Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis • Hacker News Board

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#181

Post by marcodiego » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 10:05 PM UTC

sbierwagen wrote: post #92

marcodiego wrote: post #41

Since they give something very similar to blue-prints, can it be considered open source? Certainly no free (as in speech) because they say nothing about licensing. Also, given I have dimensions and diagrams, how is called the type of service which builds it "from source"?

There's plenty of companies that will lasercut metal from a AI/SVG/DXF file. In the US, there's https://www.ponoko.com/ Any major city will have someone who can do this, though their website and pricing will probably be worse. Searching "laser cutting" in google maps gives eight different places in the Seattle metro area.

I've heard about a workshop that do plasma cuts. Just wanted to know how it is called!

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#182

Post by harel » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 10:08 PM UTC

I'm actually on the lookout for a small case but for a different purpose - I want to build a NAS enclosure that will hold at least 4 full size 3.5" drives in the most compact form factor possible. I was hoping one of those might do the trick but they are not geared towards 3.5" HDD

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#183

Post by caconym_ » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 10:10 PM UTC

BoorishBears wrote: post #21

antiterra wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was your experience using the Playdate that informed you that it should be relegated to a designers desk?

Teenage Engineering is literally selling a dock with a pen holder for the thing. I feel like this is supposed to be a well-laid trap of a question, but c'mon... technically Amiibo are for unlocking in-game extras, what's my experience with those for them to end up relegated to a designer's desk?

It's not a "trap". If you say something like this:

> This is another functional display piece for a designer's desk, just like the Playdate.

Then you'd better have something to back it up. And unless you're one of the few people who've actually used a Playdate (who actually had largely positive impressions IIRC) then what basis in fact, or even in subjective experience does your comment actually have?

Seems to me the answer is none. And that's worth calling out.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#184

Post by B1FF_PSUVM » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 10:38 PM UTC

Dug a bit for size info: "outer dimensions (mm): W 170 D 190 H 322"

So a bit over 10 liters. About the size of some gaming computers MSI used to sell (Nightblade, I think), for around 1k fully loaded with RAM, HD+SSD, Intel CPU, and Nvidia graphics. Plus led light bars, etc.

200 for an industrial looking orange case seems a bit of a fashion statement.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#185

Post by favorited » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 10:55 PM UTC

listic wrote: post #165

favorited wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Ncase is no more, sadly. The company is still around, so everyone is expecting they'll have a new case eventually, but the M1 is EOL.

But why?

Here's their statement: https://ncases.com/blogs/news/farewell-m1-classic

My read is that there's a lot more competition now. The M1 just isn't as competitive with (for example) the NR200 being so similar, 1/2 the price, and produced by a major manufacturer/system integrator.

It's not the SFF case that I'm using now, but it's the one I used the longest and was certainly the most versatile. If I hadn't decided to build my first custom loop in the Meshlicious, I'd still be using my M1 today.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#186

Post by madengr » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 11:01 PM UTC

I suppose nothing has to pass EMC standards anymore, given glass and plastic PC cases.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#187

Post by favorited » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 11:02 PM UTC

015a wrote: post #47

cletus wrote: post #26

I'm a big fan of this form factor, specifically just big enough to fit a motherboard/CPU/RAM plus a real-size GPU. These all use SFX PSUs and typically just an M2 SSD on the motherboard. They also have only 2 RAM slots. The days of needing a tower are over for most people. I'm all about space-saving while still having a full-power PC. It's a niche, boutique market but there are some really interesting cases. My perso…

My last two builds (going about ~7 years) have been mini ITX. The builds tend to be more frustrating (I wouldn't say harder; just more frustrating and longer), but the end result is always more pleasing. The biggest thing that I wish were more accessible within the mini-ITX form factor is 10Gbps ethernet. Maybe with thunderbolt it could now exist as an external dongle, with the right motherboard, but internally there…

> Very few mini-ITX boards offer anything faster than 1Gbps

I'm more familiar with the AMD boards, but several of the B550 ITX motherboards have 2.5gbe. At least the MSI, Gigabyte, and ASUS boards have it. I think it's rarer for ITX boards with the x570 chipset, which is a bit older.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#188

Post by cletus » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 11:05 PM UTC

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #152

cletus wrote: post #26

I'm a big fan of this form factor, specifically just big enough to fit a motherboard/CPU/RAM plus a real-size GPU. These all use SFX PSUs and typically just an M2 SSD on the motherboard. They also have only 2 RAM slots. The days of needing a tower are over for most people. I'm all about space-saving while still having a full-power PC. It's a niche, boutique market but there are some really interesting cases. My perso…

What happened to external graphics cards? That seems to be the way forward to me.

Thunderbolt 3/4 max out at 40Gbps of bandwidth.

PCIe 4.0 x16 (16 lanes) has a bandwidth of 32GB/s, which is 256Gbps.

So external GPUs are always going to be inferior. Also, an external case incurs a lot of extra unavoidable costs. Essentially you have a mini-PC case, a TB to PCI-e bridge, a PCI-e interface and mount and possibly cooling as well.

It's a nice idea and has some applications but on-chip GPUs as part of a fully-integrated SoC just makes way more sense for almost everybody.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#189

Post by favorited » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 11:06 PM UTC

harel wrote: post #182

I'm actually on the lookout for a small case but for a different purpose - I want to build a NAS enclosure that will hold at least 4 full size 3.5" drives in the most compact form factor possible. I was hoping one of those might do the trick but they are not geared towards 3.5" HDD

The Fractal Node 304 is an ITX case which handles that use-case pretty well. It's the smallest ITX case I know of which can fit 6 full-size 3.5" drives.

Re: Computer-1 mini-ITX Chassis

#190

Post by favorited » Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 11:10 PM UTC

MisterBiggs wrote: post #136

I currently have a massive full tower PC that's water cooled and to be honest I hate it. Its great for gaming but otherwise I think I would much rather have a small mini-ITX pc like this that can be portable, and when I need to run demanding code I can just use a VPS.

You'd be surprised what kind of hardware you can put in an ITX case. You can, with some effort, build a water-cooled PC with a 5950x and a n RTX 3090 in under 15 liters of volume.