Help finding a cheap Tiny PC with 2.5Gbe and 2x m.2

[Stokkes]

Hi all

Been pouring over YouTube but I think that has confused me more than anything due to this being a market I do not know very well.

Im looking to acquire a TMM PC for cheap but will let me expand in ways that may not be typical for older PCs. I do not want to spend a lot so maybe this isn't realistic.

This will run a bunch of smaller home services (not a firewall) like a reverse proxy, syslog, IoT bridges, etc. I may run Proxmox at a future date.

Requirements:

1. Low cost, around 200-300 max ideally (used is fine)
2. Intel based 8500T (35w) or newer
3. 2x m.2 NVME slots
4. Upgradable to 2.5GbE (or 10 Gb SFP or GbE would be even better).
5. Seperate ssd for boot drive.

USFF if at all possible. I know my requirements can probably be met with SFF, but hoping to stick to USFF.

It seems every (older) model from Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc have something missing or they are all newer models and cost 600+.

Appreciate the help!

 

[unmesh]

Maybe a HP Prodesk Mini? I have a 600 G4 with a 8500T, 2xm.2 NVMe slots, accomodates one 2.5" SATA drive and has one FlexIO slot but you may need a newer generation (G6 or later) version to accept the 2.5GbE or higher speed Flex IO NICs

The Lenovo M920q can accomodate a PCIe NIC but you lose the space for the 2.5" SATA drive though people have put a small (2242?) SSD using an adapter in the WiFi PCIe slot as a boot drive. There are people who will 3D print a faceplate for selected NICs

 

[oneplane]

If you don't want to spend a lot, perhaps a CWWK or some other Aliexpress special suits you.

 

[Asuka17377]

I have an idea, as an e-waste collector in China...
the MSI-M4SMD motherboard，it have one 10G SPF+(Intel x520)and one 1G RJ45 network connector.
but warning:1,it's B150 motherboard,if you want to use 8th/9th CPU need special bios.
2.if you want to use 8th/9th CPU,the best is B0 stepping CPU.another stepping CPU need shield some pin.
3.No nvme slots，but have 1 pciex16 and 2 pciex1,you can use pcie to nvme adapter card.
4.if you use Msi official bios,the 1G RJ45 is disabled.
This thing looks pretty cheap.on China ebay(name's xianyu)only 160RMB,I want to buy one,want to run openwrt,as a router.

 

[festizio]

The Elitedesk or prodesk G4/5 minis have 2x m.2 slots. They also have an m.2 a e slot for wifi that can be used to add a 2.5g Ethernet adapter. If you have access to a 3d printer, you can find plans for a bracket that fits in the flex io slot. This can certainly be had in your price range.

If you want 10g, I believe the g6 has 2x m.2 and an updated flex io slot that can accommodate either 2.5 or 10g cards. This will almost certainly be beyond your price range though.

The Lenovo m920x and p330 both have 2x m.2 with a pcie slot. You can get a riser card and put in a 10g Ethernet card. You may be able snag one of the these in your price range though the riser and 10g card would also need to be added.

If you're feeling sporty, you can get an m720q or m920q and diy add the components to enable the second m.2 slot.

 

[bigfellasdad]

Ive got a few M920q and M910q's, this is what ive done on mine...although it doesnt meet your requirements in full.

(1) Some bargains to be had, if patient.
(2) my micro servers run from i5-6500t through to i5-9500t, i think the 6th gen cpu is a little slow now but im happy with the rest. Depends on its use really. Although ive run the m910q's through coffeetime, im still yet to need to upgrade the cpu's to i5-9500t's in them.
(3) Yeah, id love one of the boxes to have 2 nvme m.2 slots, mainly so i could pass through a pair of 4tb m.2 nvme cards to a nas container, my boxes only have one, but they are backed up to a nas so redundancy is there.
(4) I dont use wireless for any lab machine so ive swapped out the m.2 wifi card for a single 2.5gbe nic, around the £30 mark and within proxmox, still allows up to C9 HW states.
(5) only my m920q has a pcie slot, which i dont use but will do once i move to 10gb network. I can have a card in there and keep the ssd but i have to take the ssd internals out of the ssd case and bubble wrap it.