Yet another hardware question. New starter

Hardware
#1

Hello there,

This question was asked/answered one too many times, but still, need advice.
Most of the topics are about RPi, but I would like to avoid it. RPi4 is around 100 pounds and I would rather spend those Benjamins on an SSD.
At the moment I have three options:

  1. I have an old full tower PC which is collecting dust at the moment. It is AMD 32bit CPU (A-10 or something like it, can’t remember but it is old).
  2. I have bought ACEPC T11 Windows 10 Pro Mini PC and it’s small form factor is very attractive. Also has 64GB eMMC + a slot for 2.5" drive for expansion.
  3. Buy RPi4 + SSD + SD + case and work on it.

Also, if you will point to any of those, could you kindly tell me OS needed (Debian,Ubuntu, WIN+VM etc.) and where to start :slight_smile:

I will appreciate every opinion.

#2

I have an AMD A10 7700K (which is 64 bit) which will run Hass very happily. I also have an raspberry pi4-4GB, and weirdly enough an ACEPC from Amazon. Although the AcePC doesn’t like running Docker for windows for some reason (100% cpu usage).

The Pi or the AMD will be fine, running Debian and Docker if you were me. But everyone is different, I’ve been running Linux on and off for 22 years.

#3

I would suggest following this guide : Installing Home Assistant Supervised on Debian 10
I did the same for my Intel NUC that is now running Home Assistant.
So any intel pc would be good for this guide.

2 Likes
#4

Thanks for the reply,
Do you know if that would be possible to install Linux on it? Would that make any difference?
I think I will set up my spare PC as a server.
Do you know if that is possible to set a container for HA and NAS (ex. FreeNAS)? I am totally new, never seen Docker or HA…
My needs are quite low atm, just set a few lights and heating. Maybe add few IP cameras in the future.
EDIT:
@rmbles i just found this reply and it says 64bit machine is required for Intel/AMD… So I might have to abandon this idea…

#5

I will definatelly try this one out. Thanks!