Tools
The hardware and software we actually use to measure, build, and run low-power mini-PC homelabs — with an honest take on each. Free unless noted.
Interactive tool
Mini-PC Picker + Power-Cost TCO
Pick your workloads (Plex transcode tier, *arr, Home Assistant, VMs, Frigate cameras…) and see which of 20 real mini-PCs clear the RAM/thread/Quick-Sync bar — ranked by 5-year total cost including your electricity rate. Runs entirely in your browser.
Power Measurement
Kill A Watt / inline power meter
Plug-in meter that reports real wattage at the wall, including idle draw and kWh over time.
Our take
Non-negotiable for this site. Every idle-wattage figure we publish comes from a wall meter, never a TDP spec — because spec sheets consistently overstate or omit real draw.
powertop
Linux tool showing per-component power use and tunables, with C-state residency reporting.
Our take
How we find why a build won't idle low. Check package C-state residency first — a card blocking deep C-states is the usual culprit behind inflated idle power.
turbostat
Reports CPU frequency, C-state residency, and package power on Intel systems.
Our take
We pair it with a wall meter to confirm a tuning change actually reached deeper C-states rather than just looking better in software.
Virtualization & Containers
Proxmox VE
Debian-based hypervisor with KVM VMs and LXC containers in one web UI.
Our take
Our default homelab base. On RAM-limited mini PCs we lean heavily on LXC over full VMs to fit more services in 8–16 GB.
Docker + Docker Compose
Container runtime and declarative multi-service config.
Our take
The right default for self-hosting on small hardware. Compose files make an 8 W N100 box running 10+ services reproducible and rebuildable.
Benchmark & Reference
PassMark CPU Benchmarks
Large synthetic CPU comparison database covering N100/N305/N97 and older thin-client chips.
Our take
We use it for rough relative sizing only. It does not predict your actual workload — we still test the real thing before recommending.
stress-ng
Configurable load generator for measuring power and thermals under sustained CPU stress.
Our take
How we capture honest load-power figures alongside idle — readers care about both for a 24/7 box.