VESA mountable MINI-ITX motherboard

[cbn]

Recently, in one of my threads, a VESA mountable MINI-ITX motherboard was suggested;

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36272872&postcount=7

I completely agree this would be a great idea for a low cost DC-in mini-itx when the cost of the case could can exceed the cost of the BGA cpu/motherboard.

Why use a case if there is no PSU to hold? (DC-in motherboards use an AC adapter like a laptop) Or if there are no additional hard drives beyond a mSATA/M.2 or usb stick?

With a sale priced BGA Mini-ITX, 2GB bargain RAM, $5 8 GB usb stick (booting linux), $10 AC adapter, (maybe throw in a power-on switch too) a person could conceivably build an extremely cheap "desktop PC".

With that out of the way, I am just wondering how large the technical hurdles are to make VESA mountable Mini-ITX happen from an OEM standpoint?

 

[SithSolo1]

If you really don't care, bolt the motherboard to a square piece of wood/acrylic/polycarbonate/scrap metal and then bolt that to the vesa mount.

Fin

 

[crashtech]

If that is what you want, all it would take is an easily fabricated bracket. It's an interesting idea, but it might too much of a niche within a niche for anyone to offer a product. VESA mountable cases aren't even that common. I used an Akasa Euler for my wife's fanless VESA mounted build.

 

[cbn]

If you really don't care, bolt the motherboard to a square piece of wood/acrylic/polycarbonate/scrap metal and then bolt that to the vesa mount.

Fin

If that is what you want, all it would take is an easily fabricated bracket. It's an interesting idea, but it might too much of a niche within a niche for anyone to offer a product. VESA mountable cases aren't even that common. I used an Akasa Euler for my wife's fanless VESA mounted build.

Those are good ideas and I would even be willing to buy such a simple bracket pre-fabricated if it was inexpensive enough.

However, if I could bolt the motherboard directly to the back of the Monitor or TV (using the foam pad that usually comes with the motherboard if necessary) so much the better.

But would this be as simple as the motherboard manufacturer simply routing the traces and components and placing the appropriate VESA mount holes in the motherboard/foam pad .......and supplying or at least providing information about the necessary attachment bolts?

EDIT: Did some more reading and apparently running a motherboard on the the foam pad (supplied by the motherboard manufacturer) isn't a good idea.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I honestly can't see a single advantage to leaving a circuit board exposed. We have thin miniITX boards and cases if we need to minimize the space taken.

 

[cbn]

I honestly can't see a single advantage to leaving a circuit board exposed. We have thin miniITX boards and cases if we need to minimize the space taken.

The advantage I see is cost.

If I can safely mount a $32 Celeron 847 BGA motheboard, $22 RAM stick (shocking how expenive the memory is compared to the price of these other parts), $5 usb stick (running some form of Linux), $10 power adapter without spending $40 or more for a case then I would be happy.

Cost of mounting components directly to monitor or TV if motherboard had VESA holes = $32 + $22 + $5 + $10 = $69
Costing of above mounting components in case ( $40 Mini-box M350) = $32 + 422 + $5 + $10 + $40 = $109

$109 vs $69. That seems like a pretty large difference in price to me.

Now if I am using additional hard drives, add-in boards or a conventional form factor (ATX, TFX, SFX, Flex ATX) desktop PSU.....then, yes, I can definitely see the value of an enclosure for obvious reasons.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

1) The ITX format was designed to work within existing ATX/mATX case sizes, including motherboard mount hole points.

2) exposed circuit boards are a bad idea, period. Cases are a cost of doing business.

 

[crashtech]

My Lian Li is open-air. So I can appreciate what the OP is saying, but I think some rudimentary fabrication skills are in order to make it happen.

 

[Plugers]

Maybe a TV manufacturer should make a TV with a removable panel that could house a thin mini-itx board.

Sort of like this.

http://www.gigabyte.eu/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4353#kf

But in a 60"+ size.

 

[cbn]

My Lian Li is open-air. So I can appreciate what the OP is saying, but I think some rudimentary fabrication skills are in order to make it happen.

Yes, that is true. Open Air cases do exist.

P.S. Here is a thread I found over at Ars Technica entitled "How are expsosed PCBs safe?":

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1170217

(ESD appears to be the major topic, but grounding and mechanical are mentioned as well.)

 

[sm625]

If you really don't care, bolt the motherboard to a square piece of wood/acrylic/polycarbonate/scrap metal and then bolt that to the vesa mount.

Fin

That's exactly what I was thinking when I originally posted my comment in the other thread. I have a 6"x6" piece of plexiglass laying around. Maybe I should create a drawing that has the 8 required holes already placed so all anyone would have to do is print out that drawing and tape it to the board and drill baby drill! Instant mounting adapter.

One more thing we would need is a short non-stiff DVI/HDMI cable. It would probably have to be HDMI since DVI cables are notoriously heavy.

 

[SithSolo1]

One more thing we would need is a short non-stiff DVI/HDMI cable. It would probably have to be HDMI since DVI cables are notoriously heavy.

Kablamo - http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10255&cs_id=1025508&p_id=10764&seq=1&format=2

or http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024008&p_id=3872&seq=1&format=2 for the cheapies.

 

[cbn]

Kablamo - http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10255&cs_id=1025508&p_id=10764&seq=1&format=2

or http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024008&p_id=3872&seq=1&format=2 for the cheapies.

Ok, so we definitely know these are available and affordable. ($2.03 for that second cable is actually dirt cheap IMO.)

 

[cbn]

2) exposed circuit boards are a bad idea, period. Cases are a cost of doing business.

Depends on what you mean by exposed? I am not an engineer, but what about having some type of washer or standoff and four long screws to attach the motherboard (thru VESA holes in the motherboard) to the back of the Monitor or TV.

This would lift the motherboard just enough so it no longer touching the back of the monitor or TV.

Then (for people wanting more protection) some type of inexpensive plastic cover (or external case) could be attached using the original MINI-ITX mounting points.

Basically you end up with two options for a VESA hole Mini-ITX:

1. four long screws and four washers (made of the appropriate material, whatever that is) for mounting the MINI-ITX to the back of the Monitor/TV. Ideally, these could be sourced from a hardware store so the motherboard manufacturer only needs to supply the spec for them (and the VESA holes in the motherboard)....not the actual parts.

2. An additional "case" which really only an external covering for those that want to take this concept to a higher level of protection. This external case could be very simple, attach to the original MINI-ITX mounting points and even make use of the motherboard supplied I/O shield. Please note the back of the motherboard would still be unprotected, but I am not sure how much of a problem this would be since we are talking about a board that is mounting to the back of a monitor?

 

[Carson Dyle]

What happens if you actually want to use the VESA mounting holes to mount the display? Isn't that their primary purpose?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What happens if you actually want to use the VESA mounting holes to mount the display? Isn't that their primary purpose?

Something like this, probably:

 

[cbn]

What happens if you actually want to use the VESA mounting holes to mount the display? Isn't that their primary purpose?

It won't work, but at the same time I am hoping it would be very inexpensive at the same time.

Then maybe later on (if browsing the web needs more CPU and GPU power) I could always repurpose the VESA hole Mini-ITX as storage server or router using a regular Mini-ITX case.

 

[SithSolo1]

What happens if you actually want to use the VESA mounting holes to mount the display? Isn't that their primary purpose?

If you plan on wall mounting it wouldn't work but for using a monitor arm it might with a reversible L-shaped plate.

Please excuse my poor drawing skills:

 

[cbn]

Maybe there could even be slightly larger than NUC size VESA hole board.

Since the four VESA holes would be out near the periphery of the 4+" x 4+" board maybe routing the traces and components would be slightly easier. (Or maybe they won't since MINI-ITX boards have such generous amounts of realestate for routing and component placement compared to something NUC sized)

Then with this slightly larger than NUC sized (lets call it NUC+ hereafter) VESA hole board we could have at least three options:

1. Mount the NUC+ sized VESA hole board "open air" to the back of monitor using four taller washers in beween the motherboard and monitor attached with four long screws.

2. Mount the NUC+ sized VESA hole board the same way as #1, but add a small external cover to the board in some fastion. (Maybe the external cover could also use the VESA holes as well for attachment). Wih this arrangement I think it would also be possible to use it as a PC lying on table or desk (rather than strictly VESA mount) with the washers servering as the computer's feet.

3. Mount the NUC+ sized VESA hole boad in a traditional style case (sized appropriate to the board). The board's VESA holes would match up with the bottom of case's standoffs.....and then the same long screws used in options #1 and #2 would go through the motherboard VESA holes, standoffs and out the bottom of the case to attach to the monitor.

P.S. I haven't researched enough, but if the case in option #3 were designed strong enough and the monitor was light enough maybe even a VESA mount could be added to the case's cover and a VESA arm attached to it (allowing the case to be sandwiched between a monitor and VESA stand). With that mentoned, I would be mostly interested in option #1 or #2 myself (for either NUC+ or MINI-ITX) because I really want something very inexpensive.

 

[Plugers]

If the mount isn't low profile, why not just grab a motherboard tray and trim it so an unused area gets sandwiched between one of the brackets attached to the TV and the TV.

Use washers of the same thickness on the other side. If the TV is larger you should have enough room to hide the motherboard.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you want it that bad, why not do it up in CAD and submit it to emachineshop or something? It's not like you have to fabricate it yourself too.

 

[cbn]

If you want it that bad, why not do it up in CAD and submit it to emachineshop or something? It's not like you have to fabricate it yourself too.

For the VESA hole MINI-ITX or VESA hole NUC sized board, it would be up to motherboard manufacturers to implement.

 

[crashtech]

For the VESA hole MINI-ITX or VESA hole NUC sized board, it would be up to motherboard manufacturers to implement.

Frankly, nobody would or should do this. Even a minimal mounting would consist of a tray with standoffs, the tray having the VESA screw pattern. This would add ~10mm to the installed thickness, but would allow a provision for a metal mesh type enclosure to be attached for RF shielding and safety reasons (protection for/from fan blades).

 

[cbn]

Frankly, nobody would or should do this. Even a minimal mounting would consist of a tray with standoffs, the tray having the VESA screw pattern. This would add ~10mm to the installed thickness, but would allow a provision for a metal mesh type enclosure to be attached for RF shielding and safety reasons (protection for/from fan blades).

Does it really need to have a tray though?

I'm thinking the bottom of the board could be just be open to air (whether VESA mounted or used as a desktop) like the Intel Minnow board shown here:

http://linuxgizmos.com/intel-unveils-tiny-x86-minnowboard-max-open-sbc/

Then the top of the board could always have some type of covering.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yeah, if you make a custom motherboard with vesa-compatible mounting holes.

If you don't, you'll need an adapter. (A tray.)