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My Systems

2025

Daily Driver (Self-Built)


Main Laptop

My main laptop is a Framework Laptop 13.  I picked the Framework because I'm not a primary laptop user and generally keep a laptop for a long time.  Famework's ability to let me upgrade all the major component and not having to buy a completely new laptop each time is attractive.  It also supports Linux which is also something I look for.  Although the battery could be better, I'm not a heavy laptop user and I can always upgrade it later I don't have an issue with it.

  • AMD 7640U CPU & motherboard
  • 2.8K display
  • International English Keyboard
  • Black Bezel
  • 1x USB-C card
  • 2x USB-A card
  • 1x HDMI (3rd Gen) card


Home AI PC

This PC is for running local LLMs and AI tools.
  • AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT - 6-core, 12-thread AM4, integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics, a 3.6 GHz base clock (4.6 GHz boost), 16MB L3 Cache, and a 65W TDP
  • ASUS Prime B550M-A WiFi II AMD Micro ATX Motherboard
  • GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5060 Ti WINDFORCE MAX OC 16G Graphics Card
  • ThermalTake S100 case
  • EVGA 600BA (600W) PSU
  • 2x Cosiar MX500 250GB SSD
  • Cosiar Vengeance 32GB (4x8) memory.


Asus PN50 4500U

This system replaces my wife's Shuttle XH61 system and is an upgrade across the board over its predecessor.
  • Ryzen 5 4500U [Zen2] (6 cores / 6 threads, base clock 2.3GHz, max 4.0GHz - 6 GPU cores - RX Vega 6, 15W)
  • 2x 8GB 3200 DDR4 so-dimm by SK hynix
  • Intel 660p Series m.2 500GB SSD
  • Intel WI-FI 6 (GIG+) + BT 5.0
  • Crucial 128BG m4 2.5" SSD


ASUS - ROG Ally X

The ASUS ROG Ally X is a portable handheld gaming PC running Windows:

  • 120Hz FHD 1080p
  • AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
  • 24GB
  • 1TB SSD


ASUS PN50 4300U

  • Ryzen 3 4300U [Zen2] (4 cores / 4 threads, base clock 2.7GHz, max 3.7GHz - 5 GPU cores - RX Vega 5, 15W)
  • 16 GB Crucial (CT8G4SFRA32A) DDR4 3200Mhz  RAM (2x8 GB)
  • 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus (M.2 NVMe interface) SSD

This PC has taken the place of a media PC.


Asus PN50 4800U (K2)

  • Ryzen 7 4800U [Zen2] (8 cores / 16 threads, base clock 1.8GHz, max 4.2GHz - 8 GPU cores - RX Vega 8, 15W)
  • 32 GB Crucial DDR4 3200Mhz  RAM (2x16GB)
  • 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus (M.2 NVMe interface) SSD
  • Intel WIFI 6, BT 5.0


Despite its small size, the PN50 is still very high performing, but you do pay a price premium for having something small AND fast.  I lose some connectivity (fewer USB ports and only 1 Ethernet port). 

Beelink SER5 (K1)

This latest addition was added in 2023 and the specs are decent given the price of under $300 including Windows 11 Pro.

  • Ryzen 5 5500U (6 cores / 12 threads, base clock 2.1GHz, max 4.0 GHz, 7 core GPU,  @ 1800 MHz, 15W TDP)
  • 16 GB DDR4
  • 500GB NVME M.2 SSD
  • WiFi 6
  • BT 5.2


Raspberry Pi 4

  • Broadcom BCM2711, Quad core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz
  • 4G BLPDDR4-3200 SDRAM
  • 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • 2 USB 3.0 ports; 2 USB 2.0 ports.
  • Raspberry Pi standard 40 pin GPIO header (fully backwards compatible with previous boards)
  • 2 × micro-HDMI ports (up to 4kp60 supported)
  • 2-lane MIPI DSI display port
  • 2-lane MIPI CSI camera port
  • 4-pole stereo audio and composite video port
  • H.265 (4kp60 decode), H264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode)
  • OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics
  • Micro-SD card slot for loading operating system and data storage
  • 5V DC via USB-C connector (minimum 3A*)
  • 5V DC via GPIO header (minimum 3A*)
  • Power over Ethernet (PoE) enabled (requires separate PoE HAT)
  • Operating temperature: 0 – 50 degrees C ambient
  • Raspberry Pi ICE Tower Cooler, RGB Cooling Fan (excessive but looks cool on the desk).

The Raspberry Pi 4 is a small wonder of a machine that replaces what I originally used the ASUS VivoMini for and is significantly cheaper.


Retired

System 3 (Shuttle DS87)

  • Shuttle PC DS87
  • Intel Core i7-4790S Processor (4 cores / 8 threads, 8M Cache, base clock 3.2 GHz, max 4.0GHz, 65W)
  • Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E500B/AM)
  • 2 x Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800)
  • Intel Network 7260.HMWG WiFi Wireless-AC 7260 H/T Dual Band 2x2 AC+Bluetooth HMC
  • Samsung 840 EVO Series 120GB mSATA3 SSD

This Shuttle had been my reliable daily driver for over 6 years running Linux.  I repurposed an Samsung SSD and Intel wireless card from my Asus VivoMini to install Windows and add WIFI and bluetooth to the system.   The antennas that was in the VivoMini was hard to extract so I took the antennas from an old ASUS Chromebook laptop that wasn't being used anymore.  

The VivoMini was being used for kid's remote/distance learning but was a bit under-powered for handling some of the video conferencing features so this system will now take its place.

System 4 (Shuttle XH61)

  • Intel Core i7-2600S Processor (4 cores / 8 threads, 8M Cache, base clock 2.8 GHz, max 3.8GHz, 65W)
  • *Seagate 300GB 7200RPM HDD Cosair MX500 CT500MX500SSD1 500GB 2.5in SATA 6Gbps SSD
  • TP-Link USB WiFi Adapter for Desktop PC, AC1300Mbps USB 3.0 WiFi Dual Band Network Adapter with 2.4GHz/5GHz High Gain Antenna, MU-MIMO
  • 8GB RAM

This system was originally put together in 2012 (with an SSD) and even in 2020 was a perfectly good system for most tasks.  When running Windows 10 or some basic games (Minecraft, Don't Starve) it still felt pretty snappy.  I wouldn't try running any graphics intensive games on it.  

The SSD from this system was moved to the PN50-4500U (system 2) and replaced with a 2.5" Seagate 300GB 7200RPM hard disk drive that I pulled out of the Chromebook laptop that I pulled the antenna from.  After switching to the mechanical disk drive, the system felt noticeably sluggish.  A solid state drive makes a big difference!  

I'm keeping this system around for schooling.

ASUS VivoMINI UN62


The ASUS VivoMini UN62 is a wonderfully small and quiet bare bones system with very good build quality.  It was this system that gave me confidence in getting the ASUS PN50.  I actually own 3 of these system and use them for different purposes which have changed over time (e.g. media station, always-on server for minecraft, etc).  More recently, however, the Raspberry Pi 4  have replaced the VivoMinis for some of the tasks.

The specs for my UN62s are:
  • Intel i3-4030U (2 cores / 4 threads, 1.9 GHz, 3 MB cache, 15W)
  • 16GB Crucial (2x8 GB DDR3-1600) 204-pin sodimm
  • Samsung 840 EVO 128GB msata3 SDD
  • Intel Network 7260.HMWG WiFi Wireless-AC 7260 H/T Dual Band 2x2 AC+Bluetooth HMC
Two served as the kids' computers until I upgraded their setup.  One was repurposed as the machine for schooling when remote/distance learning was put in place due to covid-19.  This system was replaced by System 3 and its drive and wireless card got moved to that system.