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[Zanda Bayfield]

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[watercooled]

Do you know how small the RaspberryPi is? You're not getting a conventional PC that small, however a basic nettop like the following may meet your needs:
http://www.ebuyer.com/500387-acer-re...c-dt-smeek-008
http://www.ebuyer.com/500388-acer-re...c-dt-smbek-009
The smallest system you'll be able to assemble with common parts will be of the mini-ITX form factor, the above nettops use laptop parts allowing them to be smaller.

You can get some tiny ARM-based systems like the RasPi itself, CuBox, and a few others, but you're not going to get a 250GB HDD in there (although external storage is an option), nor will it run Windows. And they can't really be considered PC replacements performance-wise. I'd re-think what you're after, as one of these devices probably isn't 'it'.

[directhex]

I don't think you quite understand what you're asking for.



That's the size of a Raspberry Pi. To do that on x86... let's just say there's no way to DIY an x86 system the size of a Raspberry Pi. The smallest x86 you can get is a toss up between a Via Epia Nano-ITX, and an AMD Geode LX board. In both cases about twice the size of a Pi, as well as ancient and slow.

[Zanda Bayfield]

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[Splash]

About the smallest I can think of would be to pickup an INtel NUC motherboard - that'll take a mSSD and up to 16Gb of RAM but it's a built in CPU. You do get gigabit LAN, dual HDMI output and 2 USB ports but there's no audio jack (audio is via HDMI). I've 3 of a slightly higher end unit for my VMware lab.

Like others have said though - if you're wanting s complete self-build then you're looking at significantly larger kit. The smallest micro-ATX motherboards are just over 171mm square, don't think I've seen a smaller form factor with a replaceable CPU.

[watercooled]

Not really. Tablet parts aren't sold separately to consumers. I mean you could get something like an Exynos dev board and make a case for it but they're fairly expensive for what they are. You're not going to be building much, besides maybe sticking it in a case - mobile parts i.e. CPU/RAM/etc come soldered on.

I don't see the problem with getting something like a nettop and fitting it to the VESA bracket on a monitor if it needs to be out of sight.

I recommend some of your own research if you're not convinced - what you're after doesn't really exist or will be fairly expensive.

If however you're willing to forgo the need to put a board in a case, something like an Android TV box or a Fit-PC, but the latter are far from cheap. Or as Splash said, something like a NUC or the similar Gigabyte BRIX, Zbox Nano, etc. All are larger than a RasPi though.

[Zanda Bayfield]

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[watercooled]

Usually phone/tablet-type components, and they can often be modded to run some flavour of Linux with varying complexity. Here's one designed to run Picuntu out the box: http://www.rikomagic.co.uk/linux_mini_pcs.html

[jim]

The smallest micro-ATX motherboards are just over 171mm square, don't think I've seen a smaller form factor with a replaceable CPU.

I take it you mean mini-ITX?

To the OP - it's much easier to read when you don't capitalise each word. And why don't you just use a Raspberry Pi? What's preventing you from using that?

[Zanda Bayfield]

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[directhex]

Okay So These HDMI Sticks With Android What Parts Do They Have In Them Because They Are Tiny. And Could They Run Ubuntu.

A tiny motherboard with some soldered on RAM, a soldered on ARM SoC (usually something crappy like Allwinner or Rockchip), some soldered on flash storage.

The blocker to installing Ubuntu is driver support and boot loader support - but in general, yes, you can install Ubuntu for ARM onto any ARM board which works with a vaguely upstream kernel and an unlocked boot loader.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

BT based NUC will be out in Q1 2014:

http://hexus.net/tech/news/systems/6...-nucs-q1-2014/

[jim]

Well First Of All Jim,

I Like Capitalizing Each Word And Like I Said I Don't Want To Buy I Want To Build.

You may like it, but it's incredibly irritating. And I was asking for the reason why you want to build, but fine, I'll leave you to it.

[MaddAussie]

Well First Of All Jim,

I Like Capitalizing Each Word And Like I Said I Don't Want To Buy I Want To Build.

I hope your handy soldering SMD's...

[Zanda Bayfield]

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[herulach]

unless you're incredibly good at soldering and have the ability to source individual ram chips (and design a pcb for them etc) you aren't getting anything that small that you're building yourself. The best you'll do is something like a gallieo or Arduino TRE type device if you don't want a pi