What's the smallest possible machine?

[MDesigner]

I saw the new Mac mini on Amazon and was amazed at how small it is. It would be killer to be able to install Slackware on a box that big.

I was wondering what my options are as far as super-small form factors. I saw the Antec Aria mini-ATX in person, and it's pretty cool, not a bad size. But if I recall correctly, it doesn't include a motherboard like most minis, and I heard that putting in the CPU in the Aria was problematic because it's a very tight fit. Some people reported having to cut the case with a dremel to make stuff fit. Not good.

I'm just looking for a small machine that's fast enough for Slackware and maybe some light gaming (1.5 to 2GHz or so), and can house enough RAM for intensive Gnome environments (512MB), a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM (no burner needed), and a single hard drive.

Suggestions?

 

[sic wil]

Shuttle barebones cases get a lot of mentioning on these boards, you might want to try those out...they're pretty small.

I remember running a system out of a pizza box for awhile ... if you get too hard up you can always try that =)

 

[Matthias99]

Or an older laptop? Hard to beat in terms of size.

 

[MDesigner]

I might go for the Shuttle. Laptop is out of the question.. I have a nice LCD monitor I wanna use. I'll get a KVM and use it to switch between my Windows box & my Linux box.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: MDesigner
I might go for the Shuttle. Laptop is out of the question.. I have a nice LCD monitor I wanna use. I'll get a KVM and use it to switch between my Windows box & my Linux box.

Most laptops have a VGA output for an external monitor, and an input for an external keyboard/mouse. You don't *have* to use the built-in LCD.

 

[MDesigner]

Yeah I know. A laptop is just not the route I wanna go. I want at least 1GHz power, and a laptop with that speed is out of my price range.

 

[JetBlack69]

why not use the mac-mini for your linux box?

 

[MDesigner]

Well, it's $400 or so. Plus I'm not really sure if I could format it and run Slackware on it. Will Slackware run on PowerPC?

 

[Ecgtheow]

Originally posted by: MDesigner
Well, it's $400 or so. Plus I'm not really sure if I could format it and run Slackware on it. Will Slackware run on PowerPC?

No, but other distributions do. But buying a new Mac just to run Linux is pretty silly, IMHO.

 

[kornphlake]

you'll never be able to build a PC as small as that mini mac unless you take the powersupply out of the box. I've yet to see the mini mac in person but I'd bet money they use some sort of external adaptor like a laptop adaptor to power the thing. Maybe you could find a barebones laptop board with integrated video, buy a celeron processor to go on it and then make your own case around it to hold a harddrive and optical drive. You'd have a smaller foot print than a laptop by not having the battery and the powersupply would rest on the floor behind your desk.

 

[MadMan2k]

http://www.mini-itx.com/

It might be hard to find a complete box for $400 that's a SFF, but look around at some of their links.

 

[Looney]

I really don't know why people are drooling over the mini-mac... all it is is a notebook but without the battery and LCD screen. If you don't care about an LCD screen, i'm sure you can find used notebooks with damage screens on ebay.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: MDesigner
Yeah I know. A laptop is just not the route I wanna go. I want at least 1GHz power, and a laptop with that speed is out of my price range.

Sorry, I didn't realize you *had* a price range. You asked "what's the smallest possible machine with these specs?", not "what's the smallest possible machine for $400 with these specs?". You mentioned nothing at all about cost in your original post.

 

[Zepper]

Take a look at the Athenatech A100 series of cases or some of the similar Ahanix, Chenbro et al.. If you are willing to go to the hassle of finding low profile add-on cards, you can look at the AOpen, Evercase et al. lower profile cases. They are about as small as can be found that will still use a standard micro ATX mobo. The Shuttle and other similar sized SFF units usually use a custom mobo.
. When shopping for the mobo, be sure it has the P4-12V connector to work well with the lower powered PSUs often found in that type of case. For a mobo/CPU combo, perhaps an Abit VA-20 with a Duron 1600 or 1800 (they have an amazing price/performance ratio) or Sempron 2400+.
.bh.

 

[MDesigner]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: MDesigner
Yeah I know. A laptop is just not the route I wanna go. I want at least 1GHz power, and a laptop with that speed is out of my price range.

Sorry, I didn't realize you *had* a price range. You asked "what's the smallest possible machine with these specs?", not "what's the smallest possible machine for $400 with these specs?". You mentioned nothing at all about cost in your original post.

Well, now you know.

 

[Zepper]

Afterthought: If you can still find an Abit VA-10, it has the best integrated sound (100% Via - not Realtek) of any of the KM-400 based mobos which also have the P4-12V connector.
.bh.

 

[LED]

KingYoung claims they are...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Hardcore
I really don't know why people are drooling over the mini-mac... all it is is a notebook but without the battery and LCD screen. If you don't care about an LCD screen, i'm sure you can find used notebooks with damage screens on ebay.

laptops go pretty cheap with a cracked/damaged LCD . . . 1+ Ghz in your price range . . . . just use its VGA out to power your lcd.

 

[MDesigner]

I decided to go with this:

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=56-101-461&depa=0

Will purchase it in a month or so. The good thing about this one is, when I upgrade my computer, I'm taking out an Athlon XP 2500+, some RAM, and a HD.. so those things can go into this Shuttle barebones to make it complete.