Workstation *Barebone* Hardware recommendation

[Predinosaur]

Hi all,

Someone want to share his thoughts and recommendations for a 'small factor' / barebone workstation that will be working with Qubes 4 ...and more  ? please.

ex: NUC model.., Zotac model ..etc

I need to keep my current workstation, and want a secondary workstation with Qubes.

So a small computer to put behind my monitors will be great :) I need something small size, and fast (ssd + 16 or 32GB RAM),, compatible with latest HCL requirements for qubes 4.x and in the future (don't want to buy a new pc each year..)

I know it 's general topic discussion but if someone want to share exactly the model it's be great. I'm not experienced with CPUs and technology (VT-x, VT-d, and TPM..), just want to be sure all security features and technology will work wit Qubes.

I'm actually reading the HCL web page and some barebone got my attention :

GIGABYTE BRIX Pro report (GIGABYTE-BRIX_Pro_-_Ultra_Compact_PC_(M4HM85P-00) 

ref https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-hcl/blob/master/GIGABYTE-BRIX_Pro_-_Ultra_Compact_PC_(M4HM85P-00)-Bjarne_Thomsen.yml

So if someone want to share another experience/recommendation, it's the kind of barebone i'm looking for !

Thanks a lot community for your advices/clues/recommendations.

Dan

[Grzesiek Chodzicki]

I currently use a custom mini-ITX PC built inside Lian-Li TU100B. Not exactly a NUC but the entire PC is smaller than my cat so pretty small.

Here's a pretty good picture showing how small this case is:
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/DSC_1030.jpg

Hit me up if You want to know the rest of my PC specs.

[Grzegorz Chodzicki]

On 01/29/2017 02:47 PM, Predinosaur wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the answer ! I need to know what MB and CPU, or 'pack/bundle' i need to put in it now, but this seems *really* interesting :)

Hope i'll be able to put enough RAM, and good CPU in it :)

Regards

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MB/CPU/RAM is highly dependent on your budget so without that info I can't give out any recommendations aside from posting my own specs.
Here are my specs and a brief explanation why I chose this specific part and not any other:

• Case: Lian-Li TU100B (chosen because of really small footprint and the carrying handle which makes this build rather portable)
• CPU: Intel i7-6800K (chosen because it was only slightly more expensive than i7-6700k and it has two more physical cores and its Passmark score is 3k points higher. Downside is that it uses rather unpopular X99 chipset and doesn't come with integrated GPU) Killer performance at the cost of (some) convenience.
• Motherboard: AsRock X99 mini-itx/ac. On of only two Mini-ITX X99 motherboards. An obvious choice here.v Advantages are: M.2 SSD slot, Mini-PCIe slot for WiFi/Bluetooth card. USB 3.1 controller, PS/2 controller, comes with an integrated air cooler, has a TPM slot. Disadvantages: Only one PS/2 port so the mouse needs to be USB. Included air cooler doesn't fit the Lian-Li case. Included Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card is made by Broadcom so doesn't work under linux out of the box. If you decide to buy this mobo you'll have to either compile the driver manually or buy an intel wifi card.
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2133mhz 32GB. No point in buying faster RAM since neither mobo nor CPU support it. I bought 32GB because that's the maximum you can fit on this board.
• GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX750Ti. I bought this GPU because it is small enough to fit inside this case and doesn't require a separate power cable. This is important because in a case this small cable management is a real pain in the ass. I highly recommend buying a GPU specifically marketed as Mini-ITX compatible due to size constraints.
• SSD: Samsung M.2 PCIe SSD. I bought this SSD for two reasons. The first is that it's an M.2 SSD so it doesn't require any cables (same as GPU). The second reason is that drive performance takes the biggest hit in Qubes due to virtualization overhead so to offset that loss a fast SSD is recommended.
• Cooling: Cooler Master Seidon 120V. One of few AIO water-cooling kits compatible with this board. Bought it because it was marginally more expensive than air cooler compatible with the board and the case and offers better temps. Keeps CPU at ~35C at idle and ~50C at full load.
• PSU: Corsair SFF 600W - Just buy any SFF compatible power supply that's not from a no-name brand. I bought this one because I consider Corsair one of few trustworthy hardware vendors.

This build will yield you full Qubes 4.0 compliance, great performance and no Wi-Fi out of the box so either roll with it or buy an Intel NIC.

[Grzegorz Chodzicki]

On 01/29/2017 04:12 PM, Predinosaur wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your specs, and especially the lot of details and reasons why you choose this or this part ... That'd be really useful for me.

I'll move around this and closely think of adopting it !

What an expertise you've done on it (!!!!) Many thanks, i'll surely let you know in few weeks what will be my final solution.

Thanks a lot again !

Dan

If you want to build a significantly cheaper PC in a similar form factor here's what You can do:

• Change the X99 motherboard for a Z170 one. X99 motherboards are more expensive than Z170 ones and there is fewer of them on the market.
• Use a quad-core or dual-core Skylake. Performance will be worse but you can buy a mid-range Skylake for a third of the 6800 price
• Drop the GPU. All Skylake processors have integrated Intel GPUs so a dedicated card is not necessary.
• Drop the M.2 SSD and use a SATA one. M.2 SSD are still relatively expensive so that's another corner to cut
• Buy 16GB of RAM instead of 32GB. This one I don't really recommend since it will yield the smallest savings but for completeness sake I include it.

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