Subway's ‘Make it what you want’ slogan doesn’t quite stretch from the sandwich to the PC world in this instance.
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Watch On Before getting on with the digital signage-to-gaming conversion, Garkus investigated the hardware in hand. Labeling indicated that the three slim mini PCs were all Advantech DS-081 models (official PDF link). Pondering over that data sheet, we see that the variant with the Intel Core i3 6100U, as these were, carries the full designation of DS-081GB-U21A1E.
The processor is now both long in the tooth and low powered, so immediately we know this 2C/4T @ 2.3 GHz CPU, configured to suck between 7.5W and 15W, won’t be ideal for modern AAA titles. Moreover, the iGPU is the Intel HD Graphics 520 with 24 EUs and clocks up to just 1.00 GHz, sharing the DDR4 system RAM.
A DS-081GB-U2A1E is quite expandable for such a small, low-powered set-it-and-forget-it unit. It has twin HDMI 1.4, twin Ethernet, four USB 3 , audio in/out, and an RS-232 serial port accessible from the outside. Inside, users can configure the machine via twin DDR4-2133 SODIMM slots (up to 32GB total), a SATA III HDD/SSD, and an mSATA port that looked like it was an M.2 2242 slot in the video. This passive machine is designed to run signage 24/7 in environments with 0 ~ 40° C (32 ~ 104 ° F) ambient temperatures.
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After a bit of OS wrangling, Garkus decided to set up the salvaged trio of passive mini PCs as follows. One kept Windows 10 , another got Bazzite Linux (because SteamOS balked at the SATA-only storage), then another went Hackintosh with macOS Monterey installed.
Gaming tests began with a very light test. The system ran Peggle, and this 2D puzzler posed no problems. After this modest victory, Garkus ambitiously leapt straight to GTA V . This legendary but now older title could only reach a frame rate of about 15 fps. But it was found to have defaulted to high settings, took ages to get ready to run on Bazzite, then crashed on exit.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/ambitious-gamer-turns-three-old-subway-menu-signage-pcs-to-gaming-puny-intel-core-i3-machines-can-only-muster-15-fps-running-gta-5-25-fps-on-minecraft#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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