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Mod parent up, he is right. The Via Eden mini-ITX platform is the opposite of this 'We need more and we don't care if we need liquid nitrogen to cool it,' thinking that has been going on in the Mhz wars. For a load of applications, you don't need all that cruch, and smaller, cooler is the way to go.

Check out mini-itx.com for more on these eden processors.

But seriously, Can I get this MB and fit it in a smaller/more elegant case? Preferably fanless.

Uh, you can do that with loads of systems already - you don't have to go PPC. VIA make fanless 600Mhz Intel-clones and you can buy motherboard, cases, etc. for them.

It would be really nice to have a computer that small with those power requirements.

Look into either Flex AT or Micro ITX motherboards.

It would be really nice to have a computer that small with those power requirements.

Look into either Flex AT or Micro ITX motherboards.

Another source, which I just bought from is http://www.idot.com/TheStore/Desktop/555Spec.asp?P roduct.id=555&Cate.id=19 from www.idot.com. It showed up very quickly and I got a system with 128mb ram, 533 MHz Via board, and that nice black case. I got the ITX-PV Black ITX w/Riser Card & DC PS case. (nice black color, with external 12V DC power supply) Check out this link too, it has more pictures and a review of the case. http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/2677R/ Right now it's running ipcop (www.ipcop.org) with a second nic, as my DSL router. Soon to be reloaded and get a usb wifi card in it!

The Soekris has a number of advantages, primarily that it's smaller and that it is happy with just 5V or 7-20V DC. But you pay a premium for those features, and you sacrifice functionality. The Mini ITX gives you a standard PCI slot, many more I/O options, much better performance, and more I/O ports.

I think, given its functionality, the "value" of something like the Soekris 486 boards really "should be" around $50 these days, and that's what it probably would be if it really were manufactured in huge quantities. Does anybody know of a low-cost 486 PC104 board like that?

yup then how much does your monitor use? 150 watts?

150+350 = 500 n'est pas?

Also the rating of 350 watts is meant to be the output of the supply - not what it draws, and I think pc power supplies are less than 70% efficient, so your 350 watt power supply might actually draw 400 watts and give out 350watts supply and a fair bit of heat. (Ok it probably isn't on full load most of the time..)

Yes I know you could get a

C3 based

machine with an LCD screen, but even this would tend to use 200-300watts. (But I still want one, if anyone wants to do one for me in a 1:12 blue mini-cooper body)

These Solo machiness use 8.5 watts all in including monitor.

seriously - check out www.mini-itx.com for some greate case mods. they use the low power, how heat via mini-itx motherboards and look perfect for interesting case mod projects. not high power work stations, but just right for pretty media boxes or advanced routeres, even a nice quiet workstation.

There's a whole host of recycled cases at mini-itx.com - quite a few consoles and some silly ones too. They use mini-itx motherboards which are quite dinky, ideal for the smaller consoles. They haven't squeezed one into a Gamecube yet - has anyone done this? There's other sites, but this one gathers several together.

The EPIA Eden is a small form factor low power consumption x86 based motherboard that has built in CPU, audio, video, ethernet, and tv-out. Just add RAM and a HD. The Eden is cheap at $80. Add in RAM, a small HD, and a DVD drive, and you are looking at around $200. Then all you need is a chasis and powersupply. It is best to use a small chasis and fanless powerfupply.

Then add a highly tweaked and stripped down version of Linux, with DivX, MP3, and DVD functionality.

I know this article is a joke but there is a very real solution to the noise and form factor problems. It's via's mini-itx motherboards.

Check out mini-itx.com the boards are low heat, low noise and fairly powerful (500-700 mhz). They are perfectly suitable for a media box, router, or low end linux/windows workstation. All parts included they whole things comes in at under $500 usd. That's pretty reasonable, and the site has a greate many interesting links about projects (like the one I think is cool, the computer in a cigar-box, the 'Hummidor64').

I agree. Why is there a need to have a DVD player at all? One could construct a near-silent(with a little more work, it could be inaudible) set-top PC with a Mini-ITX motherboard for very little cost. It varies, but Mini-ITX mobos have everthing from S-video, LAN, to firewire and USB2. Couple the above with a 800-1.0Ghz VIA C3 processor, a largish hard drive, and you have a cute little box that can play DIVXs, MPEGs, or whatever.

Heck, it also has a PCI slot, so you could make this little beast full-function; record, rip, play, burn CDs even. The only problem I see is that the VIA C3 is a bit short of FPU power, which would obviously make for slowish encoding. One would have to do the test with his own hardware and software to be sure it would work.

"Measuring just 170mm x 170mm, the VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard is 30% smaller than the smallest Flex-ATX platforms, while maintaining Micro ATX chassis compliancy. It also provides the smallest and coolest processing environment available, including an optional fanless configuration. The VIA Apollo PLE133 North Bridge features integrated graphics with 2D/3D acceleration and DVD Motion Compensation, accompanied by onboard SoundBlaster(TM) and SoundBlaster(TM) Pro compatible audio, delivering key multimedia capabilities. Onboard 10/100 LAN, TV-Out, an additional PCI slot, and a full set of I/O features provide ample connectivity and expansion options."

For more info, check out the unofficial source of mini-itx goodness... Mini-ITX.com.

Of course, there is still the issue of keyboard, waterproofing, touchscreens, and all that. But getting a nice, cool-running, system that fits in a 7"x7" square is a good start.

The main thing im looking for is a PC of this size that requires NO FANs. Go ahead, slow it down to 700mhz or less. Thats plenty of speed to run a head-less http, ssh, mail, ftp server

Try VIA's mini-ITX offering. $99 for board and CPU, the 500 MHz version is fanless, and supports a Disk-on-Chip. I've had no luck booting it with any flavor of Linux, but many others have. I'm a Linux n00b, so no surprise there.

A good site with details, etc.: Mini-ITX It doesn't appear to have any affiliation with VIA, and has LOTS of project details. Firewalls, servers, LAN party PCs, etc.

Any one have a good reccomendation for a super-mini that can boot with LinuxBIOS so it doesn't need a HD or CD drive, but does have ethernet and USB?

Try VIA's mini-ITX offering. $99 for board and CPU, fanless, and supports a DoC. I've had no luck booting it with any flavor of Linux, but many others have. I'm a Linux n00b, so no surprise there.

A good site with details, etc.: Mini-ITX It doesn't appear to have any affiliation with VIA, and has LOTS of project details. Firewalls, servers, LAN party PCs, etc.

You might also look into Mini-ITX systems. Not only are they fanless, but some of the cases use external power supplies which have no fan. And they're tiny - the motherboard is 17cm square.

I am currently building something similar with a mini-itx system.
However, in this case, I would have done the end program on a PDA like a Sony CLIE because the PC box is cumbersome and displaying big arrows can be done on a small 320x320 display as well. The PDA should talk to some device with its IR so the barebone PC could be used for that, but without any display!

After several years of failed tentatives in home integration, I believe these applicances are going to solve the problem. Still, we need Lego to provide a "homestorm" box to build these appliances more easily!

I'd go for a Mini ITX with the screen. This would yeild an even smaller solution.

I'm running a mini-itx at work. They consume less than 40 watts (not counting the HDDs) and can manage without active (fan) cooling. Also, they are small and have network integrated.

Mini-ITX is strong.

This case + a mini-itx motherboard (available on same site), a slim CD-rom, a 2.5" HDD and an extra ethernet card in the available PCI slot. Tada! A VIA EPIA 5000 would make it fanless and very quiet (except for the harddrive then...). 11.50"(295mm) x 2.50"(63.5mm) x 10.75"(273mm).

And then there's the 42(H) x 220(W) x 165(D) mm LIGHT System that you can get with three ethernet ports. Though I donät know where to buy it yet..

Hey, while you're looking at the OpenBrick, you could also check out Via's Eden.... you can get a nice Via C3@800, sitting on a mini-itx mobo inside a small case with a ~50W power supply...
check out www.mini-itx.com...
I'm using one of these babies right now (I'm playing with the 533MHz version), and I'm getting the 800MHz version in about two weeks...
I'll just slap 128MB RAM, and a 15GiB hdd I've got laying around... BTW, it runs just fine with the OpenBSD 3.1 GENERIC kernel...

what????!!!!! *BSD is dying???!!!!! AIYEEEEEEEE!!!

I'm using an Eden 5000 right now for my DSP work. Together with VIA's low power chipset, you can build a fanless system for less than $400.

Rather than speed I find myself looking for power savings. Getting a fast processor that I can roast a chook on doesn't do me any good. The Via and Eden processors on the mini-ITX board suit me. A smaller board so that my computer can be hidden and is not so intrusive. Couple that witt a flat screen and a slide away keyboard and look what kinds of things you can do! price and performance for what most of us need.

Look at the mini-itx form factor, introduced by VIA.
Their EDEN platform runs with their C3 cpu.
Not incredibly fast, but does the job.
Also, they are supposed to introduce their new generation some time this autumn.

Look on the VIA website
and on this one mini-itx website

in the ford focus case gallery page, you can click on the last photo but there's still a "Next" link.

hit that and you get another photo not in the index

this

This board looks a lot like the mini-itx form factor boards -- it uses a different chipset (I know there is a new one due... but I have mine already).

Anyhow, take a look at the http://mini-itx.com/hardware/cases.asp link. They have a few vendors for specific chassis, US, UK, etc... I'm carving one with an external ps for the dc->dc atx connector. Way easier to power this thing from my car if all I have to worry about is a good clean 12V DC feed then breadboarding my own ATX ps.

You said arguably the smallest, and I'm gonna argue.

First things first, the Lex system *is* neat because of the socket 370, but it edges out the Via Eden platform in one dimension by 10mm. Doesn't sound like a lot, unless you're making some really cool custom pc's.

In fact, I've built my own router (running Linux of course) in a 1/10th scale Celica using the VIA. 10mm more in either dimension and it wouldn't have fit. In fact, it looks just like the two projects I just now linked.

The via comes in 500 and 866 mhz flavors, and pulls VERY little power resulting in a low heat motherboard/processor solution. There's so little heat, they don't even put a fan on the processor, which is great when you have your 1/10th scale Celica routing your dsl in your living room where you want to hear other people and/or the tv instead of the computer.

So for those needing those extra mhz, the lex looks like a good solution. But for a Linux gateway/router and a couple other applications, the slower C3's do just fine, but pull less power and have the possibility of going completely fan free (if you can find a fan-free powersupply).

You said arguably the smallest, and I'm gonna argue.

First things first, the Lex system *is* neat because of the socket 370, but it edges out the Via Eden platform in one dimension by 10mm. Doesn't sound like a lot, unless you're making some really cool custom pc's.

In fact, I've built my own router (running Linux of course) in a 1/10th scale Celica using the VIA. 10mm more in either dimension and it wouldn't have fit. In fact, it looks just like the two projects I just now linked.

The via comes in 500 and 866 mhz flavors, and pulls VERY little power resulting in a low heat motherboard/processor solution. There's so little heat, they don't even put a fan on the processor, which is great when you have your 1/10th scale Celica routing your dsl in your living room where you want to hear other people and/or the tv instead of the computer.

So for those needing those extra mhz, the lex looks like a good solution. But for a Linux gateway/router and a couple other applications, the slower C3's do just fine, but pull less power and have the possibility of going completely fan free (if you can find a fan-free powersupply).

> Once, small computers were totally silent. Think of the CBM64, the Mac and others. Even when they got harddrives, it was just a faint whirr in the background.

Sure, the C64 itself was silent, but remember the gronk-scrape-rattattat-skruuuunkdunkle sound of the floppy drives they had? Seems drives have been getting quieter as the rest of the machine gets louder. I can barely hear the 7200rpm Western Digital drive in my box over the power supply and CPU fans, and the latter is relatively puny compared to the Volcano monstrosities current boxen require... Seems "quiet" isn't what people want by and large though. I've so far been unable to find one of those super-quiet VIA mini-itx boards locally, I might just make my next box a big fat noisy Athlon instead...

Forgot to post the link...
Mini-itx

Have you seen this? That would make any entertainment system owner proud...

I guess you're talking about the EPIA motherboards from VIA.
They really do sound neat...

I just picked up a mini-itx board for a mp3/divx player in my car. These things are really tiny. I saw one project where they stuffed one of these boards into a playstation, old sparcstations, and lots of other strange places. Not a gaming board, but those are starting to happen too - take a look at the small Shuttle boards that have a bit more kick (and heat) to them.

... and roll your own.

Look at MP3Car.com which has the details you need. Check out the forums.

Currently the Epia MB with a laptop HD via a 2.5 to 3.5 HD converter a slimline DVD/CD-R. You can use the S video or composite for a mobile LCD or serial based character LCD or go all the way and run VGA or SVGA LCD. Schematics on building the Sproggy DC to DC PSU or buy an ATX DC to DC power supply which is probably the hardest component to find.

On mp3car.com's forums you can find schematics for Delayed relays, noise suppression, why NOT to use an inverter, etc. For pics: mp3 webring list or searchmp3cars list.
Look at Mini-itx which has the spacecase that was discussed here on /.
So much for your afternoon.

Yes, /. needs a DIY section for hardware hackers.

I have one of these on the way for my car, but I thought I could add a couple more notes and links.

There are two via versions, green box (w/o fan) and blue box (w/fan). I picked up the VIA EPIA Eden 5000 Mini-ITX Motherboard that comes with a fanless ~533mhz cpu, 2.8W power, 17x17cm footprint, lan, video, sound, svideo, usb, and serial ports for about $100 USD. The 666mhz fanless version should be out soon. Uses a standard ATX PS, but it does not have to be very big. Nice driver support for Linux and Windows. About $10USD for a 800mhz C3 that needs a small fan.

Anyhow, project links at mini-itx.com, which has links to vendors, reviewers, case builders, etc.

Sure, it would be fun to do, but I could just as easily toss a Mini-ITX motherboard, which has a tvout, into a pizzabox with a 100w atx power supply, hd, and dvd and come out just over the price of an x-box. No hacking required. Plus, you have a PCI slot for something like maybe a REAL audio card. Then you have decent sound quality, plus AC3 passthrough if you want it :)

It looks like the SpaceCase guy made a standalone LCD display too, and it looks pretty easy to make (perhaps 3 or 4 hours with all the components ready?). His looks a (bit) like a mini Apple Cinema Display! If I can find the panel I think I'll have a go... ;-) http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/spacepanel/