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Build Your Own Mini-PC for $80

Build Your Own Mini-PC for $80
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A board like this can be the basis for any number of interesting projects. For example, it is ideal as a dedicated Web machine running 24x7 (instead of using your desktop computer with its expensive hard drive and power hungry graphics card for the task). Even when it’s left running around the clock, the platform only draws about 20 cents worth of power per day.

It’s also a good choice for a file server. You can keep all of your MP3s and movies in one place and give your family access to them over a home network.

The home automation enthusiasts out there could even use the mini PC to control various tasks inside your networked home. Imagine logging onto the system remotely through a web interface and turning the lights in your living room on or off, for example. Of course, you could always just use it as a classical router, too.

Even today, you can still find PCI graphics cards based on ATI’s Radeon HD 2400. So if you wanted to, you could upgrade to a comparatively current discrete graphics solution later on and use the box as a basic desktop.

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  • 0 Hide
    MagicWok , 25 July 2008 16:43
    Good article... But dollars... Really?

    Think I'll just follow most readers and just concentrate reading the US site of Tom's from now on.
  • 0 Hide
    lenshand , 25 July 2008 23:20
    I agree. This is a good article............but............
    I cannot source this board in the UK (all are saying out of stock). Also, why bother to have a UK site when most articles relate to USA, ie dollars.
    It is much better to just log in to the USA site
  • 0 Hide
    tacsimmox , 27 July 2008 00:54
    Wouldn't the Intel Little Falls (M-ITX) board with the Atom processor be a better choice? Same price (if not even lower?) and uses less power?
  • 0 Hide
    rtfm , 27 July 2008 01:46
    Ditch the serial & parallel ports, give me a gbit network card and I'm sold! Oh and like other people say, prices in £ ffs
  • 0 Hide
    wild9 , 27 July 2008 05:13
    I'm forever being asked to build fast computers, and this proves once again that unless you actually use that power (and wisely), you're not going to see a huge difference. Intel..AMD..doesn't matter; you just don't need to spend a fortune these days and both platforms offer great power thermal envelopes.
  • 0 Hide
    wild9 , 27 July 2008 05:36
    Quote:
    We can’t really say that the board’s power consumption was especially low—an AMD 780G board paired with a Sempron processor draws even less power when idle. On top of that, the AMD system offers markedly better performance and can even decode HD video content thanks to its 780G chipset graphics.


    ..if only AMD would market these features more.
  • 0 Hide
    wild9 , 27 July 2008 05:45
    One thing does stand out: no 'C1E Speedstep' support..you'd have thought with a system like this, that such a feature would be standard. Guess it's just an easy way of getting rid of old S-479 gear.