Build Your Own Mini-Computer

Bored in Chattanooga writes: "Tom's is running an article reviewing a Shuttle mini-computer. Seems to have everything the average computer user would need, minus a nice 3D graphics card. Perhaps the standard large ATX-size computer cases will cease to exist and be replaced by these "mini-computers." I find these gems cuter than any iMac I've ever seen!"

I have one of these

[anguish feast]

I picked one of these up last November. I put in a 1GHz PIII, 1GB Ram (when it cost about 1/3 of what it does now), and 100GB HD. It runs great so far. The on board video card could be better, but I'm using it as a little server at home. I'm pretty surprised that the little thing isn't running hot after 3 months of running dnetc non stop.

What about heat?

[evilviper]

Of course a major problem with mini-computers is that there's just nowhere for the heat to go. Aluminum cases may help a small bit, but certainly not enough to accomidate an Athlon, Fast hard drive, etc. The air-circulation methods we've been using for so long just breakdown.

If small PCs are to catch on, manufacturers are either going to need to make low-heat devices their bread and butter, or case manufacturers are going to need to realize that they can just add a little extra metal and actually CONDUCT the heat out through the case, instead of the much less effecient (although for some reason exclusively used) convection method.

Re:A little reality check...

[2nd Post!]

You have to remember that Bored in Chattanooga wants less functionality, pay less for a machine, keep his hands warm, and keep his books from falling over.

He really does want the firewire, USB, tv out, compact size, built in audio, built in networking, everything the iMac offers, and the iMac does, as you mention, come with a GeForce2 and LCD screen. Except he doesn't want to pay for it and he tacitly acknowledges that look matters. Isn't that ironic? Saying that he values cute PCs, the iMac isn't cute enough?

I own an FV24!

[2nd Post!]

It's running W2k right now.

I stuffed it inside an old, old, $10 Mac LCII case. Yeah, you know, those 1.4", smaller than 1U case. I haven't finished it, yet, as I have to hack at the case for the power supply to fit; the power supply is like 50mm and the free space inside is only 43mm. I have to carve up some plastic.

I'm seriously considering stuffing an old iMac mobo into one of those as my next project, and then pop in a fast 800MHz G4...

Re:That case and motherboard...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, it may make the perfect media box. I'm still very wary of a few issues, however.

The article mentions that the specs for the temperature on this machine should not exceed 50C. I agree completely (much hotter and the sucker's gonna' melt straght to the core of the earth), but how freakin loud are the fans?

I might put a system like this by my stereo, or by my home theater system, but if it's crankin out much more than 32db, no way. Maybe my ears are especially sensitive (32 db is supposed to be silent to an 'average' person, but even that is bothersome to me.)

And as they say, an average Joe, is not prepared to munge one of these together. I really wish more reviews would post some sound specs in addition to the norm. Ack! I digress.

Re:I own an FV24!

[WasterDave]

One upped, a mate of mine did it with a Mac classic and a 9 inch monitor.

http://www.cooljazzmotherfucker.com/PCMods/

We played rocket arena off it (serving) for several hours the other day. It rocks.

Dave

Re:better mini computer

[seanadams.com]

The Ipic is almost certainly a hoax. This guy should *not* be taken seriously until he either:

- Posts some technical details as to how he managed to pull it off.
- Publishes his source
- Sells a product based on this
- Sets up a convincing demo

Having spent the better part of a year writing a TCP/IP stack for the PIC [slimdevices.com], I can tell you with certainly that the features and RFC compliance he claims are simply impossible to fit into the 12XXXX parts. The ROM space certainly isn't there, even if everything is tightly hand-coded in assembler. the more obvious limitation however, is RAM. He claims to be running full TCP on a part that doesn't even have the space to hold a minimum-size packet in RAM for checksumming. I could get into a zillion other impossibilities of this project, but it's easier to just show you this page, a commercial PIC TCP/IP stack), [yipeeinc.com] which shows exactly how much RAM/ROM it takes to fit a tight TCP/IP implementation into the PIC. There's just no way you could fit this much into the 12-bit PICs.

Re:changed the definition...minicomputer/midrange

[Anonymous Coward]

Like my AS/400, picked up second-hand - rather than letting it be scrapped, I grabbed it. AS/400 is the same level as the VAX. and several other machines of that era - not big enough to be mainframes, not small enough to be microcomputers/personal computers. Come to think of it, I got offered a PDP 11/45 once, but didn't have the room for a five foot high box in my flat. Pity - I think it got scrapped.

Re:Stupid

[NeuroManson]

In the Mini PC business, note that most of the systems are geared towards the Japanese market... Where a studio apartment on average is smaller than some folks' bedrooms, an ultra compact PC is ideal...

Re:Slow graphics?

[rhekman]

Thus spake c.r.o.c.o.:
Not to mention the fact that the Nforce has good sound capabilities too. And it supports the Athlon, which is also faster than the P3.

After a couple pages of this article, that's exactly what I was shouting! It's not just the sound either, NForce supports faster CPU's, has a better memory subsystem, has superior built-in graphics, has the absolute best chipset included sound available, and comes with half the ethernet chipset all ready to go. The thing that really struck me was THG putting a SB Live in -- with decent onboard sound (aha! NForce) that slot would be available for something else like a video editing board or extra NIC. Also, why not mention a DVD+CDRW for the 5 1/2" drive option?

A couple of other things I'd do in addition if I were updating this thing: First put a larger quality copper heatsink in there, as big as will fit all the way up to the HD. Only then cut a notch in the fins to allow a PCI card. With the bigger heatsink, put the fan for it on the side of the unit with intake holes in the case. I'd replace the single rear fan with two quieter ones and add tons of rubber washers and shrouds were appropriate.

Those mods should allow a decent speed Duron while cutting down on the noise without an increase in heat build up. I'd buy and recommend something like that. Shuttle, Asus, MSI, are you listening?

Regards,
Reid

power and heat problems

[tempmpi]

An nForce in this case would be very nice, but I think that it wouldn't be easy to solve the heat and power problems of this combination.
Now the case contains a 145 w power supply, when you want to add a athlon and nforce you would need at least 250 W.
Also needed is a special cooler, because there isn't enough space in the case to mount a standard athlon cooler. I think that these problems aren't easy to solve. I think they could maybe solve these problems if they find a good way to use the case as a heatsink.

DIY lacks aesthetic apeal

[doggo]

DIY is okay I guess if aesthetics are not an issue. But I gotta say, I haven't seen a decent looking case yet that's not part of a manufacturer's system.

Trust me, I've looked at probably every case vendor's web site. They all look "cool" if you're a high school kid. I mean c'mon [yahoo.com], you gotta be kidding! What do they do, have the president of the company's nephew do the industrial design?

I think I'll stick with the big manufacturers for cool small computer design. [dynamism.com]

But then again, most people here are looking for horsepower and upgradablitly, not sleek lines.

Bad Concept, Period.

[Bowie J. Poag]

1) Who on earth is going to buy a stainless steel case, and then mount drives with BEIGE faceplates inside of it? Talk about ugly, sheesh.

2) It may take off elsewhere, but this is America. Bigger is better. Most people want a machine that kicks ass and takes names, not something that looks a blinking vaccum cleaner attachment.

3) Design thats pleasing to the eye will take off. Not this crap. I'm still waiting for a company with some balls to produce a nice black pyramid shaped case, an oversized corner slab or monolith-shaped case.. Those things would take off hardcore.

Cheers,

Re:So, how is...

[Chris Johnson]

Well, those of us (like me) who find this really cute aren't really thinking in terms of cost and usefulness. I'm a mac user myself, I'm not _expecting_ this to be really competitive. I'm looking at what it is. It's a tiny, _elegant_ arrangement of generic hardware that could potentially be really cheap to buy, and will get more so in future- it's an aluminum case, not a tin can (I like that especially, it's part of the cuteness though it adds cost)- and I can't look at it without picturing it running WindowMaker or maybe even just console or some fascinating, alien hybrid. It's like there's the possibility for it to go off in totally other directions from the computers we're used to, simply because it's really a very generic device, and because it LOOKS different than most PCs do. With such a compact arrangement it blatantly suggests a different path from the usual windows huge morass of cab files and 'look how many junky game sound cards you could buy if you wanted'. It makes me think of focus, of getting rid of waste and coming up with some elegant little workspace to live in that resonates with the elegant little looks of the tiny thing. Like I've said, the first thoughts that come to my mind are- ballbearing fans and underclocking, and getting special low-noise drives for it, so it could sit on the desk and be whisper-quiet despite the lack of space for sound absorption inside it.

That's something I know about as my current desktop and work machines are already whisper-quiet- but they are PowerMacs without need for CPU fans, and they are tower or short tower cases with space inside for acoustic foam. Handled right this little machine could be as quiet and unobtrusive...