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Small Form Factor Comparison Matrix
Giggles Of Doom writes "With small form factor PCs, such as the Shuttle XPC line, becoming all the rage these days for office and gamer use, it can be a daunting task to find the model that is right for you. With more and more manufacturers getting on the SFF bandwagon, the selection is growing rapidly. How do you compare each one? You could spend hours combing manufacturer sites and reviews, or you could be thankful that someone has done all the work for you already! The Small Form Factor Comparison Matrix is just that, a chart listing over 30 of the most popular SFF boxes, their features, and price. Sort by any field, and limit your search to things like "Pentium 4 Only" or "Under $200 Only." If you're looking into getting a SFF box, this is the place to start." (Sudhian Media and mini-itx.com are also good sources for information on small PCs.)
Does anyone know of a small dual-CPU capable motherboard?
Something like a micro-ATX form factor but with multiple CPU's would be great.
Hey Shuttle, how about a flex-ATX system with dual Xeons, Opterons, or similar?
"With small form factor PCs, such as the Shuttle XPC line, becoming all the rage these days for office and gamer use"
I got to LAN parties, work in IT, and I don't see anyone looking for smaller form fctors for gaming.
Bringing a full size ATX tower to a LAN party just ins't that hard. Maybe if you're trying to take it on an airplane I could see the need. But otherwise, with all the heat and the size of video cards, I don't see small form factor being the rage in gaming. In fact I see the opposite. People wanting lots of room in their case.
I dont go to big name contests or national LAN parties, so maybe I've just lost touch.
Anyone know much of the non x86 small machines or boards? I know of pegasosppc and their micro-ATX boards, and an upcoming (hopefully) AmigaOne that's a full G3 or G4 Mini-ITX board, and rumours of ARM Mini-ITX.
Any PPC Mini-ITX boards that won't be lumbered with Amiga licensing fees?
All those boxes I've seen lately are just like the original(?) Shuttle cube. I don't call this a big selection, even if the innards are different. :-P)
I'm still looking for something in the form of a slim rectangle (think of the shape, and colour, of the monolith from 2001).
With mini-itx and slimline dvd players that should be possible.
(and yes, I can't build it myself.
home
Saddly getting db levels for all the units is next to impossible. Very few review sites can measure it, and they wouldn't measure it in the same manner anyway. Same with manufacturers. I would love to have it in there though. If they all want to send me a test unit I could do it, but I don't think that's going to happen.
"A coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one."
They seem to solve a lot of problems that conventional systems are plagued with. Cooling a large box, noise generated by the cooling systems, space used by the server sitting under your desk. I was originally looking at rack mount systems but these Small Form Factor PC's have the added advantage of portability. Perfect for LAN Parties.
In addition they retain standard PC components, so you are not thrust into the expensive world of laptop computing. I did that for a while and got tired of paying double for everything.
Howver, currently I have the server under the desk. The major problem is the storage space of these boxes but if I can find an external storage system that suits, I am definitely going small form factor.
psxndc
The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.
This is slightly offtopic, but not too much, so here goes.
Anybody have advice for computers for robotics applications? I played around quite a bit with lego mindstorms, and I'm wondering if there's something similar but better out there.
Here's what I'm looking for: something with enough CPU power and memory to be able to run a reasonable OS, like Linux or BSD, consume little power, and have good IO support. Bonus points if it has enough power to be able to run gcc so I don't have to compile my programs somewhere else. Some kind of wireless communications, whether 802.11b or IR serial or whatever, is a must.
The best that I've seen so far is the stuff from Soekris, but I'd be interested to know what slashdotters think, if there are other good choices out there.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
Cromell have a mini-itx board that takes PIV-Mobile processors, but its very hard to get hold of. They also have one that takes a standard PIV (aka "system on a heatsink" 8))
For cheap and small the VIA processors are generally better. 60W will run a full VIA C3 based system, and they are fanless to 600MHz (1Ghz with the right cases). Some of these boxes are tiny - the Travla 134 is the same size as a car radio for example
The SFFTech.com ST61G4 Review has noise levels from a few different SFF boxes, loaded with the same components.
I do challenge the silent claim, and I own a Shuttle myself. It is quiet, but nowhere near silent. My G4 Cube with a liquid ball bearing hard drive, now thats silent. Of course my Shuttle does have a Radeon 9700 Pro making a decent amount of noise.