Introduction to the HP t640 Thin client - your cheap little AMD NUC7 alternative

[Badharrow]

Thanks for clarifying. There are plenty of 620s and 630s about locally for cheap, but not sure they do h 265. I have found a 730 I'm looking at but it's a tad bigger than I'd hoped. Thanks for the thread.

 

[WANg]

Thanks for clarifying. There are plenty of 620s and 630s about locally for cheap, but not sure they do h 265. I have found a 730 I'm looking at but it's a tad bigger than I'd hoped. Thanks for the thread.

Eh, if you want H265 and on the relative cheap, that’s either one of the HP Ryzen thin clients (540/640/740) or the Wyse 5070. The GPU on the t730 is GCN2 and doesn’t do H265 decoding in hardware.

 

[rcmaehl]

Hey WANg, I've recently drank the HP thin client Kool-aid. Do you think there would be any issues running an ASM1806 off the m.2 M Key on one of these?

 

[WANg]

Hey WANg, I've recently drank the HP thin client Kool-aid. Do you think there would be any issues running an ASM1806 off the m.2 M Key on one of these?

No flipping idea - the ASM1806 is, what, a PCIe to SATA bridge chip, so it's a multi-SATA drive setup?

 

[rcmaehl]

No flipping idea - the ASM1806 is, what, a PCIe to SATA bridge chip, so it's a multi-SATA drive setup?

PCIe switch.

Basically, PCIe x4 -> (Up to) Four PCIe x1

 

[WANg]

PCIe switch.

Basically, PCIe x4 -> (Up to) Four PCIe x1

Okay, but what does the actual card look like? it's a PCIe 3.0x2 Key M slot, but there's no guarantee that it'll work.

 

[Blackarrow]

Okay, but what does the actual card look like? it's a PCIe 3.0x2 Key M slot, but there's no guarantee that it'll work.

I’m actually looking into doing the same thing. Running multiple HDDs with one of these cards: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNoTxkC
It has a Marvell chip in it which is both a SATA to PCIe bridge and a SATA controller. The one I linked to actually supports up to 8 drives which is bonkers.

 

[WANg]

I’m actually looking into doing the same thing. Running multiple HDDs with one of these cards: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNoTxkC
It has a Marvell chip in it which is both a SATA to PCIe bridge and a SATA controller. The one I linked to actually supports up to 8 drives which is bonkers.

Yeah, but where do you plan to get power for the 8 drives? There's no molex or SATA power in the thin client, and considering that this is a low wattage, passively cooled thin client sitting on a non-standard board, you'll be lucky to tap the power rails for more than a single drive without impacting stability. Those port multiplier boards also require a heatsink (with decent airflow) to stay viable in a small box.

 

[Dave Corder]

I've been using two of these as HTPCs for a while now and I'm very very happy with them.

Had some eBay gift cards burning a hole in my pocket, and just managed to snag another one of these for $64 (sans PSU and OS). Not sure what I'll do with it, lol, but couldn't pass it up.

 

[WANg]

I've been using two of these as HTPCs for a while now and I'm very very happy with them.

Had some eBay gift cards burning a hole in my pocket, and just managed to snag another one of these for $64 (sans PSU and OS). Not sure what I'll do with it, lol, but couldn't pass it up.

Yeah, it's a nice little machine to mess around with. I gave mine away to a buddy of mine, but am contemplating buying another one.