What's going on in the Mini ITX world these days?

[joshwa]

I used to know all about the mini itx world when VIA were the main players...

Been looking at mini-itx.com and seen that Intel Atom boards with 1.6ghz cpu is only £58! (inc vat)

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=47

Anyone up to date with whats going on?
Is Intel the choice these days for mini-itx, and VIA the choice for nano and pico?
And whats the difference between VIA C7 and VIA C7D?

Is this the cheapest mini itx starter kit available?
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=44

Cheers,

Josh

[directhex]

do you WANT pico & nano? i don't

[joshwa]

do you WANT pico & nano? i don't

Not really - mini itx would do me. The Intel seems like a bargain - with most VIA boards costing double.

[EnglishLion]

From what I can tell all that's happened really is prices have fallen. The cost and practicality of making a truely small PC was inhibitive until recently.

However you can now get cheap and large flash memory for use in mini-ITX etc, like the compact flash modules that plug directly into an IDE connector! And where you used to have to go with VIA for a mini-ITX board you can now get an AM2+ socketed mini-ITX board and fit your own choice of CPU (preferably a low wattage type) and even get DX10 integrated video!

It's something I've wanted to have a go at for ages! A small media box for example.

[tinners]

And where you used to have to go with VIA for a mini-ITX board you can now get an AM2+ socketed mini-ITX board and fit your own choice of CPU (preferably a low wattage type) and even get DX10 integrated video!

...or even better a £50 motherboard and Atom combo

[EnglishLion]

...or even better a £50 motherboard and Atom combo

Yes, absolutely. It all depends on what you want to do. If you're looking for a HD HTPC then you'll probably want more video power than that atom board with its 945G chipset but for building a cheap and cheerful internet box that will do the job. Stick it in a Psile case http://www.psile.com/ and it'll look nice in anyone's bedroom/study/kitchen/garage or bathroom!

[tinners]

Yes, absolutely. It all depends on what you want to do. If you're looking for a HD HTPC then you'll probably want more video power than that atom board with its 945G chipset but for building a cheap and cheerful internet box that will do the job. Stick it in a Psile case http://www.psile.com/ and it'll look nice in anyone's bedroom/study/kitchen/garage or bathroom!

Lovely cases but £150's quite steep

[EnglishLion]

Lovely cases but £150's quite steep

I would say £150 is very steep. But they are lovely cases and I guess they're expensive because they're low volume products.

But then if you're making a mini ITX system with the aim of looking good in any room, maybe you can save money on components and splash out a little on the case. The hoojum and silverstone mini ITX cases aren't exactly cheap either, the only cheap mini ITX cases are those that look cheap!

That's partly why ITX is something I'd like to do if I ever get the cash available. Ideally, I'll get someone else to pay me to build a mini ITX system for them. That way I get to play for free , I just don't get to keep it

[shaurz]

VIA Nano (Isiah) / Mini-ITX 2.0 boards should be available soon. I'm gonna get one these "Atom smashers"

AMD boards are a great option if you want good performance (media centre), althought power consumption will be higher than the VIAs.

[harshw]

Yes the Mini-ITX world has suddenly changed. How about the DG45FC motherboard available as Mini-ITX ? Used to be that mini-itx motherboards used to cost £200 and above, now they are (relatively) cheap, at £80 for the motherboard mentioned. Thanks to Intel

I am thinking of pairing an E5200 with the DG45FC and a PicoPSU 120W. What I need is advice on

a. Passive heatsinks - is BorgFX any good ?
b. Cases - all the mini ITX cases are for VIA but now there's Atom, Atom Dual Core ( soon ) and normal Core 2 Duos. What about a nice sleek case for higher dissapation than the VIA C7x ?
c. BluRay drive in a slot loading form

[Webby]

a. Probably will struggle on 65W and above, I would think.
b. Look at Silverstone's range (http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=71&pp=63,71) If you can find it the LC06 offers space for a full size hard drive and dvd/bluray player.
c. Slot loading Bluray is expensive but here is one if you fancy it! http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=784614

Personally I would be looking at the LC06 with a standard sized Bluray player. CPU cooler wise I'm no sure what you will find that can dissipate 65W passive in a case with little airflow (as in almost all mini-itx cases). Akasa do offer passive heatsinks for S775 but do not state what the maximum heat load is.

[tinners]

Just a quick note for those thinking of building with the gigabyte atom combo.

This thing runs hot. It only has a passive cpu cooler and active northbridge fan.

Generally idles about 50 in my mini case but the whole thing kicks out some serious heat.

Is fairly performant though.