Hmm, looking up the HP WHS box suggests that it may be delayed until the holidays, which may mean that I've been too impatient about DTX. Contrast the specs of this powerful WHS prototype from Velocity http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/revealed/first-glimpse-of-sexy-windows-home-server-from-velocity-micro-...

Why? It's not like this is a processor intensive application. The main sources of noise is likely to be the hard drives themselves and DTX offers no advantage over ATX in terms of HD placement/noise. Price was cited as a major advantage -- more DTX boards/sheet than uATX boards/sheet of PCB materia...

Announcements earlier this year showed lots of interest from major mobo makers. Prototypes were shown at various industry shows. And then... nothing. Even a Google news alert is now silent. Am I just too impatient or has the AMD DTX bandwagon stalled? What sort of platform will the forthcoming M$ Wi...

Via CPUs can be problemmatic for Linux enthusiasts. Should you be willing to use a Via solely as a server and either hunt for, or recompile, a distro to suit, a Via might be appropriate. However, you will find that a number of lightweight distros simply don't boot on Via. E.g., http://www.insidesoca...

Here's another small board from MSI, about which I can find very little info. Manual makes CF look bootable -- http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=manual&maincat_no=388&prod_no=1186 Page 31 of the .pdf (4-7) says CompactFlash Card Slot: CF1 This CompactFlash slot shares one ...

New tidbits on the EeePC 701 August 8th, 2007 There’s an interesting discussion going on over at the EeeHackers forum. Member matty claims to work for Xandros, the company behind the Eee’s Linux distribution of choice, and has provided some little tidbits of information about the Eee PC’s the...

mcoleg, thanks for the post. I should probably have been clearer, but my concern with having three relatively quiet 40mm fans was that they would soon turn into three noisy 40mm fans due to bearing wear, as mentioned in other fora. I read the NewEgg customer reviews on the iStar case after you first...

didn't like the fan noise on it though, swapped it for a mini-kaze. Is the mini-kaze durable? 40mm fans on mini-itx cases seem to get noisy quickly, according to posts I've read. The 40mm "industrial strength" fans for rack mount cases are durable, but not particularly quiet. Ideally, I'd like to u...

More docs on the board can be found at -- http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d201gly/ly_manual.htm The document -- http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/biosglossarybymenu_v07.pdf does have fan speed options mentioned on pages 5, 13, and 14. The option "CPU Fan Con...

Bluefront: I tried to find a manual on the Intel website.....but was unable to do so. Anybody found one on-line? Manual can be found at http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d201gly/sb/d8443001_en.pdf Didn't spot anything in there about fan speed control. Don't know if there is anyt...

Redzo, are you sure that it's going to be available in your country? Lots of google hits for "dell EC280" but they first two said: Dell today introduced its new Dell EC280, a complete desktop computer developed for Chinese consumers who are first-time or relative novice personal-computer users. The ...

...Of course, Eee users will have to get used to seeing the interface and their applications on a 7-inch display. This 800 by 480 pixel display won't be overly snappy either, as its GPU uses UMA (unified memory architecture). This means that the graphics borrow memory from the computer's 512MB of D...

Still, looks very promising, as second home computer and/or for travel. Absolutely. Add a few appropriate remote-login apps, as appropriate for the systems you need to maintain remotely. Nicely balanced machine: 900 MHz Pentium M, 512 MB, 4/8/16 GB, Intel 910, 10/100 Ethernet, 56 K modem, 802.11, U...

Is there a mini-ITX case that could take this board, along with a full-size PCI card, one internal 3.5 inch drive and one external 3.5 inch drive? At minimum, I could skip the external, but I want PCI. Also, it looks like you'd want some height for the fan to disperse air with low impedence. Looking...

IMO cheapest AM2 Sempron + undervoltable mobo (for example: AM2 Semp 3K + ECS mobo $70) will give similar results with more flexibility and only slightly larger dimensions. I'm with you on the Sempron part, but ECS/PC Chips mobos are simply not of the same quality as Intel mobos (or most first & se...

I keep wanting to love Via mini/nano/pico/whatever-ITX stuff, but it always seems to fall short. Yes, there is a case-modding hobby community that loves it and it is used in industrial apps, but: - Via always underperforms Intel/AMD at comparable clocks - Particularly bad float & multimedia - Hardwa...

From the "Linux Journal Weekly News Notes -- June 6, 2007," a nomination of ComputerEcology to be LJ's "DOT ORG OF THE WEEK." This nomination comes from Kevin in Oregon, USA: I'd like to nominate ComputerEcology at http://computerecology.org for Dot Org of the Week. Recently they posted this to comp...

Would be fabulous for my Windows Home Server Yes, I'm still hoping that there will be a consumer priced mobo suitable for this. Question: Is it difficult for homebrew builders to assemble lidless mobile CPUs to heatsinks? Would this lessen the likliehood of there being mobos and CPUs in the usual h...

KINO-690S1 is another S1 mobo that doesn't look cheap -- http://www.ieiworld.com/en/Product_IPC.asp?model=KINO-690S1 Albatron just announced a mini-ITX S1 KI690-SI -- http://www.albatron.com.tw/English/news/news_detail.asp?new=default&news_id=255 and http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=5004 The 690G and 690V ...

Better technical info, direct from AMD: The AMD64 Technology Core > Leading-edge performance for 32– and 64-bit applications > 1.0 GHz core frequency > 9W CPU plus integrated memory controller, enabling fanless designs Large High-performance on chip Cache > 256KB L2 cache > 64KB Level 1 instructio...

The AMD Sempron 2100+ offers fanless system design and incorporates AMD64 technology in a 9W power envelope. is compatible with the recently announced AMD M690T chipset. It also features the high shock and vibration specification Socket S1, offering high reliability for ruggedized computing, accord...

I would not exclude Via chipsets. Good choice for cheap AMD mobos. Well supported in Linux, except for their graphics performance. Not a problem for headless servers. I've had good luck with ASRock (ASUS' budget line), although they are not enthusiast mobos. Years ago, Via was not a good choice, but...

I believe the AMD Geode CPU is available for socket A. Yes, but I think some care would be required to verify that an older Socket A mobo will properly support the Geode voltages & timings. I have my doubts. As Socket A mobos were being phased out, there were quite a few micro-ATX mobo/cpu bundles ...

I'm trying to assemble an efficient and moderately quiet system that will run linux as well. I've been thinking I would base it on core 2 duo (E4400, perhaps). Is this a mistake? It appears that the comparable AMD alternative is the Athlon 64 X2 5600+. If you live in the US, consider Dells to be "m...

Another article on Gigabyte DTX. Additional info & pictures.
http://www.dailytech.com/Gigabyte+Annou ... e7286c.htm

One thing to keep in mind about the DTX and mini-ITX boards mentioned above -- they were announced at WinHEC as platforms for "Windows Home Server," not as workstation boards. That Intel mini-ITX board is complete crap. Actually, I think even the VIA boards have it outclassed, especially since on pa...

Be careful what you wish for; you might just get something "sorta like it." ;-) "Gigabyte to ship mini-DTX motherboard in July" http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32039/135/ "Gigabyte unveils Mini-DTX server board" http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/12468 Intended use is "home server." AMD AM2 (Ath...

One thing that makes you wonder is the average laptop. 40W charger, which can run the mainboard, CPU, HDD, optical drive, keyboard/mouse/USB/etc and of course the screen, AND charge the battery at the same time. Just so. Very encouraging. The Mac Mini is a great example of what can be done. The Shu...

Japanese computers are the best for quiet operation. They moved to a half-width SFF case standard ages ago, and have been making efforts to keep noise down. Yes, the Japanese do seem to appreciate small devices with elegant engineering. OTOH, there really appears to be widespread acceptance, except...

I concur about the quiet. Checked these out at retail when they were current. Pretty good deal, but integrated video & VGA-only. Single PCI (size?), occupied by modem. Not an expandable machine. No OS (a feature for some of us). Vendor (geeks.com) is reliable, in my experience. I've bought used & cl...