System76 Meerkat Mini-Linux PC - Now with Up to Intel Core i7-1260P (liliputing.com) 26
Liliputing.com has an update about the System76 Meerkat, which they describe as "a compact desktop computer with support for up to 64GB of RAM, up to two storage devices (for as much as 16TB of total storage), and up to an Intel Core i7 mobile processor. It's basically a rebranded Intel NUC." (Escept that System76 offers a choice of Pop!_OS or Ubuntu Linux pre-installed.)
"Previously available with a choice of 10th or 11th-gen Intel Core processor options, the Meerkat now also supports 12th-gen Intel chips." That means there are a total of 9 different processor options available. Prices start at $499 for an entry-level model with a Core i3-10110U processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The prices rises by $50 if you want to go with a Core i3-1135G4 model, while prices start at $599 for a Meerkat mini PC with a 12th-gen Intel Core processor....
But the biggest difference is that Intel's 12th-gen processors introduce a hybrid architecture that pairs Performance and Efficiency cores, leading to much higher core counts for better multi-core performance.
"Previously available with a choice of 10th or 11th-gen Intel Core processor options, the Meerkat now also supports 12th-gen Intel chips." That means there are a total of 9 different processor options available. Prices start at $499 for an entry-level model with a Core i3-10110U processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The prices rises by $50 if you want to go with a Core i3-1135G4 model, while prices start at $599 for a Meerkat mini PC with a 12th-gen Intel Core processor....
But the biggest difference is that Intel's 12th-gen processors introduce a hybrid architecture that pairs Performance and Efficiency cores, leading to much higher core counts for better multi-core performance.
Rebranded NUC (Score:3, Interesting)
It's just a NUC with System76 branding on it. Everything works great on them with Fedora or Ubuntu, no fiddling. I guess I'm not sure what the value add is in getting this from system76.
That said, NUCs are cool little boxes. The built in VESA pass through is handy as anything and they're pretty quiet. I've got a few of them scattered around.
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I can see them as decent Linux desktops, and rebranded because they were tested and pass, and work with S76's operating systems.
I can see a company which mainly uses Linux for their development OS buying these en masse as desktops or even light development workstations. Toss a decent SSD in and 64 gigs of RAM, and it would definitely do decently as a basic desktop for 3-5 years.
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A few years ago I bought a Meerkat, mainly because I was new to NUCs and wanted one-stop-shopping. That's the value added. Also the cool "system76" engraved on top of the case. Still using it every day.
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I love my little NUCs; I have two for home servers running a PVE cluster and a third as a desktop. While everybody's needs are different, I'm happy I went the NUC route rather than re-purposing an old machine that would have been louder and use more energy.
There is still room for improvement on the NUC platform, but just adding a USB-C hub can address many of the shortfalls I have with cabling setup.
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If you don't need a 10th gen Intel CPU then have a look at used thin clients on eBay. You can get some pretty powerful ones, similar form factor to these, and very cheap as companies are replacing them. They are very low power too, actually rivalling a Raspberry Pi for some heavier applications like big Home Assistant set-ups or media libraries with transcoding.
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> I guess I'm not sure what the value add is in getting this from system76
Can you call System76 for help if you're not a linux expert and you have trouble?
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My own Bitcoin pizza story (Score:4, Funny)
It's basically a rebranded Intel NUC
An Intel NUC was one of the first and only things I've ever purchased using Bitcoin, way back when real companies were experimenting with accepting it as payments. I spent approximately half a Bitcoin on a DN2820FYK, which was a pretty slow machine even in its heyday. After the warranty ran out, the damn thing developed an odd glitch where it would throw a "processor thermal trip" error at POST, but still otherwise worked fine. However, the error prevented it from rebooting from a power failure without user intervention (as Homer Simpson would say: "To start, press any key. Where's the any key?"). Seemed to be a common problem with that model [intel.com], and Intel never properly addressed it (not that it matters anymore, the computer now just collects dust with the rest of the obsolete stuff that I've packratted over the years).
That glitch, plus knowing that the Bitcoin I spent on it would now be worth about $13.5k today, has kind of soured me on Intel NUCs.
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Seemed to be a common problem with that model [intel.com], and Intel never properly addressed it
Which is one of many reasons I will not consider anything with Intel Inside anymore.
Bad thermals (Score:2)
My experience with the NUCs is that they all have thermal issues. Maybe not enough cooling or easily blocked vents. There may be just too much stuffed into a small box. Also, the fan seemed pretty cheap and I've replaced a few.
I managed to keep an old i7 model running by changing the fan curves and turning off overclocking.
I've switched to a slightly larger model from Dell that seems to be more reliable.
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Love them! (Score:2)
Love my System76 Meerkats. I got two of them (many years ago) as over-powered systems to hook up to my TVs. Before Fire Sticks and Raspberry Pis were viable options.
A nice bonus was that they have built-in IR receivers.
Would certainly buy again.
Mini PC are cool (Score:3)
I am using a quite popular mini PC, bee-link SER5, it has a AMD 5600H 6c12t 4.2GHz, iGPU Vega7, 32GB RAM, 500GB NVMe, triple display 4k, wifi6/BT, etc all in all for $459 and this thing is basically 4"x4"x2". It's really impressive, I'm using MX Linux AHS for 6+ months now.
I had Intel "U" processor, they are quite slow...AMD 15/35/45W CPU are more powerful.
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How loud is that little guy with a 45w tdp processor in there? The Intel U's are slow, but they can run at 15W all day. I'd hate to give up the near-silence of the NUCs...
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I have a Beelink SER5 running Linux Mint sitting on my desktop behind my monitor.Any noise it is making is being drowned out by other things in my office.
I haven't tried to stress it or anything just yet.
M2 Mac mini seems more attractive (Score:2, Interesting)
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> I don't know how mature the apple silicon Linux is now
Linux can't even boot a full system under M2.
Apple doesn't want this business.
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Same for M1. It's not there. Maybe in a decade? For now, I will stick with old PPC and Intel Macs.
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I'm in the process of refitting my office and replacing my iMac. I'll likely go with a Mini along side a NUC like this enabling me to switch between the two with shared monitors and peripherals.
Sadly no x86 cpu makes any sense after u try Apple (Score:2, Informative)
Sadly no x86 cpu makes any sense after u try Apple's M1 or M2
Am much better off running Win11 on parallels 18 on a 8gb ram macbook air m1 (bought 2 yr old for like $600) than my office i5-1135UG7
See links below. :(
Even with i5 13th gen or i7 12th gen which sorta have equal scores in various benchmarks like geekbench5 etc, the problem is that using your laptop on battery just throttles down the scores by 30%
On battery (which is how laptops might be used mostly) Intel amd are still few years behind.
Though the