My Mini ITX PC Build - Copied Drives Over to New HDD! (Still Need Help!)

[Solid Lifters]

Uh oh, I'm at it again... AGAIN!

As pointed out by GG and RD, I decided to try it again. I put together something that will give me what I want. A low power, low heat, compact, internet surfing only PC that will use my old IDE HDD with my Windows XP OS already installed.

Although I want to be patient, I just cannot hold out. I need this Mini PC even AFTER I get my new MEGA rig setup. It will be too loud, power consuming and heat generating to be on most of the day. Therefor, I need this mini setup anyway, so why wait?

Rosewill RC-CIX-01 BK Glossy Black Steel Cube Mini-ITX Computer Case with 150W Power Supply and 1x 80mm Fan - Retail
Model #:RC-CIX-01 BK
Item #:N82E16811147133
In Stock $69.99 - $10 Instant Savings $59.99

Intel BOXD945GCLF2 Atom 330 Intel 945GC Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Retail
Model #:BOXD945GCLF2
Item #:N82E16813121359
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock $83.99

ENERMAX UC-8EB 80mm Case Fan - Retail
Model #:UC-8EB
Item #:N82E16811999199
In Stock $6.59


Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model KVR667D2N5/2G - Retail
Model #:KVR667D2N5/2G
Item #:N82E16820134192
Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy
In Stock $25.49

Total = $176.06

 

[Pako]

I wanted to build something similar for my car hooked up to a 7" touch screen where the navigation screen would go. Some day.

You might have to reload the OS.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I wanted to build something similar for my car hooked up to a 7" touch screen where the navigation screen would go. Some day.

You might have to reload the OS.

It's on the HDD on a partition. I guess I have to go for all or broke? I'm thinking of getting a 1TB HDD and putting it in a MX-1 exterior case and mirror or backup my entire HDD to it. Can I do that easily?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

With a new build, it's advised to reinstall the OS since you will be installing new drivers and all that so there may conflicts.

You should probably be fine with the E6300, since in one of the reviews someone was running an E7400.

 

[Pako]

If that motherboard supports raid, you could run a mirrored raid with two internal drives as well. There would be no backup procedures and would give you instant data redundancy.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Ooh, Pako, you should know better than that! RAID != backup! If he deletes a file, it's gone off the second drive before he's even realised it was the wrong one...

Spec looks tidy Solid. I'd maybe drill some holes in the lid above the CPU, then put both 80mm fans as intakes to make a natural air path.

 

[Pako]

Eh, incremental backups are for wimps. Just kidding. You are right.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Ooh, Pako, you should know better than that! RAID != backup! If he deletes a file, it's gone off the second drive before he's even realised it was the wrong one...

Spec looks tidy Solid. I'd maybe drill some holes in the lid above the CPU, then put both 80mm fans as intakes to make a natural air path.

You know, I'm really frustrated! This is NOT going to be as easy as I thought (hoped).

Already I have doubts of going through with the build. Damn, I almost had this one for at least one day. (I know, it's/I'm getting ridiculous)

Numerous people have already concluded I wont be able to do what I want. One had this same PC case and his system fried in two hours. His fans were working, but somehow his CPU fried. He said the case was 'so hot, you could fry a burger on it.' Heat is an issue, and it just doesn't make sense to build a PC with HORRIBLE air flow. BTW, he had a 120mm intake fan.

I was getting impatient. I need to be patient and just wait 6 more months.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Have a look see if you can get a Mini ITX board with a Micro-FCPGA socket on it. Laptop processors have much lower heat rejection figure. Or you could even look at Atom processors/boards.

 

[GT3mich]

Numerous people have already concluded I wont be able to do what I want. One had this same PC case and his system fried in two hours. His fans were working, but somehow his CPU fried. He said the case was 'so hot, you could fry a burger on it.' Heat is an issue, and it just doesn't make sense to build a PC with HORRIBLE air flow. BTW, he had a 120mm intake fan.

I was getting impatient. I need to be patient and just wait 6 more months.

After looking at that heatsink you linked to I was wondering if it was even as big as the one that came with the CPU. I'm not surprised that heat is an issue with such a small case.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

What kind of space were you trying to put this computer in?

 

[Solid Lifters]

Have a look see if you can get a Mini ITX board with a Micro-FCPGA socket on it. Laptop processors have much lower heat rejection figure. Or you could even look at Atom processors/boards.

That's going a bit too 'technical' or 'specialized' PC parts searching, for my tastes. Thanks for the idea though.

After looking at that heatsink you linked to I was wondering if it was even as big as the one that came with the CPU. I'm not surprised that heat is an issue with such a small case.

I had to pick that CPU heatsink and fan because the stock fan probably wouldn't fit. I read the reviews for the case and others had a problem fitting their stock CPU fans. The one that worked best for them was the one I picked for myself.

What kind of space were you trying to put this computer in?

My room which is 16x28 feet. Why?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

My room which is 16x28 feet. Why?

I was wondering why you would want such a small case? My guess was that you wanted to put it in an entertainment center.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I was wondering why you would want such a small case? My guess was that you wanted to put it in an entertainment center.

Yep. A mini entertainment cabinet right next to me that houses my PS3, modem, usb audio recording card, games, BDs and DVDs.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Yep. A mini entertainment cabinet right next to me that houses my PS3, modem, usb audio recording card, games, BDs and DVDs.

See, there's the worry. Because even if you can get the hot air out of the case you're going to find it milling around in the cabinet. And thus the intake fans are going to be drawing in warm air. My rig sits in a 10' x 10' room, and can raise the temperature in the room by 10 degrees, even with a window slightly open.

You need to go for a low-power solution, although I think the Atoms are a bit weedy for heavy video decoding.

 

[Solid Lifters]

See, there's the worry. Because even if you can get the hot air out of the case you're going to find it milling around in the cabinet. And thus the intake fans are going to be drawing in warm air. My rig sits in a 10' x 10' room, and can raise the temperature in the room by 10 degrees, even with a window slightly open.

You need to go for a low-power solution, although I think the Atoms are a bit weedy for heavy video decoding.

So for my low power solution, I need an Atom CPU? Where can I find them? I guess I should spend some time researching them on Google. But, I like to stick to suppliers I know and trust like, J&R, TigerDirect (CompUSA) and Newegg. I did a very simple search at these places and didn't find anything I saw worth getting into. However, I would still would like a two PC setup. One for the big chores and one for web surfing. In fact, I don't need a DVD or BD drive in it, but listed above, I put one in anyway. The web surfing PC will be on constantly while I'm home and in my room (which is most of my day). I NEED that low power and low temperature so it's worth looking into the Atom parts you've mentioned.

Oh, and the PC will go on top of the cabinet for plenty of air flow. Think of the position as a 'night stand' for a PC. The big PC will be on the floor.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Here is the Intel Atom:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121359

 

[Solid Lifters]

Here is the Intel Atom:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121359

Hey now! That's better than what I just looked at... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153052

I'm once again looking into this. I'll keep you posted. BTW, thanks for the link, RD@! 👍

EDIT: OK, I'm looking for a video card to go with that MB, but I'm having a hard understanding the difference between the 'two notch' cards compared to the 'single notch' cards. Both are PCI, but will a 'two notch' card work in a 'single notch' input? The MB above only has a single notch, but the cards I'm looking at, the EVGA cards like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...Force 6200 256-P1-N399-LX Video Card - Retail have two notches unlike the single notches as shown on the MB here... http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...m 330 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Retail

 

[Casio]

To be honest, Atoms struggle to run flash Video, I'd be looking at something like a Celeron E1200/E1400.

 

[Spock]

EDIT: OK, I'm looking for a video card to go with that MB, but I'm having a hard understanding the difference between the 'two notch' cards compared to the 'single notch' cards. Both are PCI, but will a 'two notch' card work in a 'single notch' input? The MB above only has a single notch, but the cards I'm looking at, the EVGA cards like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...Force 6200 256-P1-N399-LX Video Card - Retail have two notches unlike the single notches as shown on the MB here... http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...m 330 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Retail

Nothing I can think of, Its still a PCI card going into a PCI slot. It will be fine.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

To be honest, Atoms struggle to run flash Video, I'd be looking at something like a Celeron E1200/E1400.

According to this the dual-core Atom should be fine, but it won't be anything groundbreaking.

Though this AMD processor also looks like it would be good for this build:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255

 

[Solid Lifters]

To be honest, Atoms struggle to run flash Video, I'd be looking at something like a Celeron E1200/E1400.

Thanks for the warning, but I have little concern over that. My MEGA PC will handle all the videos, DVDs, BDs, etc. Though, it's a concern because I would still like to watch the occasional flash video without needing to fire up the MEGA PC, I won't exactly be using this PC for watching anything, really. It's for Google searches, chatting, email and searching and posting at forums. That's it. Plus, by video setting is 1360 x 768 even though I'm on a 1920 x 1080p 46" HDTV LCD set. Print is too small to read, I hate using the magnifier to read stuff. The images fit my screen size after zooming it with my TV remote. Videos don't look good, but at least my eyes don't hurt trying to read this stuff.

Again, I'll be using my old PC HDD with the OS and all my pictures, music and personal files on it. No videos are stored on it, because this PC was never good at it. I never did any DVD backups. Well, I did but they're crap and not worth keeping. The MEGA PC will be 1920 x 1080p for the purpose of storing, copying and watching BDs, DVDs, etc.

Nothing I can think of, Its still a PCI card going into a PCI slot. It will be fine.

OK, that's good to know. Thanks. However, my current setup wont need a video card. But, you never know; I might change my mind again.

According to this the dual-core Atom should be fine, but it won't be anything groundbreaking.

Yeah, my current CPU is an Athlon XP 2500+ (1.83GHz) single core. 6-7 year old CPU in a 5 year old PC. I doubt the Atom will be much different than what I already have. Though, it will be nice to have better performance, I'll just be surfing the web anyway. Plus, I can always overclock to 1.9GHz and the dual cores come in handy.

Though this AMD processor also looks like it would be good for this build:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255

I'm sure it's better, but then what? A new CPU fan, MB, RAM, etc. And all that extra cost, power use and heat when all I want is a mini PC to surf the web and make forum posts.

 

[Pako]

Solid,

Is it just internet surfing, music, video's etc that you want to use this for?

 

[Solid Lifters]

Solid,

Is it just internet surfing, music, video's etc that you want to use this for?

Yes, for the most part. Except videos. Is there an easier option?

 

[Pako]

Are you using your TV as the monitor?

If so, you could always install Linux on your PS3 and call it a day. Just a thought.

With Printer, audio, video, network, keyboard, and mouse support, it might be a viable solution. If you have a hard drive from your computer that has a bunch of music and video, you could always install it in a external USB cage to hook up to the PS3 or transfer the files over to the Linux partition.

If you really want to get crazy, that this opportunity to upgrade your PS3's hard drive to a larger one then what you currently have. Not sure if you've done that yet, but we have plenty of guides on how to do that.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Are you using your TV as the monitor?

If so, you could always install Linux on your PS3 and call it a day. Just a thought.

With Printer, audio, video, network, keyboard, and mouse support, it might be a viable solution. If you have a hard drive from your computer that has a bunch of music and video, you could always install it in a external USB cage to hook up to the PS3 or transfer the files over to the Linux partition.

If you really want to get crazy, that this opportunity to upgrade your PS3's hard drive to a larger one then what you currently have. Not sure if you've done that yet, but we have plenty of guides on how to do that.

Oh, I have a large HDD in my PS3. It's 250GB. And, I remember discussing this very topic with you several years ago, when I first saw your post with your Linux install. I think I expressed my opinion on using the PS3 to browse the web and my reluctance to Linux.

I guess I could look into the idea again. I'm still not at all familiar with Linux and figured it was just easier to stick with Windows based PC for web surfing. Do you do it much with your PS3?

Do you know of a good 'Learning to use Linux' link or maybe a book?

 

[Pako]

It's pretty easy to use. It's a total GUI interface that's very similar to a windows environment. If you wanted to test drive it, you could run it off of a PC with their "live" CD for example just to get your feet wet and see if it's something you would want to use. With their "Live" cd, it will boot the linux OS right from the CD with no installation required, keeping in mind it will run slower because it's running from the CD instead of a OS installed on the hard drive. I think you'll find it easier to use than you think. If you want to "test drive" linux, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction with their "Live" cd.

If I didn't have a computer hooked up already for gaming and just needed a web browser, I would still use my Linux install on the PS3, but as it sits, I have 5 computers in the house and am in no shortage of web browsing boxes. The lack of gaming support is why I no longer use the Linux OS on my PS3.

 

[Solid Lifters]

EDIT:

No, I'm not at all interested in Linux on PS3. I just did some Google and YouTube searches, and a lot of people said Sony limits the power of the PS3 when using Linux, or other OS, and makes using it pointless.

To be honest, I remember not liking the idea when I first read you thread on what I believe was Yellow Dog. It's just not for me.


Below, you'll see my current CPU performance when streaming YT videos in "HQ" mode. Regular mode runs between 65% and 75% with spikes into the mid 90% range.

 

[Pako]

The video support without the PS3 using a conventional video architecture was very poor. There wasn't a mulit-cell video driver that could come close to utilizing the multi-cell technology at the time. Not sure if this is still the case or not. Some other limitations was how much ram was available. There were noticeable system lag with each additional window that was opened. I would not call the PS3 a multi-tasking machine on Linux, but I wouldn't go as far to say it was pointless, nor would I say it was Sony that was limiting the power of the PS3 in that kind of environment, but rather the Linux community not being able to write the code that would utilize the PS3's hardwar. I could play audio and surf the net with ease with no lag as long as I didn't have too many apps open. I would alsoAs far as streaming video, I have been streaming video to my PS3 via the XMB and Nero's Media Home server. Works great for audio, video, and still pictures. That way I can have a PC on the network hosting ALL of my media files but make them fully accessible via the PS3 which I thought was pretty cool.

On another note, the board I was looking at doing my Car PC with where heat was a concern was the Intel D945GCLF 2D. It will be in a box under the seat so you can imagine how restrictive air flow will be and this particular boards seems to be up to the job.

Might take a look at that one.

Edit: Sorry, just noticed, that's the exact same board you were looking and posted in your original post....

 

[Solid Lifters]

I guess 'pointless' was a bit much, but I just don't see why I should go to all that trouble just for using my PS3 to surf online. The trouble I'm talking about is...

1. Setting Up PS3 for Linux

2. Downloading, Installing and Configuring Linux

3. Learning to Use Linux

4. Leaving My PS3 on All Day

5. Heat Issues with PS3

6. Dust Issues with PS3

7. Power Consumption over Mini ITX


So, as you can see I have some 'doubts' or gripes about using it. I understand you're a Linux fan, but I'm not. In all the searching I did the past few hours, I got bored trying to find a 'How To Use' Linux which I never found. Even videos on YT came up nothing I was looking for.

Thanks for pointing it out, though. But, I just can't get into it.

Well, if everything on the first post looks good, I should make a purchase either at the end of this week or sometime next week. I'm ready to go ahead from here.