Raspberry/Orange Pi or ZimaBoard? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-01 23:09 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Snake16547 · 2023-11-01 23:14 I would suggest the ZimaBoard 832 or was it 842?^^ I replaced my Rpi4 with the ZimaBoard because the operating CasaOS is faster and for Plex the performance is much more consistent and reliable ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-01 23:18 832/842 you mean the big boy right? That's also the one I've been looking more at recently. My only concern is the onboard storage as it only comes with 32gigs. What have you done to expand on storage? I have some external hard drives I can attach but ideally I'd like to run with nvme or an ssd ---------------------------------------------------------------------- esturniolo · 2023-11-01 23:21 Get a Mini HP ProDesk. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- esturniolo · 2023-11-01 23:21 Get a Mini HP ProDesk. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Texasaudiovideoguy · 2023-11-01 23:28 Casa OS is great but most of the apps are no where near up to date. I use casa and I have to make my own containers if I want the latest update. Also if you want to use Plex with hardware acceleration I haven’t been able to get it to work at all. I scrapped the idea of casa running docker containers and use portainer to manage them. Then just use casa as a dashboard. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sudden_Cheetah7530 · 2023-11-01 23:59 I have got 4 Orange Pis but I highly encourage you to consider mini PCs. They are just better in most cases. What is your top priority? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Snake16547 · 2023-11-02 00:08 I attached two SSD‘s with 2 TB each. I‘m using that RAID only for In- House Backup from my Synology and Plex is started from the ZimaBoard with access to the Synology ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ReinoutWolter · 2023-11-02 00:38 If you want fast reliable storage i'd go with the Zima, I find the PCI-e port much more reliable thnt USB. I find after several months USB connections start to lose contact or something and start glitching out, especially when bumping/moving them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dazchad · 2023-11-02 00:42 A MiniPC will be a much better choice for you. You can get a used 8th gen i5 for around $40, and that usually includes 8gb ram and 256gb ssd. Sometimes people will give off for free on your local classifieds/facebook marketplace. Look for SFF (small form factor) if you are concerned with space, but I'd personally go with a normal tower if space if not (more space for PCIe expansion). You can also try a Mac Mini, and they are well within your budget. Those boards (orange pi, raspberry pi, zimaboard etc) are good for hacking with modules/shields, GPIO etc. Although they are capable of hosting stuff, a regular intel/amd cpu will get you farther (expandable memory, storage, GPU, etc) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-02 00:43 I have experimented very little with casa and usually just turn to ubunto as the dashboard isn't important to me. Plus what you mentioned about outdated apps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-02 00:44 Yeah I may end up going with the ZimaBoard as it seems like the best way to go for me ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-02 00:45 I somehow completely missed the thing having SATA ports. I really want a Synology Nas at some point but those are some expensive little fellas ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-02 00:49 I sadly don't have a lot of room which is why I lean towards "the boards" as I will have to chug whatever I end up going with in a closet or drawer in my bedroom lol. The boards to me seem easier to go with in terms of making a small compartment in said drawer or closet while also not emitting a ton of noise. I hope to one day get my hands on a Synology Nas or similar but I have to fix the storage issue first as that won't survive in a closet/drawer lol ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dazchad · 2023-11-02 00:51 There are plenty of MiniPCs that are just a tad larger than those boards. I personally have an Intel NUC 12th gen, for which I paid way too much money lol, but it's small, silent, and run anything I want save gaming. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- L1nuxBear · 2023-11-02 01:53 I second this, check out Beelink mini PC's on amazon. They start at around $150 on Amazon, x86 based and run laps around raspberry pi and Orange Pi ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ReinoutWolter · 2023-11-02 02:28 My ZimaBoard is reporting 251 days uptime, pretty reliable so far. I'm happy with it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytepond · 2023-11-02 02:59 Don't bother with any of them! For $200 you can get a pretty kitted out Lenovo Thinkcentre, Dell Optiplex, or HP Elite/Prodesk that'll beat the stuffing out of any of them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tribak · 2023-11-02 03:21 My Orange Pi is unreliable, gets offline from time to time, no idea why. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- human_with_humanity · 2023-11-02 04:42 Under 200, there is n100 firewalls mini pc. It has quicksync so easy to transcode, and cpu is 6w tdp. Whole pc on idle consumes 11w and max load 22 to 28 w, depending on a How many lan ports are being used. U can check aliexpress and amazon for it. There's is also n305, which has 8core, but cpu is 15w tdp and will max consume 35 to 40w. This will cost more than 300usd. Check servethehome youtube videos on it. He tests them in detail. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- human_with_humanity · 2023-11-02 04:44 If u don't want mini pc, then go for orange pi 5 plus 16gb. It doesn't have transcode, but under 200, it's the best performance for price. Consumes 2.5w idle and 10w max on load. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SheikAhmed00101 · 2023-11-02 04:53 I used Pi4 for a few years - painfully! But, if you must: 1. Make sure you connect your Pi to your router with a quality Ethernet cable. Don’t bother with WiFi. 2. Forget about transcoding - Pi processor is too slow for it. 3. Certain 4K movies will not stream - never figured out the reason. So, I had to get 1080 version! 4. Plex client (in my case Apple TV 4K) used to complain too much sometimes - so, I switched to Infuse player because it didn’t need Plex server to do the conversion. 5. Plex server on Pi can allow 2 or 3 concurrent viewing ot your Pi would blow up (crash). I finally gave up running my Plex server on Pi and switched to my primary PC! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ArgoPanoptes · 2023-11-02 04:58 Pi4 is great, but be aware that you can not run some software on it because it uses ARM. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- cshevy · 2023-11-02 05:51 The performance of them is completely shite in comparison though. You are better to think of them as juicy microcontrollers as opposed to extra small form factor desktops ---------------------------------------------------------------------- webbkorey · 2023-11-02 08:27 I've run a couple orange pis, raspberry pis and LePotatos and I also agree that a mini PC is going to be a much better starting machine. I still have a LePotato in service, but it serves a niche where a mini PC wouldn't be viable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Eirikr70 · 2023-11-02 08:56 I hadn't heard of ZimaBoards. I have 3 RPis and an old laptop as servers. My main concern is the limit of 8 GB RAM, and I see that ZimaBoard doesn't offer any 16 or 32 GB. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Raithmir · 2023-11-02 09:09 The Zimaboard is way overpriced, for a way underpowered CPU. Unless you specifically have a need to use its PCIe slot for something, I see no reason for it. As others have noted, an ultra small form factor PC, the likes of Dell/HP/Lenovo sell is always a better value option. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- useless_mlungu · 2023-11-02 09:18 To further reiterate the point, I've seen OP asking questions about "adding storage" for example. Thhe one issue with boards is when you start adding SSDs and such to them, their size starts to grow quickly. I have a Pi4 next to a aliexpress special, Beelink mono pc. The footprint is basically the same but better with the mini pc, not to mention far more performant. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-Advance-7524 · 2023-11-02 09:56 I have a high priority of the unit I choose to go with not emitting a ton of noise where the passive cooling for the ZimaBoard is perfect for that. I see the reasons for people mentioning Mini PCs tho I'm hesitant as the whirling may be too much to have stored in the bedroom as I also have no other place to hide it ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FallowMcOlstein · 2023-11-02 10:31 Neither. Get a second hand hp pro/elitedesk with a 9500 or a 10500 or similar cpu. way more performance for your money. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FallowMcOlstein · 2023-11-02 10:32 jesus how are you getting 8th gen i5 mini pc's for that cheap. where I live they go for like €100-€150. I was really lucky to get one with a 9500T for jist over 100. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dazchad · 2023-11-02 11:17 Facebook marketplace. Lots of HP, Lenovo, etc. all SFF so I assume coming off offices. Considering current gen is 14th, then a 6yo pc ought to be cheap. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- weeklygamingrecap · 2023-11-02 11:26 Yeah, I see a single 8500 on eBay for $88 that's still getting bids. I'm not saying people can't score a deal but $40 seems insanely lucky. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ResponsibleEnd451 · 2023-11-02 12:53 ZimaBoards are based on 7 year old CELERONS with limited lpddr ram. My advice is that you buy a cheap pc like an optiplex for like 40 bucks and extend its storage, ram and maybe upgrade the cpu later on. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rude_Walk · 2023-11-02 12:56 Which model have you got? I just got a 3B was considering ordering more but want to make sure they are stable enough ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tribak · 2023-11-02 14:03 3 LTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kmisterk · 2023-11-06 18:43 ## Post Removed Hey, Holiday-Advance-7524! Thanks for your submission on selfhosted. Your post has been removed due to a violation of the purpose of the subreddit: **Self Hosting** ## Not Self-Hosted When it comes to posts regarding applications in this subreddit, they must feature a self-hosted tool, or a tool that *can be* self-hosted, or some kind of related information, help request, or otherwise related to a tool that is something that one can self-host. If you believe this post *is in fact* relevant to /r/selfhosted, feel free to [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to= /r/selfhosted&subject=Removed For Not Being Self- Hosted&message=[Removed Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/17lp3mq/-/\)) with your concerns.