is it possible to build a PC the size of the mac mini?

dvdbunny

dvdbunny

dvdbunny

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Hey guys,

I am looking to build a PC the size of a mac mini, is this possible?

I am looking for 1-2GB of RAM
1.8 ghz and above core 2 duo processor
windows vista, or XP home
wireless mouse+keyboard
USB 2.0
Firewire
SD slot
ethernet/gigabit port
wifi 802.11b/g
300GB HD disc

Is there anything you can get like that but as small as a mac mini, i will be using it purely as a home theater PC. Is this possible?

You know of what parts to order?


TIA
 
My guess is no...

Smallest your likely to get in kit form is a Shuttle.. Otherwise youd have to look at getting a pre-boxed thing like the XPC mini x200 .. Which has almost no room for alteration
 
nintenjo said:
My guess is no...

Smallest your likely to get in kit form is a Shuttle.. Otherwise youd have to look at getting a pre-boxed thing like the XPC mini x200 .. Which has almost no room for alteration
Click to expand...

Yep, like nintenjo says.

The smaller it gets, the less customisable it will be.
 
Has no one heard of mini-itx? motherboards 17cm x 17cm and smaller with cases to fit. They can take core 2 duos on some models. Mine is a silent server 800mhz. Very nice.

Just google mini-itx and the first .com that comes up is a site about them. Sorry that it also involveds a store, but as ocuk doesnt stock any of the stuff they do it shouldnt be competition.
 
yes it is possible, aopen I think it was brought out a near identical size pc.

But you're not going to fit a a 3.5" hd in it though.

Personally I'd look at the sivlerstone lascala lc19
or itx systems
 
Hi Guys,

Many thanks for all your replies

Hi BillytheImpaler you said perhaps i should buy a mac mini and run windows xp on it, that was my original idea but you see i have sky digital and now sky have introduced sky anytime on PC, it's free to use and as i have a sky digital TV subscription us sky users have free access to this anytime on PC service where you can download up to 400 movies a month to your PC. But i read that this service is not compatible with macs. But i wonder if i was to install windows xp on a mac do you know if it would be compatible?

Also if i was to install windows xp on a mac mini, can i still keep the apple tiger operating system, can i just to choose upon boot up to log into either windows xp or tiger?

One other thing, i read that the mac mini in the USA starts off at a price of 600 us dollars, now the exchange rate is going really good it's £1 = 2 dollars so a mac mini would cost me from £300, but i was doing some calculating on the apple store and with the 1.83Ghz processor, and 2GB ram and 80GB hard drive i will be paying something like £550. I wonder if you can build a PC with a size close or the same size to a mac mini with all the same features but buying all parts in the UK for under £600?

The one strange thing is i hear that apple have started selling the mac minis with a 1.83Ghz core 2 duo processor and i heard that the price will be the same 800 dollars on the mac site, but i see they are only listing it as a 1.83 core duo processor for 800 dollars, so you guys know any more about this core 2 duo processor in the mac mini?

all help much appreciated


Many thanks
 
mac mini can switch on boot up between xp/vista and os-x. Using something like parallels can run windows (no hardware acceleration yet but it works pretty well) in os-x.

I have not heard anything of c2d in mac mini, where did you see the info.
 
dvdbunny said:
Hi Guys,

Many thanks for all your replies

Hi BillytheImpaler you said perhaps i should buy a mac mini and run windows xp on it, that was my original idea but you see i have sky digital and now sky have introduced sky anytime on PC, it's free to use and as i have a sky digital TV subscription us sky users have free access to this anytime on PC service where you can download up to 400 movies a month to your PC. But i read that this service is not compatible with macs. But i wonder if i was to install windows xp on a mac do you know if it would be compatible?

Also if i was to install windows xp on a mac mini, can i still keep the apple tiger operating system, can i just to choose upon boot up to log into either windows xp or tiger?
Click to expand...

I'm sure the TV thing is not compatible with Mac OS, not Macs. It should (don't quote me, find out!) run fine on a Mac Mini running windows XP, afterall, it's just a PC when it's running windows.

And yes, you can dual boot Windows and Mac OS :)
 
Depending on how much you want to spend you could go for a Mini-ITX motherboard that supports Core 2 Duo like the Commell boards, though they are expensive and I'm not sure about small case support in the current models.

Many of the cases will only support slimline optical drives and 2.5" hard disk drives so you might have to cut a few bits from the specification you listed if you want to go that route. They're nice kit but from what you've stated I think you'd be better off just buying a Mac-Mini or the AOpen system mentioned earlier.
 
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