[clue-talk] small form factor PCs

[dperkins at frii.com]

>> For those of you who like small form factor PCs, this might be of
>> interest.
>>
>> http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/makeprojects/?CMP=ILC-GG7423313304&ATT=makeprojects
>
> Huh. I never thought they'd make a book on this subject. I think I'll put
> it on my Christmas
> list.
>
> I want to upgrade my desktop PC and my linux box into something that takes
> up much less
> space. The only restrictions being:
> a: I still need my PCI-X video card for my desktop PC.
> b: I don't want to make them so small that the only fans that will fit in
> them are the small,
> loud ones.
>
> Ideally, I'd like to have my linux box passively cooled. But going
> complely fanless is far
> more difficult than having a 120mm fan running at it's lowest setting.
>
> And I still have my passive cooling tower, which I can hook up to the
> desktop box once I get
> the proper brackets for it. Man, I bought that thing when Intel's strategy
> was "More Mhz!
> More heat!" but these new die sizes (and their new design strategy) has
> had an amazing effect
> on heat output.
>
> Later,
> Erik Z

I know of a few SFF cases:  Shuttle, Monarch Computer's Hornet, etc.  Some
brands are definitely underpowered, so it's important to read reviews on
these.  The Hornet is designed to let you choose different motherboards,
but it is bigger than the Shuttle.

When I built my laptop, I chose a low-power Turion instead of an Athlon64.
 Same capability but only 24W as opposed to whatever the Athlon64
generates.  You might be able to replace your Intel with a low-power
version.