Where to find small and silent components?

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Charles

I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible. But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space. Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?

I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to start this hobby :)
 
Charles took advantage with:
I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible. But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space. Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?

I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to start this hobby :)
Click to expand...

This article should get you started.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_form_factor
 
Charles said:
I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible. But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space. Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?

I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to start this hobby :)
Click to expand...

Not the most powerful, but small.

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=29#p1642

Paul
 
Charles said:
I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible. But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space. Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?

I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to start this hobby :)
Click to expand...


http://www.silentpcreview.com/article609-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/section7.html
 
Charles said:
I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible. But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space. Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?

I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to start this hobby :)
Click to expand...

Tiny is easy. Powerful is easy. Silent is only slight less so. But
accomplishing all three in the same computer is _very_ difficult and
will never be affordable. Face it, even a laptop has at least one fan
which is likely to scream like a banshee when the system is under heavy
load. At least every one of mine has.

If it were my project, I'd think about a nano-ITX motherboard, a
brick-type external 12V PS, a 12V upconverter PS on the MB, and a laptop
DVD drive as a starting point. When you get to the HD, there is a big
decision to make: a "fast" drive spins at 10KRPM, gets hot, needs good
airflow, and isn't quiet. A laptop drive needs less cooling, is
relatively quiet, but nobody would ever call even the fastest one more
than sluggish compared to a run-of-the-mill "real" HD. Of course then
you come to the graphics. A high-performance graphics card consumes a
lot of power and will either need a noisy fan to cool the GPU and memory
or a massive passive heatsink which still needs airflow.
 
I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible.
Click to expand...

What most consider the best desktop computers possible are
already those easy to find. Well there is a condition,
that this is when they're cost-effective, Paul linked a
moderate, not expensive motherboard which you already
commented was a little expensive... and they get a lot more
expensive if you go with something even more proprietary.
But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space.
Click to expand...

.... because you can't just "choose" less space, systems take
up the amount of space they do for legitimate reasons. If
all you really want is a Mac Mini, buy one... even if just
to cannibalize it for the motherboard if that's what you
really want.

Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?
Click to expand...

Step 1 - determine the performance level required
2 - adjust the budget to accomodate it
3 - pick a quiet cooling system
4 - find smallest case the above two will fit in
5 - Video card that fits in that case, or if high
performance video is important you may have to pick video
card before case and fit case size to it and motherboard.


I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?
Click to expand...


Nowhere. Did you really think everyone else just wanted
large, loud, and expensive? No, you get to pick from
available technology, and for smallest size you have to buy
something fully integrated already like the Mac Mini, or a
notebook... a finished product, then swap out/in what you
can. Even then, these small form factor systems cannot
provide long term high performance, they aren't built for
that, rather making concessions to reduce size. You could
pick one that runs hard for a while, or conservative for
longer, or larger... or louder but not all of these. Basic
physics, at least at affordable price-points/componentry.
 
John said:
Tiny is easy. Powerful is easy. Silent is only slight less so. But
accomplishing all three in the same computer is _very_ difficult and
will never be affordable. Face it, even a laptop has at least one fan
which is likely to scream like a banshee when the system is under heavy
load. At least every one of mine has.
Click to expand...

Just to add more detail.

Small computers cases have a problem with airflow. Fast computers
generate more heat.

Putting the 2 together means more aggressive cooling. IE the fans spin
faster, and therefor louder. You can accomplish the same cooling effect
quieter, by using larger fans that spin slower. But that works against
the tiny part.

Heat can also be mitigated by more exotic heat sinks, with things like
heat pipes, and using copper or other materials instead of aluminum.
But of course that's more costly.
 
Charles said:
I'd like to assemble myself tiny (such as the Mac Mini), silent (such
as a laptop), and powerful computers during my free time. The idea is
to have the best desktop computer possible. But it's not easy to find
such components that use very few space. Could you orient me to
suppliers that could have components adapted to my needs?

I'd like the computer to have a gig of ram, 2 or more Ghz, 64 bits, a
fast hard drive, a DVD-RAM drive, a good graphics card, etc... I plan
to load on these computers Windows Vista or PC-BSD so it should be
Unix-compatible hardware. The most important is that it fits in a box
as big as that of the Mac Mini. Do you know also where I could find
small boxes and high-quality?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to start this hobby :)
Click to expand...

A company called VIA , I think mak chipsets for special small
motherboards. I once had a VIA EDEN EPIA or something. Had a special
processor with no fan. The only noisy thing in it was too noisy for
me.
This was 300/400W fanless power supplies were available (I haven't
bought one yet)

The power supply was a little power supply card. But it made a high
pitched noise. Same as some (small cheap ?) Televisons make - if your
ears pick that up


you don't buy the little comp from VIA.. but other place sell it and
cases for them. Many people build cases.

this uk company sell some small cases. But some people build them.
http://linitx.com/

I actually ran my little computer out of the case. Because if put in a
case then a fan was probably needed. The motherboard and power supply
card had no fans.

I could've built a little briefcase thing for it out of wood. Make a
wooden box. put some hinges on it so the box opens nicely. And a
handle on the top so it's like a tiny briefcase.

I was so close.. It was just that power supply card noise that was too
much for me.


I could have used a laptop HDD in there. you can get 2.5-3.5 adaptors.
(and if a power adaptor was necessary, maybe use the one from my or any
USB-IDE adaptor. But it doesn't apply here. That may be for the other
way around, desktop/3.5" HDD into laptop)
 
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