Hey team! Anyone see the H3 and H3+?
I’m using an ODROID N2+ right now. I regularly see memory usage of around 50% so I’ve been thinking of upgrading anyways.
Anyone purchase this and use it for HA yet? I assume it’d be a significant upgrade from the N2+ right? (Obviously given what size memory I choose).
Thanks for any input!
Matt
$150+ still seems like a lot for what it is. You can get a used small form factor PC on eBay for the same price and it would be much faster.
It won’t probably be as power efficient. I’m finishing building a NAS based on H3+, the idle power consumption is around 10W
I’ve used a few Odroid H2’s for various things and i like them. The H3’s are essentially the same. I suspect that the cheaper one would run HASS Ok.
Just note that the RT8125 NIC network did not have driver support in Linux until Kernel 5.9 which means you need to be running at least Debain Bullseye (kernel 5.10). THe Odroid guys recommend installing the driver from the realtek site (compilation required) as the Debian drivers are 15-30% slower.
I use a RPi4 8GB with lot of add-ons also. Never problems. Running HA on a external SSD connected to USB 3 port.
ODROID H3 is great and very efficient miniPC! My configuration with BIOS 1.08, enabled ASPM in BIOS, 1x 16GB RAM (Crucial 3200MHz) + 1x SSD m.2 Adata XPG SX6000 Pro 256GB + connected 1Gbps network = only 
1.8 W idle power consumption! 
(1.5 — 2 W)
I’ve been using an H2 for over 3 years. I installed a smallish Intel enterprise SSD with power loss protection and it has never failed to boot after a sudden power loss. I originally used a Supervised installation, but eventually switched to HAOS when a generic image was released. It loafs at about a 6% CPU load. I’ve yet to think about any other host for HA, but realize there are now other platforms that probably eclipse the performance at the same price point.
Wait, say that again, <2 W idle on x64 architecture? That’s impressive. Can you elaborate a bit more on your scenario (headless ha server probably), using haos? Is the average over a longer period going much beyond the minimal idle measurement?
That’s pretty interesting. Up to now I was quite ok with ~3.5 W for my N2+ running 10+ docker containers (including ha), but those specs at less wattage are very tempting. Plus getting rid of the ARM hassle…
@soeffi yes, I’m also very impressed.
Note that I measured power consumption of H3 device only - it’s DC measurement after power supply (AC/DC converter).
It’s not measured on AC side (~230V) where is not only H3 device but also power supply which has some losses (efficiency about 80-90% usually).
With newest BIOS 1.11 and OS Debian 11 + DietPi + kernel 6.0.0-0.deb11.6-amd64 when nothing is running:
my HW configuration:
» RAM: 1x 16GB Crucial 3200MHz (CT16G4SFRA32A)
» SSD: 1x SATA 480GB KINGSTON (SA400S37480G)
Some OS / SW details:
powertop report: PowerTOP report (using command powertop --html=report.html)
my whole dmesg log: dmesg@odroidH3_1.11_6.0.0-0.deb11.6-amd64 - Pastebin.com
neofetch:
neofetch
_,met$$$$$gg. dietpi@saf
,g$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P. ----------
,g$$P" """Y$$.". OS: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) x86_64
,$$P' `$$$. Host: ODROID-H3 1.0
',$$P ,ggs. `$$b: Kernel: 6.0.0-0.deb11.6-amd64
`d$$' ,$P"' . $$$ Uptime: 2 days, 4 hours, 23 mins
$$P d$' , $$P Packages: 280 (dpkg)
$$: $$. - ,d$$' Shell: bash 5.1.4
$$; Y$b._ _,d$P' Terminal: /dev/pts/0
Y$$. `.`"Y$$$$P"' CPU: Intel Celeron N5105 (4) @ 2.900GHz
`$$b "-.__ Memory: 172MiB / 15849MiB
`Y$$
`Y$$.
`$$b.
`Y$$b.
`"Y$b._
`"""
htop screenshot:
dietpi-benchmark (two runs):
Benchmarks completed: (max 12.95 W ⚡️)
- CPU performance : Duration = 2.15 seconds (lower is faster)
- CPU temps : Idle = 36 °C | Full load = 42 °C
- RootFS I/O : Write = 312 MiB/s | Read = 444 MiB/s
- RAM I/O : Write = 1807 MiB/s | Read = 4837 MiB/s
Benchmarks completed: (max 12.90 W ⚡️)
- CPU performance : Duration = 2.12 seconds (lower is faster)
- CPU temps : Idle = 32 °C | Full load = 38 °C
- RootFS I/O : Write = 310 MiB/s | Read = 443 MiB/s
- RAM I/O : Write = 1771 MiB/s | Read = 4851 MiB/s
RPi4:
Benchmarks completed:
- CPU performance : Duration = 7.66 seconds (lower is faster)
- CPU temps : Idle = 40 °C | Full load = 45 °C
- RootFs I/O : Write = 28 MiB/s | Read = 214 MiB/s
- RAM I/O : Write = 344 MiB/s | Read = 681 MiB/s
I have idle power consumption around only 1.1 — 1.2 W in average ! see: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
In order to achieve such low power consumption we need apply a couple of tweaks:
powertop --auto-tune (before that, install it: sudo apt install powertop)
powertop tool)If you really want to have a low power machine, forget SSDs and use eMMC instead.
//edit: later (in one week) I will add measurements with some running docker containers… I plan to migrate from RPi4 to H3. I have some services running in docker: portainer, unifi-controller, pihole, plex and Home Assistant. I would like to run HA Supervised, but I’m not sure if it’s possible on DietPi. There is built-in support for Home Assistant in DietPi - but it is installed within a dedicated Python environment. I don’t know much about it.
Hi Lukas,
what is your experience with the H3 so far? Any news on power consumption with docker running?
@lukasM, do you have an update on power consumption with actual loads running?
Since this is almost 1 year old now, would you still recommend the H3 for an ultra low power server build or what else (x64) comes in the range of <3 W idle?
Hi @soeffi
Apologies for the delayed response.
Absolutely, I continue to endorse the Odroid H3 as an excellent choice. This device boasts impressive capabilities as a high-performance and energy-efficient x86 PC, capable of accommodating up to 64GB RAM. Its versatility allows for a multitude of applications, including serving as a homelab, NAS, and more.
Many users utilize it for virtualization through Proxmox, but personally, I find it perfectly suitable for running applications in Docker. Notably, it consistently operates within the range of 2—6 W power consumption.
However, I have an additional option for a highly efficient home server with a 13th generation desktop Intel CPU (with a power consumption of 60W TDP) - the i3-13100 paired with the Asus Pro H610T D4-CSM motherboard, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB m.2 SSD.
To my amazement, this setup boasts an astonishingly low power consumption when idle, particularly when running only DietPi (Debian). I was astounded to witness its idle power usage of only 2-3W (measured on DC side).
MB: Asus Pro H610T D4-CSM
CPU: Intel i3-13100
RAM: 1x Crucial 32GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM (CT32G4SFD832A)
SSD: 1x m.2 Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
I was able to purchase a CPU from eBay and a motherboard (in local shop) at a discounted price because the packaging was damaged, resulting in a total cost equivalent to the Odroid H3 (180 Eur).
OS: Debian 12 with DietPi, kernel 6.1.0-13-amd64, keyboard and LCD unplugged (only LAN plugged).
I enabled power-saving features in BIOS like C-states and ASPM
Initially, I had to install a previous generation Intel CPU, specifically the 12th generation, and subsequently conduct a BIOS update to enable compatibility with the newer 13th generation Intel CPU.
I am equipped with a large passive cooling system as I am fond of fanless computers.
This mainboard doesn’t require big ATX power supply with big ugly 24-pin connector. Instead you can use laptop AC/DC adapter with output 19V. I have tried DC 12V and it works, it’s stable! (official docs says it needs 19V)
-
Please be aware that the photo and screenshot of Shelly were taken at different times. The power consumption was not a constant number but instead fluctuated over time.
dietpi benchmark output:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ DietPi-Benchmark ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Benchmarks completed: │
│ - CPU performance : Duration = 1.04 seconds (lower is faster) │
│ - CPU temps : Idle = 30 °C | Full load = 40 °C │
│ - RootFS I/O : Write = 1244 MiB/s | Read = 2153 MiB/s │
│ - RAM I/O : Write = 3230 MiB/s | Read = 6690 MiB/s │
│ │
│ Compare these results online with other users, using the link below: │
│ - https://dietpi.com/survey#benchmark │
│ │
│ <Ok> │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
I hope you will find it useful. Have a nice build!
Guess Rockchip is the leader in this area with very good performance for very low prices and excellent efficency.
Check out boards with RK3588 if you need high performance with idle power usage of only 1W.
For more moderate use a RK3566 like a Home Assistant Green ideling also around 1W only.
Thanks a lot, that helps, probably I’d get one of these. I’m using Odroid N2+ currently and I’m happy with its performance, but software-wise it’s a nightmare…
That’s impressive! But I’m afraid I won’t have the time to tinker with that approach.
Just in case, if you are aware of some readily available x64 mini pc with a more current CPU then the H3 (–> e.g. Intel N100) that idles in the 2-3W range, let me know.
Unfortunately, that is still ARM, which I’m trying to get rid off…
unfortunately no. 
I’m doing active research about it in many places (reddit, forums, blogs, web searches, …) and current solutions with N100 are not able to achieve such low idle power consumption. It’s sad.
Asrock N100DC-ITX is not power efficient.
Probably this one - Mini PC (BOSGAME B100)
(from another forum)
idle: 4.5-6.3 W
Yesterday Hardkernel announced 3 new Odroid models! See The ODROID H-series is growing with three brand new models - ODROID | odroid-h4:start [ODROID Wiki]
I appreciate that they listen to user needs and new models are improved based on the user feedback! 
For me, the H4 Plus will be enough, it has Intel N97, which is better than very popular N100.
I need to highlight an awesome work and focus on idle power consumption.
Only 2,7~2,8 W (on the DC side, so potential inefficiencies in the power supply are not taken into account)
In this test, Ubuntu Desktop OS was used, and we think that power consumption could have been slightly reduced if Ubuntu Server OS had been used.
Here is my power consumption of my Odroid H3 (with running couple of dockers):
