Smaller CPU tower footprint sought after

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I am a happy Blue Iris software user on a Dell Optiplex 9020 MT with the Intel i7-4770k cpu, 8 TB purple, 8 x 2MP and 3 x 4MP cams. Very happy with the computer hardware setup. However, the midtower cpu base takes up some large real estate in my wall mounted cabinet. I could run with this forever but would like to consider swapping to a smaller footprint of real estate and smaller watts/power.
Option 1: keep eyes out for a SFF (small form factor). Much small footprint. Unsure of the power consumption between midtower and SFF.
Option 2: NUC. This would be great. However, I do believe I read somewhere in these forums that a NUC would not work great due to cpu heat issue.
Option 3: migrate & modify any hardware to work in a 2U server case (I believe would need low profile power supply and low profile NIC card).

Mostly leaning towards Option 3 for the real estate issue.
Mostly leaning towards Option 1 for the power consumption issue.

Lots of options through eBay. I did want to toss out that there are also more economical (though less selections) via online auction houses via proxibid or hibid.
 

concord

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My two cents. Not sure where your cabinet is...when you go smaller, fans are smaller and usually more noisy in order to push equivalent amount of air.

Going with a SSF, the PSU will usually be smaller in Watts (i.e. 290W vs 250W), but that would be more than enough for one hard drive, if you are not adding a video card and/or over-clocking the CPU. I have an older HP SSF (SSD + purple HD), I can hear the fans within 5ft of it, if nothing else is running.

Going to a 2U case, be ready for more noise from fans (CPU, case and PSU). If noise is not a factor, you could get a 2U case (or an older 2U server) and move the Dell components into it, with new CPU heat-sink and fan, case fans and PSU ). Just make sure that the heat-sink/fan is powerful enough to keep it cool.
 

mech

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Note that Dell motherboards would be highly likely to require a proprietary Dell power supply. I know the recent-gen Dell SFFs can idle at very low power consumption, like 15-18 watts idle with just a SSD and a 7th-gen or 8th-gen i5. Under load, it just depends. Add about 5 watts for your 8TB drive and whatever wattage the CPU needs to get your work done, plus some overhead on the power supply due to its imperfect efficiency.
 

looney2ns

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I am a happy Blue Iris software user on a Dell Optiplex 9020 MT with the Intel i7-4770k cpu, 8 TB purple, 8 x 2MP and 3 x 4MP cams. Very happy with the computer hardware setup. However, the midtower cpu base takes up some large real estate in my wall mounted cabinet. I could run with this forever but would like to consider swapping to a smaller footprint of real estate and smaller watts/power.
Option 1: keep eyes out for a SFF (small form factor). Much small footprint. Unsure of the power consumption between midtower and SFF.
Option 2: NUC. This would be great. However, I do believe I read somewhere in these forums that a NUC would not work great due to cpu heat issue.
Option 3: migrate & modify any hardware to work in a 2U server case (I believe would need low profile power supply and low profile NIC card).

Mostly leaning towards Option 3 for the real estate issue.
Mostly leaning towards Option 1 for the power consumption issue.

Lots of options through eBay. I did want to toss out that there are also more economical (though less selections) via online auction houses via proxibid or hibid.
I have two Dell Optiplex's in SFF. They are basically silent during normal operation, very low power consumption.
 

windguy

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Not sure if this helps, but I have an older Dell Inspiron 530 (Vista OS) I was able to buy a replacement power supply for on Amazon (two years ago) so I could offload files from the hard disk before retiring, due to the OS going obsolete. The power supply didn't appear to be proprietary in this case. It was $30 sold by Red_Planet_Trading. Reference link below.

 
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