I already have a new HD to use.
However, after doing a lot of reading and consideration, I decided to look at something Atom-based. (Ugh!) I don't particularly like Atom, as it's slow, and price approaches that of low-end "real CPUs", while getting 1/4th to 1/5th of the performance. But with that in mind...
Some thoughts on what this second build changes:
But tonight, I came across a new (to me) item that throws a wrench in my ideas. That would be the Intel DH61AG. The DH61AG has the following advantages:Advantages:
- size
- noise (100% silent)
- all solid-state
- power usage (not very important to me but useful for keeping network on UPS for long periods)
- DC-DC PSU built into mobo (very cool)
Disadvantages:
- almost as expensive as my initial build
- over 4x slower CPU
- crazy slow and small storage
- almost as small as the DN2800MT
- retains the SODIMM slots (I have 2x2gb DDR3 SODIMMs already)
- retains the mSATA port
- has an inbuilt DC-DC converter
It would be easy to stuff the DH61AG into the MI-008, but impossible to get it into the M350, or even M300, while keeping my PCIe NIC. I've considered AMD Fusion (not much faster), Nano X2 (see previous), and boards like the S1200KP (dual NICs, but otherwise no advantage over existing board). None of these options, except the S1200KP which is disadvantageous, allow me Intel NICs, let alone dual Intel NICs.
So, what now? Should I go Atom? (I really prefer not to.) Or is there a way to get the DH61AG and a PCIe NIC into a case smaller than the MI-008? Depth is what matters to me most - 12", the approximate depth of the 008, is about my limit.
Thanks for reading!