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.

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[mrtroy]

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And here is how i put my mini-itx motherboard into a NEW case designed for it *BUY HERE*

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This is news if you consider me taking a dump new...because its in a different toilet than usual.

Does this really deserve a frontpage article?

[jgaynor]

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?

Re:Buy a MAC-Mini, call it good!

[User 956]

Here's the thing. My server at home, which sits on a static IP address, is a mini-itx based machine. It provides me with: web hosting, email hosting, storage, inside network services and firewalls outside access to my TiVo. Why did I do this with a mini-itx instead of a Mac mini? Well, there are several disadvantages to the Mac Mini over Mini-itx:

• Noise. The mac mini will produce a lot. The only moving part on my server is the hard drive platters, and they are hermetically sealed and use fluid dynamic bearings. As hard drives go, they are whisper quiet. I've bought a lot of fans in my time, even some rather expensive ultra-quiet ones. Given enough time, all of them eventually get dust in the bearings and start making a racket.
• Size. The Mac mini is small, this thing is smaller.
  
• Heat. There is not a single fan running on my server. The hottest component by far is the hard drives.
  
• Power. This goes along with heat. The power supply's peak sustained output is 60W. I'd be suprised if the unit consumed more than 25W except during hard drive spin up.
  
• Battery back up lifetime. This goes along with power. A standard consumer UPS will run this thing for many hours. It has survived 3 hour power outages.
  

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.

Re:Buy a MAC-Mini, call it good!

[EnronHaliburton2004]

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.

Industrial / automotive + mac mini == broken mini

[xtal]

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.

Been there, done that, never again.

[RatBastard]

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.