taggart’s search for an x86 based router fast enough to do SQM and VPN on a centurylink gigabit fiber connection.

Qotom

There is a brand name Qotom that make x86 SOC mini-PCs (like Intel NUC, etc) but that have multiple real Intel NICs in them. They have HDMI which we don’t care about for a router, but they also have a serial port. Some of the models are new enough to have CPUs with AES-NI which helps openvpn/wireguard a lot. They are also low power, fanless with nice big heatsinks.

Models

Model CPU Family Release Cores Speed Cache $ AES-NI
Q180 Celeron J1800 BayTrail 2013Q4 2/2 2.4/2.6 1mb No
Q190 Celeron J1900 BayTrail 2013Q4 4/4 2.0/2.4 2mb No
Q301G4 Celeron 2955U Haswell 2013Q3 2/2 1.4 2mb $147 No
Q305G4 Celeron 3205U Broadwell 2015Q1 2/2 1.5 2mb $160 No
Q310G4 Celeron 3215U Broadwell 2015Q2 2/2 1.7 2mb $168 No
Q320G4 Pentium 3805U Broadwell 2015Q1 2/2 1.9 2mb $168 No
Q330G4 Core i3 4005U Haswell 2013Q3 2/4 1.7 3mb $202 Yes
Q330G4Y Core i5 4210Y Haswell 2013Q3 2/4 1.5/1.9 3mb $195 Yes
Q335G4 Core i3 5005U Broadwell 2015Q1 2/4 2.0 3mb $227 Yes
Q350G4 Core i5 4200U Haswell 2013Q3 2/4 1.6/2.6 3mb $223 Yes
Q350G4Y Core i5 4300Y Haswell 2013Q3 2/4 1.6/2.3 3mb $199 Yes
Q355G4 Core i5 5200U Broadwell 2015Q1 2/4 2.2/2.7 3mb $251 Yes
Q370G4 Core i7 4500U Haswell 2013Q3 2/4 1.8/3.0 4mb $248 Yes
Q370G4Y Core i7 4610Y Haswell 2013Q3 2/4 1.7/2.9 4mb $248* Yes
Q375G4 Core i7 5500u Broadwell 2015Q1 2/4 2.4/3.0 4mb $300 Yes
Q510G6 Celeron 3855U Skylake 2015Q4 2/2 1.6 2mb $186 Yes
Q515G6 Celeron 3865U Kaby Lake 2017Q1 2/2 1.8 2mb $193 Yes
Q530G6 Core i3 6100U Skylake 2015Q3 2/4 2.3 3mb $274 Yes
Q535G6 Core i3 7100U Kaby Lake 2016Q3 2/4 2.4 3mb $283 Yes
Q550G6 Core i5 6200U Skylake 2015Q3 2/4 2.3/2.8 3mb $303 Yes
Q555G6 Core i5 7200U Kaby lake 2016Q3 2/4 2.5/3.1 3mb $319 Yes
Q570G6 Core i7 6500U Skylake 2015Q3 2/4 2.5/3.1 4mb $355 Yes
Q575G6 Core i7 7500U Kabylake 2016Q3 2/4 2.7/3.5 4mb $561 Yes
minisys? Atom E3845 BayTrail 2013Q4 4/4 1.9 2mb $249* Yes
minisys? Celeron J3160 Braswell 2016Q1 4/4 1.6/2.2 2mb $339* Yes

other candidates

links