Computer for Tiny Core Linux

[thane]

Hello everyone. Just asking for advice/suggestions on a new computer that would be ideal for running Tiny Core Linux. AMD vs Intel, Tower vs mini, etc. No rush, since I have two working Tiny Core boxes. But they're both pushing 10 years old and I'm thinking I should get something a little more up-to-date.

Thane

[curaga]

Intel's been having problems for the last couple of generations with cpus burning out, so if you want new, I'd pick AMD. They're also winning on the perf and price fronts for now. The previous gen tends to be cheaper than the current one if you don't need latest perf.

Tower/mini depends on personal preference really, whether you need optical drives, many disks, etc.

[gadget42]

_what_is_your_usage_case_ ?

all of our machines are over ten years old. here in the middle of fly-over country dumpster diving provides more than enough for the casual user. a short _wanted_ post on craigslist keeps others out of the dumpsters but requires a little more human interaction.

[mocore]

Tower/mini depends on personal preference really, whether you need optical drives, many disks, etc.

to that list i would add ...fan noise/(case/space4)passive cooling !

_what_is_your_usage_case_ ?

 dumpster diving provides more than enough for the casual user

+1

i re-read the post. mention of new computer
dissuaded me from mentioning up-cycling/ dumpster diving

 fwiw imho the ideal *nix system
 is one that was running *some other* OS which had "broken" / failed in some way
 causing it to be discarded / replaced
 rife for fixing with alt-os

for new *nix boxes  system76 / star-labs / ect... ?

[mocore]

_what_is_your_usage_case_ ?

 dumpster diving provides more than enough for the casual user

+1

i re-read the post. mention of new computer
dissuaded me from mentioning up-cycling/ dumpster diving

 fwiw imho the ideal *nix system
 is one that was running *some other* OS which had "broken" / failed in some way
 causing it to be discarded / replaced
 rife for fixing with alt-os

for new *nix boxes  system76 / star-labs / ect... ?

[core-user]

New, or new to you(?) - I buy pre used computers, much cheaper.

Small Form Factor / Ultra Small Form Factor / Thin Client

If buying new, maybe consider a Raspberry Pi 4B, 400, or 5 instead of AMD / Intel.

[vinceASPECT]

Hello forum,

having done the reading of these post replies i understand comments inferring that Tinycore is very often for older hardware and "used" hardware from earlier generations.

It's performance is easily good enough on such platforms........i imagine.

Therefor, i could only really recommend "used" platforms such as "used Laptops" since they are also excellent value....and tinycore is free.

If you are talking about NEW hardware, your likely going to have to shell out for an already proprietary OS situated on it......(we know those OS's ) and that seems pointless.

......AMD chips have the lead in performance and such........
.....again it would also depend on your intended Tinycore usage case...?...whether or not you needed a platform that supported lots of i/o options for external gear connection.... or multi screens connections for design work......i don't know.

The new "Raspberry Pi 500" computer  "overclocked" is a lovely capable platform.....it's simple yet it's able to deal with real computing work........


..........you may just want an extremely simple web surfing tool....?....maybe in that case even a new 10 bucks  "Raspberry Pi 2W zero" would be fine for running free things like "PUFFIN cloud web browser" since Puffin have a Free Debian version that likely is quite easy to get running on Tinycore PiCORE.........giving great performance
.( maybe it even already works)

Thanks and happy 2025
c

[gadget42]

keeping our eyes on risc-v...

https://www.sifive.com/boards/hifive-premier-p550

https://www.arrow.com/en/products/hf106/sifive-inc

https://www.arrow.com/en/products/hf106-001/sifive-inc

ships with ubuntu pre-installed

[vinceASPECT]

Hello Forum,

Risc V   seems great........

......although i am unsure if the hardwares Linux Distro's support there own FULL REPO of apps for "Risc V".... as they do that full support  on other popular architectures ........thus kind of making it somewhat  pointless as of yet..

Sure though........the RISC V future is interesting. 

C

[vinceASPECT]

These computers below are great..

just  9 bucks 90 cents......  Or ...... 14.99   bucks  each.    Powerful computers

Many Linux distros exist for them  such as "Diet Pi" "Armbian" and many many custom Linux flavours....
Tinycore may indeed be out there.

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Thx

c

    [Edit]: Links to promoted products removed.  Rich

[Lee]

Intel's been having problems for the last couple of generations with cpus burning out, so if you want new, I'd pick AMD. They're also winning on the perf and price fronts for now. The previous gen tends to be cheaper than the current one if you don't need latest perf.

Tower/mini depends on personal preference really, whether you need optical drives, many disks, etc.

As someone else has mentioned, it depends on your use case.

I'm running Tiny Core almost exclusively on laptops, mostly HP, none of them newer than 2018.  Some Intel, some AMD.  They tend to be quieter and less power-hungry than desktop/tower boxes.  They all handle Tiny Core beautifully (even the ones with touch screens!) though it's often an adventure trying to get wifi working.

My backup server / file dump is a 2012 Dell Optiplex 790 and it's fine - though probably soon to be replaced with a 2018 Lenovo Thinkstation E31 (that only draws about 22 watts (currently powered off, so 0 watt))  Those are both Intel based but, like the laptops, old enough that current Intel vs AMD caveats probably don't apply.

If you're looking to buy something new, let your use case and your budget be the determining factors.

If you're looking for used, I heard somewhere that the late-1900's vintage Deskpro EN boxes were pretty durable.   

[thane]

Thanks for the replies!

As far as use, almost all websurfing and email. I'm actually typing this on a lenovo X201 laptop, history obscure. If I need a bigger screen my other Tiny Core box is a c. 2010 barebones tower with 2G memory. Boot both boxes off USB, no hard drive in either. My thought was to keep the laptop but replace the  tower, hopefully with another barebones box but with more memory and USB 3. No huge money.

The Raspberry Pi suggestion is interesting. I had thought about trying that, but saw some reviews suggesting that it wasn't really suitable for a desktop (heating issues?). The person may have been thinking of gaming or some other more intense usage than what I would need though.

Thane

P.S. AFAIK the Deskpro EN is still in my storage -- I really have to clean it out someday...

[CNK]

The Raspberry Pi suggestion is interesting. I had thought about trying that, but saw some reviews suggesting that it wasn't really suitable for a desktop (heating issues?). The person may have been thinking of gaming or some other more intense usage than what I would need though.

Some fancy desktop environments and HD video streaming in web browsers may push it too. For a Lightweight environment I think it's fine, though you may want a case with a fan and one of the higher RAM options if you do heavy web browsing with lots of tabs open.

But for Tiny Core I think the main issue is the lack of PiCore extensions compared to TC x86_64. That was a large part of why I picked a cheap x86_64 SBC instead of a Raspberry Pi board for similar usage. A similar thing but more user-friendly are the little office mini-PCs like the Intel NUCs, which are sold off relatively cheaply when businesses upgrade. They still have ample power for web browsing and email if running Linux, and probably comparable if not better in performance to the latest Raspberry Pis.

[mocore]

But for Tiny Core I think the main issue is the lack of PiCore extensions compared to TC x86_64.

 can compiled binary's not be borrowed from .deb like dcore ?

[vinceASPECT]

hello forum

.....i forgot to mention those tiny little Android tv boxes scattered all over online web stores
[link removed due to forum policy violation]

The boxes are just twenty bucks new........ with power brick and remote... they
come stacked with 100 free apps ready to go... quality apps that run well....
you can also install any of many free apps to get a free  Linux. desktop computer.........  "Nomone" have one

 plug in in your usb mouse and keyboard... and go

 they have full sound hdmi etc........
......some sport OCTA CORE cpu chips with good graphics & can do gaming.

.......they are a real nice innexpensive computer.....  doubling up to do many things including gaming

there may be a method to do tinycore on them

    [Edit]: Removed link to questionable website.  Rich