# Intel atom or VIA CN700

## Joseph_sys

I'm building another low power box and I'm not sure which one to go with:

Intel Atom 1.6Ghz  or VIA CN700 ?

It will be fanless system as I don't need a noise and those tiny fans are the weakest part of the system, and tend to fail often.

So I would rather open the case then use fan.

Considering I need to compile everything, I thing 1GHz processor would be the minimum with 1GB memory.

System will be running just asterisk and backup.

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## overkll

Just built 7 similar systems, with both atom 330's and via CN700's.  If you go the Via route, be sure that your ram is "low density" otherwise the system will only recognize 1/2 the ram.  In my case, I was using Jetway mobo's for the Via and maxing out the ram at 1Gb.  I was using high density ram, which worked fine on the intel mobo, but the jetway only would post with half the ram - 512mb.  Low desity 1Gb sticks use 16 64mb chips, while a high density 1Gb stick uses 8 128mb chips.

The atom is a dual core, and can do hyperthreading.  The little fan makes minimal noise.  I used a fanless jetway for the with the Via, but it's noticable slower than the atom.

My two cents worth.

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## Joseph_sys

I was under impression that Intel Atom is a single core processor.

Which one you have?

Looking at Intel Data sheets for atom, they are all listed as a single core:

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyID=29035

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## andreas_st

Atom 330 is dual core. All other Atoms are single core.

Atom 330 and Atom 230 are 64 bit, Z and N series are 32 bit.

For a silent low energy system you might consider AMD Geode, too. Compiling will be slow but it is certainly fast enough for a VoIP system. I have a Soekris net-4801 running as router, firewall, DHCP and print server for several years. It doesn't use more than 5 Watts. I wouldn't want to compile on it but the net-5501 looks promising. You could use dist-cc for compiling. See http://soekris.com

If the fit-PC2 really doesn't use more than 8 Watts that's impressive too. See http://www.fit-pc.com/web/fit-pc2/specifications/

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## d2_racing

 *andreas_st wrote:*   

> Atom 330 is dual core. All other Atoms are single core.
> 
> Atom 330 and Atom 230 are 64 bit, Z and N series are 32 bit.
> 
> 

 

Nice to know that, I have the possibility to buy a netbook, so thanks for the info  :Razz: 

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## Joseph_sys

 *andreas_st wrote:*   

> Atom 330 is dual core. All other Atoms are single core.
> 
> Atom 330 and Atom 230 are 64 bit, Z and N series are 32 bit.
> 
> For a silent low energy system you might consider AMD Geode, too. Compiling will be slow ...
> ...

 

I've missed this one, it looks interesting but I think it'll need a fan.  

AMD Geode looks interesting but to compile gcc on it it might take a while.

I was thinking to setup compiling via " icecream" 

http://dev.gentoo.org/~bluebird/icecream.xml?style=printable

my 8-core might have something to doo  :Smile: 

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## matze_na

Does anyone have any experience with the Intel D945GSEJT?

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/D945GSEJT/D945GSEJT-overview.htm

It's the only board I could find for <100€ which is built around the 945GSE chipset.

According to Intel, it runs with the built-in Atom N270 (1,6GHz) at ~12W.

http://ark.intel.com/system.aspx?groupID=36331&configID=27616&chipsetID=36550

So I'm considering buying this board and putting it in a case with a silent 120mm fan as file- and mailserver.

I wouldn't want anything with less processing power than this cpu, and while the Atom 330 (dual core) would be nice, that one only seems to be available with the power-hungry desktop variants of the 945 chipset.

Linux compatibility shouldn't be a problem because it's essentially the same thing as many netbooks, right!?

Now I just need to find a cheap but efficient power supply and I'm all set, unless someone here has any better suggestions in the same price range  :Smile: 

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## andreas_st

 *Joseph_sys wrote:*   

> I've missed this one, it looks interesting but I think it'll need a fan. 

 

In the Atom 330 devices I've seen yet the processor had a passive cooler and the fan was located at the cooler of the chip set. There was a case fan too. According to Intel the Atom 330 has a TDP of 8 Watts compared to 2.5 or less for most other Atom processors.

 *Joseph_sys wrote:*   

> AMD Geode looks interesting but to compile gcc on it it might take a while.
> 
> I was thinking to setup compiling via " icecream" 

 

Thanks for mentioning icecream. I was not aware of it. I like the fact that unlike DISTCC it can use different GCC versions on the different machines. I might even update my Linksys NSLU2 (my rsync backup server). When I set it up 2 years ago it compiled for a week or two until everything was finished.

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## Joseph_sys

 *andreas_st wrote:*   

> Thanks for mentioning icecream. I was not aware of it. I like the fact that unlike DISTCC it can use different GCC versions on the different machines. I might even update my Linksys NSLU2 (my rsync backup server). When I set it up 2 years ago it compiled for a week or two until everything was finished.

 

I was trying to use icecream but it seems to me not many Gentoo folks using it.  I was trying to get some help with cross compiling but nobody answered; and now with the KDE4 mess, I better stick to what works.

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