Damn you Silverstone! Advice on a mini itx computer.

Matte · Post by **Matte** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:52 pm

Awww, Silverstone have got me wanting an LC09 case. I was considering a quiet high powered rig when I accidently came across this stunning little case. Check it out at http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-lc09.htm

Now, the option for me would be to use the LC09 for web-browsing and office applications and an Xbox for gaming (needs silencing of course).

If I go with the LC09 I want it to be completely fanless an super quiet, could this be accomplished by using a VIA EPIA ME6000 mobo/cpu and a Samsung 2,5" drive?

Is there any way to suspend/decouple the drive?

Will the EPIA combined with 512mb DDR memory be sufficient for my performance needs? I would like to be able to run Office 2003.

Ohhh, it's so beautiful. Don't know what to do with all these strange feelings for this case

Matte · Post by **Matte** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:29 pm

Anyone?

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:37 pm

Maybe

Matte · Post by **Matte** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:18 pm

Nice. Maybe I could use that one if I have the room for it. Guess I could just fix it to the case floor.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:04 pm

I don't know what kind of extra resource hogs Microsoft has build into Office 2003, but Windows XP + Office 2000 runs fine on a Epia ME6000.

Why wouldn't the 2.5" novibes fit. It needs a single 3.5" slot and that is availlable in the LC09

Matte · Post by **Matte** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:40 am

Oh, I was just really tired. Thought it said 5,25" drive bay

Matte · Post by **Matte** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:46 am

Does anyone have any comments regarding running this system without any fans?

Matte · Post by **Matte** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:30 am

C'mon guys. Over a hundred reads and two answers?

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:42 pm

I never trust running fanless no matter what. Via's are probably the best things to use for attempting to run fanless. But there's nothing else I can tell you, since I have neither the case nor a Via setup.

Whether it's high powered enough for you? Probably. I'm highly skeptical of Via's media playback capabilities (either now or for the future), but that's merely my biased opinion, having not actually tried one, based only on the fact that they have a special Mpeg-2 hardware decoder for watching DVDs (i.e. if they need special hardware for Mpeg-2, do they need special hardware for Mpeg-4 and beyond?)

But browsing the web and using Office is generally not processor intensive and should otherwise be alright for you.

silencery · Post by **silencery** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 2:22 am

for your applications, I would recommend running at least an m10000. I'm using the m10000 right now in my car, and for day to day tasks, it's barely sufficient. If you do a search on mp3car.com for m6000, i'm sure you'll see a lot of mixed feedback.

Frankly, I haven't tried the m6000, but from what I've seen of my current board, I wouldn't go below the 1ghz since you're already severely limited w/ low L2 cache.

I'm currently running the machine w/ 512MB ddr memory.

People have speculated that the 1ghz version is probably equivalent to a P3 600, but I've never seen any benchmarks. If it were true though, the m6000 would roughly equate to a Pentium 350-400. Granted, this is enough to run divx files and most office apps, but it probably won't be pretty. Of course, this is all speculation, so YMMV.

As for the HD, the samsung notebook drives are awfully quiet. If you still feel like you'd need to decouple, I think a high-quality double sided (foam) tape would work quite well. Otherwise, you could also consider a material like stretchmagic for suspension.

Good luck!

P.S. the stock fan on the m10000 is noisy as hell! Some people have experimented w/ passive cooling, but I don't know what kind of results they were able to achieve.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:13 am

I know someone who's happily running Windows XP and Office 2003 on a Duron 600 with 512MB RAM, so I'm sure the "high-end" VIA mini-ITXs would manage just fine. Whether they've got much in reserve for future media requirements is another matter... there's no way they'd cope with HDTV playback for instance.

Silverstone are on a roll with their case styling at the moment... you could also check out the LC11 which takes normal microATX boards and would give you a lot more flexibility... you could use a mobile Pentium board for instance. The combo would be a fair bit more expensive of course...

silencery · Post by **silencery** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:37 am

Oh yeah, they make centrino-based mini-itx boards now too. But at $300+ it's just a LITTLE expensive... hehe.

yogai · Post by **yogai** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:49 pm

Mini-itx is one of those things you look at for the first time and say,
HOLY ****! I gotta have that. If you've got a very scrutinizing eye like myself, the next things you say include
fanless? wtf
only 1.0ghz with these shady VIA processors? wtf
pc2100 sdram only? wtf
one pci slot and no expansion slots on the case? how am I supposed to put in that pci radeon 9200?

wtf

I say, look into the P4 mini-itx boards that have come stomping down the itx lane of inconvenience:
http://www.epiacenter.com/modules.php?n ... cle&sid=12

http://www.logicsupply.com/default.php/cPath/55

These mobos eliminate fanless fantasies, and would require a different case, but everyone knows that the P4 can crunch numbers that VIA CPUs can't even count to. you can use a low profile cpu cooler in other cases. Personally, I've gotten ticked off with these Taiwanese dudes who say that they've got the best thing since sliced bread in their new mini-itx case. In my house, you never settle for onboard graphics, and you never settle for something that's small but only good for use as a paper weight. The truth is, there is no room for expansion; and mini-itx cases are so small and (ehem) asian, that you can't even fit the word high-performance into them. I have no faith in VIA processors or flash drives as HDDs at this point. I feel that the whole mini-itx phase is kinda like the release of the commodore 64; only now there's an option for smarter people:build a normal pc
Those who are determined to get something do what I would suggest in a dire gotta-have-it emergency. Get a tupperware container, shoebox or toaster and get creative so you can put some cool stuff in there. I also relate this mini-itx thing to some of the first "high-quality" laptops. 8mb RAM, 6 GB HDD, 233 mhz CPU, and people rejoicing as if we had perfected cold fusion or cured cancer.

But if you're inteterested just to have something small and cool, go for it.

silencery · Post by **silencery** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:09 pm

Yogai,

I think you might be missing the point of the C3 boards. From my understanding, VIA never meant to target any sort of performance sector. They're just offering machines that are cheap and easy to deploy.

Processing power has become a commodity which ultimately means it's extraordinarily easy to come by. Of course, this also mean that there are quite a few people who aren't looking for that. As the OP stated, he was only looking for basic multimedia and word proccessing functions. I'm sure you realize there are TONS of people out there who don't need any sort of high performance machines. These people certainly don't care if they can't use that radeon 9200 for checking e-mail.

As you stated, they also make P4 versions which I can only assume are for people looking for a faster machine, or need that extra safety net of performance.

At $160 retail for a complete board including CPU, video and sound, I really think VIA has a good niche market which can potentially even spill into mainstream.

Like I said before, the m10000 is sufficient for usage in my car to handle mp3s, web browsing, and GPS navigation; there is certainly nothing else like it around.