playback of video so have to turn the speed limiter on if to really watch something, otherwise i`ll copy it to usb and watch on my other PC.

Last year i picked up a Lenovo dual core (multithreads) laptop for around £160 for my dad i tested it, and it was only drawing around 3 watts on testing with HWMonitor software. Defintly have a look round i`m sure the newer stuff is very energy saving.

 
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EVILTEEN777:_trusted_user::_male::_sitelover::_junkie::_kitty::_sun::_turtle:Posted at 2023-09-20 04:07:48(65Wks ago) Report Permalink URL 
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I have one of these:(Intel Compute Stick)Image error
Intel atom
32gb rom
2gb ram

These were made a few years ago so there may be better options available now.
These work great for p2p downloading and for playback on a TV, but that 2gb of ram becomes a problem for more intensive applications. Also it only has 2 usb ports. I run linux on mine with a keyboard and mouse combo for navigation.


 
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