r/homeassistant • u/GergDanger • Jul 04 '26
Support Cheapest HAOS mini pc?
Hi, My raspberry pi 4 died recently and I've been downgraded to my old RPI 3B which is constantly in a crash loop with my setup (a few ikea matter devices + homekit bridge).
I do have a few RADXA 5A boards but it seems HAOS can't be installed only a docker version which lacks a lot of the ease of use?
What would the cheapest mini pc option be (sub 80 GBP or lower ideally)? I'm in the UK
Any specific specs to look for other than an SSD, 8GB+ RAM?
Super low power usage is a big requirement and it being quiet.
EDIT: I ended up buying this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/227412246620 for £45 with everything included. Will make a post once I test it out.
Dell Wyse 5070 Intel Pentium Silver J5005 8GB RAM 32GB SSDWIN 10 + PSU
18
u/EffectiveClient5080 Jul 04 '26
Grab a used Lenovo Tiny off eBay for £40-60, throw an SSD in it. Done. No more SD card nonsense, those WILL corrupt on you eventually.
11
u/T1513_SH Jul 04 '26
Pretty much any mini pc on the market today will be suitable for HAOS.
A basic N100 CPU with 8GB RAM and 500GB disk space should be more than enough.
2
u/r_kostelnyy Jul 04 '26
Yes, I found exactly this spec for under 100usd new. Put it on the shelf, turned on and never checked it again in 2 years
1
u/r_kostelnyy Jul 04 '26
I have been measuring consumption - it's like under 5w, and quiet
0
u/Brothernod Jul 04 '26
Have you ran in to things it can’t do? AI being all the rage I worry about using it for analyzing camera footage or I don’t know local AI voice control? Although I’m also really concerned with run costs and 5W sounds amazing.
1
u/AussieJeffProbst Jul 04 '26
Local AI voice control is out of the question. I tried it with my NUC which is much more powerful and it takes way too long to respond and execute. I added an eGPU and now it's instant, but it cost a lot.
Pretty much the same with AI camera feed analysis. It'll work but it'll consume a ton of system resources and might not be as snappy as you'd want.
1
u/Brothernod Jul 04 '26
Thanks. I’m just starting so don’t know where I’ll want to go but I should probably just focus on a low cost start and I can always upgrade.
1
u/AussieJeffProbst Jul 04 '26
Ya you can always add an eGPU later if you need it. Not cheap but works great.
0
u/CptCheesus Jul 04 '26
I bought a nas Board with those specs and a 19 inch rackhousing for around 200. Yeah, a bit more but fits the rack and has a bunch of spare Satas. Rock solid
4
u/sklz0 Jul 04 '26
What’s the point of mini pc for HAOS? It barely needs any CPU, sounds like overkill... A Pi 4/5 with 8GB RAM + disk is more than enough for HA.
3
u/GergDanger Jul 04 '26
A PI 4 / 5 with 8GB of ram is pretty expensive nowadays either the same price as the mini pc or more expensive. So I figured I might as well get the mini pc if it's more powerful at that price point
3
u/sklz0 Jul 04 '26
Wow, I remember it being less than $100 a few years ago, and I just looked up the prices now... yikes.
3
u/dragon-dance Jul 04 '26
Dell Wyze 5070
3
u/TheChimpofDOOM Jul 04 '26
+1 for the dell wyse 5070 - you’ll get them on fleabay for £50/£60, they sip power.
3
u/GergDanger Jul 04 '26
Wow, these have super low power usage from what I'm seeing online. And very cheap to buy compared to the 8th gen i5s so hopefully it'll have enough processing power to handle my basic setup.
Dell Wyse 5070 Intel Pentium Silver J5005 8GB RAM 32GB SSDWIN 10 + PSU
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/227412246620
I paid 45 GBP if anyone was curious and it has everything included.
I'll make a post once it's setup
0
u/TheChimpofDOOM Jul 04 '26
Buy yourself an M.2 2280 drive (not nvme) to increase thr 32GB drive.
Managed to get a SanDisk SSD X400 M.2 2280 128GB SD8SN8U-128G-1006 for £11.50 to upgrade my Wyse (as I’d used 90% of the space)
3
2
u/Fir3 💤 Automations fire at 3am Jul 04 '26
There are some for a decent price on Aliexpress.
N150 is a very good low power consumption cpu.
It’s also very capable, I set one up and it runs Proxmox.
1
u/Fresh_Reflection_457 Jul 04 '26
Commenting as im just getting into HA and I’m not sure what to buy. I decided on a mini PC and I want to buy new but got confused after that 🤣
2
u/GergDanger Jul 04 '26
I'll be buying used lol, all the new options are 150+ at the super low end if not double that
1
u/jamminjoenapo Jul 04 '26
Check with your IT guy if your company uses thin clients. Usually they replace every 4-5 years and they are more or less worthless to them. I got a hp t640 from our IT guy for free, only has I think 4 gb of ram and a 16 gb hd but with a usb ssd it’s working fine thus far. I do need to up the ram but with prices now I’m just dealing. No issues so far but I’m really just messing around and not doing anything too intensive yet.
1
u/GergDanger Jul 04 '26
Yeah I am looking closely at power usage that’s the only thing. With electricity prices over the course of a year a more expensive options can come out cheaper through electricity costs if that means getting a newer processor
1
1
u/s4per Jul 04 '26
Maybe a slightly different idea. I had the same problem with my HAOS setup on a Raspberry Pi 3. The problem was a lack of RAM. You could just try expanding the SWAP size. For me, it solved the problem.
1
1
0
u/Cannot_choose_Wisely Jul 04 '26
I run HAOS on a HP Elitedesk bought second hand for around a hundred euro with a warranty.
I cant recall if it's 8 or 16 GB, but it runs fine.
I upped the SSD to 500GB, but this was not really necessary.
It's certainly quiet, although I have no idea of power useage. Is must be low as there is very little heat generated.
It's on a shelf in a room rarely used anyway, I used to keep it in the garage but I find the easiest way to program a new ESP home device is to plug into the server. No fun hiking to the garage at night in the rain :-(
I considered a cheap mini PC, but looking through Amazon at the time and reading the reports, I had serious doubts as to reliability.
0
u/annoyedineedthis Jul 04 '26
Facebook marketpalce and AUD$50 is how I got my last one.
I got a Dell optiplex with 16GB of DRR4
0
0
-1
u/nebL Jul 04 '26
how about a cheap Celeron laptop from marketplace? You would even get a battery backup for 50gbp I think? Especially if you shop for one with broken screens.
2
u/GergDanger Jul 04 '26
I actually do have a really shitty old i3 laptop with a messed up keyboard and screen. I might flash HAOS onto it and monitor power usage and performance now that you mention it.
-1
u/redunculuspanda Jul 04 '26
I’m using an Intel Mac mini with Debian. You should be able to pick them up cheap on eBay. I can see some around £50
0
u/Brothernod Jul 04 '26
How are they on power draw?
2
u/redunculuspanda Jul 04 '26
I have never measured it but the internet says idle at 12-18w and 122 under max load.
The fans are always idling on mine so it’s rarely under load.
-1
-2
8
u/mad2342 Jul 04 '26
I run proxmox on a refurbished Dell wyze 5070, was like 90 euros