Slashdot Mirror
The Mini-ITX Project Revisited
An anonymous reader writes "From the article: "Once my original Mini-ITX project was completed I finally had a chance to sit back and use the computer. After a couple weeks of general internet browsing, emailing, and so forth, I was able to get a better understanding of the system and a feel for its design. Knowing how simple my needs were, the Mini-ITX project computer was orginally designed to be as basic and quiet as possible. This meant no hard drive, no extra accessories- just a stripped down system. While this suited my needs well at the time, its lack of versatility soon became an issue. This meant it was back to the drawing board for a retooling of the Mini-ITX project computer. The changes include a new case, operating system and boot device, along with improved cooling. The new system was tested using Slax and then MEPISLite." Even better link is the site itself which regularly carries mods.
Advertisement
Another Advertisement
More Advertisements
And here is how i put my mini-itx motherboard into a NEW case designed for it *BUY HERE*
------
This is news if you consider me taking a dump new...because its in a different toilet than usual.
[I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
Step 1: Buy computer parts.
Step 2: Assemble computer.
I have three of these things (silent, flashboot, netboot - the whole bit). Can I get a frontpage article for assembling commodity parts as well?
Wow, talk about an amateur. Here's my summary: Guy builds a small computer that runs off flash memory and uses a small footprint distro of Linux. He finds that he wants to run more programs, so he retools the machine to use a live CD. He's still limiting himself to whatever apps come with the distros he can find, rather than putting together the ideal (for his needs) combination of apps. He'll be happy for another six months until he puts out Part III of his ad-laden writeups, which will then be posted to /. again...
I bought all the accessories for a mini (monitor, PS/2 to USB mouse and keyboard converter, etc), but I never bought the mini (yet anyway). But, for a living room coputer, isn't a laptop with wireless the ultimate solution, unless you're doing some media center thing? Frankly, even then, I'd like to be able to google and imdb stuff on one screen, while watching another.
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
Put all this together, and I can hide the server in a closet and forget about it. Just need a power drop and two network connections.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Yes, the Mac mini seems to have killed all the incentive to build VIA EPIA-platform mini boxen.
Well, that's not the fault of the Mac Mini-- it's the fault of Mini-ITX for charging such high prices. I would have built one of these things years ago, but the price was much too high for my needs.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Disclaimer: I'm in the business.
One BIG advantage to mini-ITX is that they are easily put into functional, solid enclosures with additional power supply protection you don't find in the mini. The boards themselves support booting off of flash, and it's very easy to purpose-build them with no hard drive attached.
You're not going to run a piece of industrial automation equipment off a mac mini. There's no reason you couldn't, I guess, but it's much easier to purpose-build something around the VIA board. A lot of the time, these things end up running DOS. There's no RTOS available for the mini I am aware of.
We've done a lot of work replacing old tower PC's with things that can bolt into telco utility closets next to the PBX. With the via board, these are just drop in replacements.
For the consumer that just wants a computer, the mac mini is very attractive. There's lots of other applications - like bolting a computer to a wall - where it doesn't make a lot of sense.
YMMV, of course.
..don't panic
I don't think it's the boards that are expensive. At least, I don't have a problem paying ~ $ 100 for a board that includes CPU, NIC, video card, sound card, tv out, and support for hardware encryption, random number generation, and maybe MPEG decoding.
The real expense seems to be in the case. I can buy a decent looking ATX case for $ 20, but a real Mini-ITX case can cost a lot more. Then there's the PSU; I can get a silent ATX PSU that does the job for $ 15, but Mini-ITX fans often prefer PSUs that cost a lot more.
Finally, last time I checked, the cheapest hard drive I could find was 60 GB for about $ 50. I'd be happy to have even a quarter of the size if I could get it at a lower price, but no such luck. Hard drives are also one component I won't buy second hand, because I'm fearful of head crashes.
In the end, I ended up building a system with a VIA EPIA SP8000E, a nice looking black ATX case, a cheap QTec low-noise PSU, and an AOPEN DUW1608 DVD burner. It cost me about EUR 200 for the board, EUR 20 for the case, EUR 15 for the PSU, and EUR 50 for the burner. Less than EUR 300 in total; I reckon a bit over $ 300. I plugged in some old RAM I had lying around, and installed Debian over NFS.
The system I built can't compete with a Mac Mini in terms of performance, but it's good enough for me, and it's quite a bit cheaper; and it would still be cheaper if I had bought RAM and a hard drive with it.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
How many articles per week must we get about this XYZ computing place. Any person can tell their articles are just wrappers for ads. If anyone actually goes to that site for real information, they should be shot.
Nice work.
Why don't you grow up and just buy a dual core server and stop trying to use Most-Inefficient-Means? Mini ITX server farm, that's a laugh...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I built three Mini-ITX systems, only one of which is still in use. I built a 533Mhz goof-off machine fo rthe living room, a 800Mhz server and a 1Ghz unit for my wife. The server and good-off machines were chosen due to noise considerations. The wife needed a new MB anyway. The server was woefully underpowered and has been replaced by an old 866Mhz Del Opitiplex I bought from the local government surplus and the full P3 kicks the VIA chip's butt so much it's not funny. I never did anything with the 533Mhz unit because the TV-Out is less than worthwhile. Those two units are in pieces in my closet. My wife is happy with her unit, plus the NVidia TNT2 PCI video card I tossed in, but her idea of demanding computer use is playing FreeCell.
They are not bad computers, if you realize that they are slow as all get out. When used in the right environments (embedded devices, simple robots, etc...) they probably work well. They are not good desktop machines, however. On a price to performance ratio they suck. They are absurdly expensive for what you get. Especially if you add in the tiny cases. You can easily spend as much or more than a Mac Mini would cost and still end up with a larger, noisier and less powerful computer.
If I decide to go down the tiny PC road again I'm going Mac Mini. It can sit there and stare in awe at my G5 Powermac.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Factor in the time you spend dorking around with the miniitx and it gets worse.
I don't know about other Mini-ITX modders out there, but to me if you factor in the time I spend dorking around with the mini-itx, it gets better. For me, at least, there was a positive feedback loop. I enjoyed mucking with the board. If I had the time and money right now, I'd do it again because of the recreational value I got from it. I still like to point out that my home server has a peak power draw of just under 25W - and that only occurs when the unit is powered on and the hard drives have to suck extra juice to spin up.
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)