Recomendations on building a cheap low power system

[rstove02]

Kicking around the idea of building a low power/heat/noise (small footprint) inexpensive system for my sister and wanted to know what yall would recommend.

For the CPU, I was thinking of getting those Geode processors, but still have not found any available for sale plus some preliminary info points to the boards their built on are a tad pricy.

With the Geodes not currently a viable option, I am thinking of getting a mobile 2200 or 2400 XP and unclocking it to 1.0-1.5 GHz and lowering its core voltage....would this be a viable alternative?

What would yall recommend for power supplies, motherboards (micro-ATX or ITX), drives, etc that would not consume much power or dispel much heat that would not break the bank?

Thank you for your time.

 

[WackyDan]

Have you looked at the Mini-ITX spec boards with the VIA processors?

Low temp and low noise, especially if you use a 2 1/2" HD.

 

[Schadenfroh]

transmeta all the way

 

[trexpesto]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
transmeta all the way

 

[Zepper]

Is 14x14" too big? If not:
1- Athenatech A100 series case w/PSU. I like it because it takes normal height add-on cards and even a full-length one if needed.
2- DFI KM400 based microATX mobo (front panel connectors and CPU socket are well located for this case - but the floppy connector isn't). Or perhaps the Via VA-10 if you don't require SATA and want better audio support (See my review here ). Normal ribbon drive cables work fine in this case with some origami-style gentle folding - round cables can be clumsy in it. I made a custom floppy cable for mine by cutting just the last two connectors off a normal cable, splitting the flat cable in sevens (and the one already split/twisted eight) and bundling with electrical tape.
3- Duron 1600 or 1800 processor.
4- Thermal Integration TI-V77L HSF with Zalman fan mate or similar control to adjust speed/noise level. (See my review at the same link as the VA-10.)
5- Add a decent 80x80x25mm front fan (with speed control if you wish) as I think only the two 60x60mm rear fans are supplied.
6- Add whatever drives/memory etc. you require/desire. I would suggest the MSI X52 Combo drive as it works well, is quiet and has the short chassis that is most comfortable in compact cases. The X52 retail version also looks good if you want to leave the front exposed. I would suggest using only one hard drive as it can get fairly warm in there when both drive trays are occupado...
. Can be a very inexpensive solution if you play the rebate lotto with the hard drive and RAM, but with power that will surprise you...
.bh.

There's the :sun: ! Hooray!! It was 43 deg F here at 2:00am - probably made it into the upper 30s by dawn...