My Opensense build

[madbrain]

RAIDMax ATX-298WY ATX case (this is a mini-tower, bought for $25 at Fry's years ago)
Bequiet BN639 SFX silent power supply (with ATX plate adapter) . $109 at Central computers.
AMD Ryzen 5700G APU . $178 on Amazon .
Noctua NH-D15S CPU cooler with lone fan removed . $89 on Amazon.
2 x 8GB DDR4-2666 (Corsair) . Not sure the price, was part of an old set 4 DIMMs
Lenovo X550-T2 dual 10 Gig NIC . $165 from ebay.
3 hotwap SATA bays ( 1 x 3.5, 2 x 2.5) . Not sure the model/price anymore.
2 SATA SSDs (120 & 128GB) . Old ones I had sitting around, probably worth about $15 each nowadays

I installed Opensense with ZFS in mirror mode.
The box idles at 37W. It peaks at around 65W. I have full stats over time from a KP125 smartplug in HomeAssistant.

Best of all, this system, it is completely silent, as it is passively cooled. Only way to tell it's on is the power LED. Looks like I didn't wire the HDD LED properly so that's always off.

As a router, this box can handle the full 20 Gbps of throughput , ie. 10 Gbps bi-directional, tested with iperf3 with one of my LAN servers temporarily on the WAN side, since I don't have Internet connection anywhere near 10 Gbps.

I have been building my own PCs since 1992, but for me a completely silent build was a first, and this was a very satisfying one. Not sure how many more years I'll continue doing builds myself as my vision isn't what it used to be.

 

[EasyRhino]

it is vastly overpowered but I like you using an old cheap raidmax/fry's case!

 

[madbrain]

it is vastly overpowered but I like you using an old cheap raidmax/fry's case!

For 10/20 Gbps of throughput, I don't believe it's overpowered. What parts would you specify that result in lower system power consumption while still being able to handle that throughput ?

 

[T_Minus]

nice build!

 

[EasyRhino]

For 10/20 Gbps of throughput, I don't believe it's overpowered. What parts would you specify that result in lower system power consumption while still being able to handle that throughput ?

well, how fast is your internet service? if it's 10gbps then you're right maybe you do need something really burly. But if it's only a gigabit then you're not going to need 8 cores or anything.

I have one of those CWWK ("topton") N5105 units from the megathread, and it handles gigabit fine, can probably do 2gpbs ok. For faster speed but tiny power consumption maybe a mini unit that uses a laptop oriented CPU like a U or H version.

Then again, in dollars and cents, if you're idling at 37W now, you'd get it down to like 10W at best. So saving on 27W of electricity may never pay for itself in any number of years.

 

[sic0048]

For 10/20 Gbps of throughput, I don't believe it's overpowered. What parts would you specify that result in lower system power consumption while still being able to handle that throughput ?

Max throughput is only relevant up to your actual max WAN speeds. You already admitted that your internet speeds are nothing close to 10gb, so this is a complete waste of money unless you are going to have access to faster internet very soon, or repurpose the computer for other uses. It's like you built a supercar that is capable of driving 250 mph when due to the quality of the roads around you, you physically can't faster than 35mph and everyone in their 20 year old clapped out car is driving just as fast as you.