For a pfsense build, would you recommend one of these or an HP 290-p0043w? I saw the passmark is a little higher for this machine and both can fit an Intel NIC.
I’d go for the 290 personally.
Well, to be clear, that’s what I did end up doing. Works great on symmetric gig ethernet.
Thanks. Seems like the 290 is cheaper at around $120 on eBay right now.
They often go for 10%-20% off at VIP Outlet on ebay, there’s a 15% off right now. Price shows in checkout.
Figured I would chime in, since you are flaunting my hardware in that video thumbnail.
I have two of these boxes, one is running my current pfSense and the other is kinda an Ubuntu Server Sandbox (I am currently running Home Assistant on this dedicated device).
One thing to note with pfSense and NIC compatibility. I had issues using the VT1000 4 port NIC where pfSense would lock up after about 2 minutes of power on time. @manbearpig2012 and I have both tested using a Intel I340-T2 ($15) with this hardware and it works perfectly fine.
Since the HP 290s have increased in price, would the HP T730 be the better option for a pfsense box overall? Looking at gigabit WAN and a decent VPN for my use case. LAN is a gigabit switch with two devices on 10G SFP+ if that makes any difference.
T730 is great, but they aren’t much cheaper.
Check out this Optiplex 9020 SFF
It’s very interesting that this thread started off with the T730, jumped to 290 and because both of their prices shooting up, the Optiplex 9020 was proposed, so I have 3 questions:
Could this Optiplex 9020 be expected to have ~10W idle power consumption with about a 40W Peak? Is there a way for me to find this out by reading some documentation?
From an idle and Peak power consumption point of view, how would an i3-41[3/5/6]0 based Optiplex 3020 compare with this i3-4160 Optiplex 9020?
For a router + UNRAID setup, would having a Optiplex 3020 matter over a Optiplex 9020 if we were to select the same i3-4160? I am expecting the Optiplex 3020 can be upgraded to up to 16GB of memory - which I am assuming is plenty for this application?
No, it will use more power. There’s not any documentation on power draw, there almost never is.
They will be about the same, the CPU is the determining factor not the rest of the hardware.
There are low power CPUs in that generation, such as the i3-4130T which would help you save power. Another good way to save power is by slimming down components that are not needed, such as 16GB of RAM. pfsense needs all of 2GB on a basic config.
