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Tiny Fanless Mini-PC Runs Linux Or Windows On Quad-core AMD SoC

Posted by samzenpus on from the getting-small dept.

DeviceGuru writes CompuLab has unveiled a tiny 'Fitlet' mini-PC that runs Linux or Windows on a dual- or quad-core 64-bit AMD x86 SoC (with integrated Radeon R3 or R2 GPU), clocked at up to 1.6GHz, and offering extensive I/O, along with modular internal expansion options. The rugged, reconfigurable 4.25 x 3.25 x 0.95 in. system will also form the basis of a pre-configured 'MintBox Mini' model, available in Q2 in partnership with the Linux Mint project. To put things in perspective, CompuLab says the Fitlet is three times smaller than the Celeron Intel NUC.

23 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These guys are claiming barebones PCs will start at $129. I find this a relief in comparison to the companies that keep offering barebones rigs like these starting at $400 or more.

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    1. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

      with Windows 8.1 preinstalled

      And since nobody likes Windows 8.x, its pretty much a fanless PC as well.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you buy the top of the line model for around 2k you get about 6 years out of it, so that is $300 per year. If you buy a starting PC for $400 you will get about 2 years out of it $200 per year.

      Now if these barbone PCs will be able to operate modern OS and websites without being unbearable for over a year we are still making out.

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    3. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      Do low powered PCs wear out quicker, or are you talking out of your ass again?

      --
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    4. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 2

      If you buy a starting PC for $400 you will get about 2 years out of it $200 per year.

      Where do you get this number? I've had my current PC for more than 2 years, and it cost ~$250 new. My previous PC lasted 6 years and cost ~$350 back around 2006 when PCs cost more.

      Mini-PCs are a different animal though. People are buying them for the form factor and the lack of fan noise, not purely for price.

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    5. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by cdrudge · · Score: 2

      You still need a case - and the mini ITX cases generally come without power supplies. You could likely get this with case and power supply for under $200 but not by a lot.

      A M350 mini-ITX case runs $37 on Amazon. Presuming the power supply isn't some stupid proprietary design, $5-10 for a power supply. I did exactly this for a Intel miniITX HTPC that used a laptop charger as the power supply.

    6. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by dfsmith · · Score: 2

      I got an nVidia ION-based Asus Aspire Revo PC a few years back. It worked fairly well, gets nice and warm, and is still in service as my Kodi box, NAS/backup server (eSATA+GbE with RAID) and secondary DNS/DHCP. It does leave out the PCI slots from the reference platform though.

      I'm currently evaluating a $150 (from Fry's) Asus VivoPC as my next primary server. Dual core, hidden micro-PCIe, SATA and USB3. So far, so good.

    7. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by Tough+Love · · Score: 5, Informative

      Their previous offerings have been in the $300 range, I have two of them from a few years back. Beautiful, understated and rugged engineering. Due to the technology of the day, somewhat underpowered but they still manage debian with KDE, short of smooth video playback or 3D animation. With wifi and a hard disk they run a bit hot at 11 watts, but with 100 MHz ethernet and a SSD they drop down to less than 4 watts.

      I certainly do not begrudge them their relatively high price point in the past, it allowed their boutique business to survive until technology caught up with them. Now, with the kickass AMD graphics, improved mips/watt, more memory and half the price, they land firmly in the buy it and try it zone. Remember Shuttle? We all hoped they would keep pushing the envelope of light and tight, but they lost the plot and devolved to just another mediocre box maker.

      This new generation of Fit PCs should now be just about perfect for video playing, and even work decently for legacy 3D games, but don't even think about the latest Far Cry. Or the latest Windows for that matter, if you want it to be not a toy then it better be running Linux, you have been warned.

      These little boxes are just about as perfect as you can get for a home server. Completely silent, can be exanded to as much usb storage as you want, the right network connectivity, enough memory. The tiny power envelope means "always on" is a no brainer. Also decent for a non-professional browsing/emailing box capable of running drawing programs but not engineering CAD. Gimp but not Photoshop (unless you are truly patient...) Blender but not Maya.

      I really appreciate the return to the straight box form factor. Their previous couple of generations are curvy and cute, but what practical sense does that make? I will take squat and homely, but stacks nicely, any day. That is beautiful to me. Much like the way I like my stero amplifier.

      So long as Android fails to gain the UI functionality you actually need for productivity apps, these tiny PCs have a niche to grow in, and needless to say, these are fully functional with completely "libre" software with all the benefits that entails, not at all the case with Android.

      No, they didn't pay me to write this post or send me a free machine. I just really like the way they engineer their boxes, their general attitude, and their stick-with-it-ness, and needless to say, their first class Linux support.

      --
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    8. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That said it's not three times smaller, it's three times less volume. It's only 2cm on a side smaller, not much bigger than a Raspberry Pi B+, which let's be honest, isn't game-changing at this point. 2012 was a long time ago.

      "Times smaller" is an excruciatingly ambiguous phrase anyway. It is very much open to interpretation, even if you presume they mean volume.

    9. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by WuphonsReach · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Give it a SSD and 8GB of RAM and useful life might approach a decade. It might add $100 to the cost, but will definitely make it into something that will be useful for more then 2-3 years.

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    10. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? by OolimPhon · · Score: 2

      Agree. Why can't they say "a third the volume?"

      Slack thinking like "three times smaller" probably accounts for many bugs in software. Precision is important.

  2. Frequency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    clocked at up to 1.6GHz

    Actually we might as well stop mentioning the CPU clock speed of devices already. :) They all hover around 2GHz and still vary wildly in performance. At this point the clock speed is essentially just a trivial configuration parameter of the chip.

  3. Network appliance by phorm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Depending on how well the ethernet interface performs, this looks like it would make a decent little network appliance (PFsense, etc). Of course with the R2 graphics, it's probably good for more than that, but since Via seemed to slow down on their stuff I've had issues finding good mini-boards for firewalls etc (not enough interfaces on a Pi, which is also a bit slow).

    It looks like the 6200T also has some AES acceleration, but I wonder if there's anything like Via's padlock (which was quite nice for VPN's or SSL tunnels).

  4. Only thing missing is a fan by Russ1642 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a Chromecast, which is a mini PC on a dongle. It has a fanless design, but it desperately needs on. Trying to keep it cool in the summer is difficult and after ten minutes it's too hot and stalls.

    1. Re:Only thing missing is a fan by Russ1642 · · Score: 2

      I don't have air conditioning. The Chromecast isn't exactly faulty, it's just not properly designed to be fanless. There's no thought whatsoever given to cooling, but for $30 that's what you get.

  5. Hope it has GigE. by Mal-2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have an E-350 laptop, and although it has only two cores at 1.6 GHz, it can easily keep up with 1080p video. (Having maxed it out at 8 GB of RAM doesn't hurt.) The thing that tends to be an issue is WiFi bandwidth. If wired to the network (it has GigE) or if the file is copied to local storage first, it's fine. Otherwise, you're just asking for the darn thing to burp several times during your movie.

    Even 100Mbps Ethernet (using some old three-pair cable already in the wall) can prove insufficient for pulling 1080p off the NAS box, if there's any kind of contention at all.

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  6. Benchmarks for that AMD chip look bad... by JoeyRox · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For example, the AMD E1 Micro-6200T in the Fitlet-B:
    http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cp...

    1. Re:Benchmarks for that AMD chip look bad... by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Informative

      Intel is two generations ahead on semiconductor process technology.

      One generation. Atom is at 22nm and AMD is at 28nm. When Atom goes to 14nm TSMC/AMD will be at 20nm. Intel could move it along a little faster if they really wanted but they won't because, firstly the shiny new tech always goes to the high end chips, and secondly, they fear cannibalizing their own markets.

      Another point: the generation advantage isn't what it used to be, remember when the speed would double and the cost would halve like clockwork? Those days are gone forever.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  7. Three times smaller!!! by RandomAdam · · Score: 2

    What a crap way of saying a third of the the volume.

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  8. Goddamnit ... by thomst · · Score: 3, Interesting

    <RANT=ON>

    ... I simply DESPISE the locultion "(x) times smaller than." It's lazy, stupid writing, and it needs to die in a fire.

    The proper way to phrase the concept would be "(suitable fraction) of the size of", as in "one third the size of".

    <RANT=OFF>

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  9. With name like "MintBox" by chispito · · Score: 4, Funny

    It if doesn't fit in an Altoids tin, I'm suing for false advertising.

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  10. Re:Equally tiny UPS? by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

    Get a tiny $200 fanless laptop.

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  11. Re:3 times smaller... by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

    No but you can install such kind of SSD in there (a picture is worth a few dozen words)
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/... or http://www.newegg.com/Product/...

    After which there's wired ethernet, or attaching a 2.5" hard drive to USB 3 (which can power the drive with a single cable) ought to give some nice quite fast storage.