CPU selection for lightweight home server

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Hello!

I am planning to build small home server for self hosting some services. I am more or less finished with software selection (it will be running portainer and several lightweight containers). But i got into some trouble with hardware, mostly, with cpu.
I would like something that:

  • can be passively cooled (so, low tdp)
  • does not cost a lot
  • supports ecc memory
  • modern enough that can be just plugged in and left alone for 5 years without any issues or performance bottlenecks

Intel Core i3 14100 or 13100 more or less suit all my needs. My only problem with them is that there are currently a lot of news circulating around that intel 13th and 14th have a lot of issues, especially with longevity and stability. Do all these concerns also valid for modern i3 or are they fine? Are there any decent alternatives that will also suit my needs?

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wow, uhhh does Intel still make Atom processors?
Perhaps there’s a laptop sku someone shoved in a mini pc that accidentally supports ECC?

That’s all I can think here
The Intel T sku does not support ECC, but would otherwise fit the bill.

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i3 series to not support ECC at least looking at ark.intel.com, some i5 do however you will need a T-series if you’re planning to run passive but you will still need a giant heatsink and some airflow.

…and some T-models do,
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236780/intel-core-i5-processor-14500t-24m-cache-up-to-4-80-ghz/specifications.html
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/230578/intel-core-i5-13500t-processor-24m-cache-up-to-4-60-ghz.html

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That’s a pretty tall order… Maybe look into Core i3-14100T, 35W instead of up to 110W if passive cooling is a must. According to Techpowerup it supports ECC, but I don’t know if it works on consumer chipsets.

If it’s not idling most of the time, you will still need a big ass heatsink, Noctua NH-P1 will run a 35W CPU with “low turbo/overclocking headroom” or 60W CPU “compatible without turbo/overclocking headroom”

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It doesn’t and why you think that a third party site would have more accurate listings than Intel themselvs?

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Yep, you are right. Just because 14900 supports ECC doesn’t mean that entire 14th gen does.

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Get one of the AM4 Pro APUs, maybe the 4400G Pro?

Otherwise I know there are like, super-low power Xeons and Epycs but the value in these are so poor…

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There are also GE editions of those AM4 Ryzen Pro CPU’s, with 35W power envelope (and it’s possible you might find a UEFI BIOS that can set a 35W power envelope on a conventional Ryzen Pro G edition).

I think I’d want lots of quiet slow airflow for spinning disks and might only chance a passive CPU cooler if I already had big fans, say 92mm, 120mm or 140mm, moving slowly and quietly.

K3n.

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