this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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Raspberry/Orange Pi or ZimaBoard? (alien.top)
submitted 1 year ago by Holiday-Advance-7524@alien.top to c/main@selfhosted.forum
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Hi there. I've been looking to get something to run locally as I currently use a dedi machine I'm renting from Hetzner.

I've been looking at Raspberry Pi, mainly model 4 and while research those I got introduced to Orange Pi as well as ZimaBoard.

I realized the "best" option usually comes down to personal needs, tho I'm curious to which would be the better purchase in terms of "bang for your buck".

The main stuff I would be running are Plex or Jellyfin servers as well as NextCloud for family photos and a shared calendar. I love tinkering so I like the idea of having enough resources to run additional services without going down on efficiency.

My budget is around 180-200$.

I've seen posts where people often mention a mini PC or similar would be a great option tho I'm looking for something smaller and the less noise the better as I may end up showing the thing in a drawer or closet in my bedroom.

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[–] Kualk@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Or just visit a local pawnshop and get PC within your budget.

One advantage is you get x86 architecture, good IO quality and case hosting a couple drives.

Just pay attention to specs.

Or watch local craigslist.

Load that PC with Linux of your choice.

Linux can run on very low memory specs. Even 512MB. Don’t pay much attention to CPU. Just about any in last 10 years will work for you.

2 GB of RAM will be plenty.

If you plan on using old drive, make sure to have backup for your data.

Windows on old hardware will be pain. Linux will be fine. Go for Gnome or XFCE desktop. Gnome is simple, quite lite these days. Xfce is lighter and more similar to windows. I generally don’t go for distribution based desktops like mate.

I am Arch guy, but it’s not an option for non-tech people. Thus Manjaro (Arch based) or Ubuntu (safe mainstream).

You will get more performance out of Manjaro, because Arch doesn’t push flatpack on users, which slows down things.

[–] jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Don’t pay much attention to CPU. Just about any in last 10 years will work for you.

I agree with everything in your post except for this part. He's planning on running a Plex or Jellyfin server, which can benefit greatly from an Intel CPU with Intel QuickSync Video (QSV) capability. The iGPU in those processors are capable of multiple 4K transcodes without breaking a sweat.

It's worth paying a little extra for one of these CPUs.