Upgrade dilemma - stay with i5 Dell or switch to J4105 minipc

[simdim]

Hi All,
I am running Opensense on Dell OptiPlex 990 Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz (4 cores, 4 threads) 16GB with Intel I225 Chipset (2.5G) on WAN side and INTEL I350T4 1GbE Quad Port Ethernet Server on LANs side.
HD is starting to show some errors so it is time to replace.

The question is should I just get SSD 512G drive and call it good or switch to something like "Qotom Q730G5-S08 Latest New J4105 2.5G 5*LAN Firewall Router,Support DDR4,16G RAM 512G SSD" (not sure if Amazon links are allowed)
I am using NtopNG and UnboundDNS in addition to standard FW.

[passeri]

I think I have seen vendor links here before.

Quandary: save money now, or reduce waste heat and capacity?

It might also depend a bit on whether you have a potential use for the i5 box, which looks over-spec for your apparent requirement. You can verify that by looking at load factors. I am guessing they are under 1.

[AlexisMeyer]

I think that switching to the Qotom Q730G5-S08 could provide you with a newer, more energy-efficient system with potentially better overall performance. The 2.5G LAN ports could also be a big advantage if you're looking to improve network speeds.
Anyway, it depends on your budget and how much of a performance boost you're looking for. If you're happy with your current setup and just need a storage upgrade, the SSD for your Dell might be the way to go. But if you're looking for a more significant upgrade and don't mind the setup process, the Qotom minipc could be worth considering.
If you're still undecided, you could always try using a coin flip online to help you make the choice.

[opnfwb]

My 2c is that if you choose to change out the entire unit, go with something that has a newer CPU. A J6412 or N100 based system.

My own personal system now is an old J3455 that I've had running for the last 6 years. It sips power and maxes at 14w draw. It will do full gigabit up/down but I don't do any kind of IDS/IPS, so that saves a lot of spare CPU cycles.

If I was buying again today, there are much newer CPUs that still fit in that 10/15w range. The J4xxx series is very close to the J3xxx series in terms of per-core performance.