We choose and collect nettop
Hi% username%!
Having recently read a post about a Nvidia ION-based nettop, I decided to share my own, I hope with interesting experiences.
So, recently I faced the task of assembling a computer. Quiet, inexpensive, but - computer. The goals were easier than ever - to provide parents with access to the Internet, the ability to work with documents, and in the future - to teach them to use Skype.
After reviewing the prices, I had already approved myself a system unit based on the Celeron E1200. The price was suitable - 8500rub, and it would be a full Midi-Tower computer. But then my opinion was attracted by integrated solutions based on Intel Atom. In my practice, I have not yet come across these typewriters, and having estimated the cost, I noticed a very tangible benefit, not only in price, but also in the compactness of this solution. The Mini-ITX form factor implies little room for expansion, but I doubt that my parents will want to install an ATI HD5970 video card. But the place of such a PC will be much less, and it will consume less energy at times.
Therefore, I dropped the idea of ​​buying a full-fledged system unit and decided to try to build such a nettop:
Intel D945GCLF motherboard
Stopped on this model primarily because of the low cost. The cons of the Atom 230 + ICH7 have long been known to everyone, if anyone has forgotten, let me remind you that the mobile processor is adjacent to the desktop chipset, which consumes much more energy than the processor itself. Paradoxically, the processor is cooled by a small radiator, and on the chipset a rather large radiator and a fan. But, we don’t have a laptop here - we’ll not warm our knees, and we don’t need to fight for minutes on the battery either, but the plus is the Intel brand and low cost. Also here you can find the integrated Intel GMA950 video chip, 1 DDR2 memory slot, 100 Mbps LAN, 1 PCI slot, as well as support for 6 USB ports, which was very important to me. Of the minuses of this model for myself, I note that the video output on it is an outdated D-Sub. If anyone is interested, here is a link to more detailed specifications of this solution.
')
DDR2 PC6400 1Gb Kingston ValueRAM CL5 memory module
Everything is simple here - a simple and inexpensive memory was needed, I did not hear any bad reviews about Kingston, so I took it. Why 1GB? Because I was not going to install Windows Vista or Windows 7, and no demanding applications are planned. But let me remind you that in my case it will not be possible to take one bar and buy a second one over time - the connector on the motherboard is only one.
Hard Drive 160GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS
Preferred this model, based on the fact that it is single-disk, which means it will make less noise, warm up less, and it is clearly less chance of dying. In terms of volume - media content in large quantities on the computer is not planned, and therefore this is enough.
By the way, in the process of assembling, we visited thoughts to assemble the exact same system for torrents, but put a 1.5-2 TB hard drive there.
DVD-RW drive Sony Optiarc AD-7240S
There is nothing special to substantiate - many people need a disk drive now only to install the OS, and some even manage with a flash drive or installation over the network, but I suspect that my parents will sometimes watch DVDs, so in my case the thing is necessary. Because of my old hatred of IDE cables, naturally I installed a SATA drive.
Foxconn RS233 (H) Enclosure
A very interesting exterior, from the minuses of which only the glossy front panel immediately rushed into the eyes - it looks beautiful, but not only it stains, but also attracts dust and is easily scratched. But in the store I did not know it yet, but oh well - we will survive, but the price is democratic.
So, I decided to stop at this option. In total, all the iron cost 6600rub.
We collect?
What did I find after unpacking the boxes? And I discovered that ... there is nothing to actually unpack. In the box was only the case, everything else, including the motherboard was in the bags. Well, okay, better let's see how it all looks like not being collected yet.
First of all, we will look at the case - despite the fact that in the future we will only look at it, and not at all on the motherboard, or the hard disk.
A rather nice body, I also liked the fact that the walls in it do not shake and the 5-year-old child does not fold it into a knot - this is often the case for cheap cases.
All the iron in general looks like this
I think very few people will be interested in once again looking at the hard drive or disk drive separately, but the motherboard is very interesting, first of all because of its size, and therefore it gets a separate photo, compared to a pack of cigarettes, for a better understanding of its dimensions:
Well, let's proceed to the assembly. Armed with a screwdriver and climb into the case. Opening the case to my view, this picture appeared:
I collect the computer in the Mini-ITX for the first time, and therefore this picture puzzled me a bit - the “motherboard” is of course small, but it’s still not easy to insert it - the slot for the drive hinders. "We need to look for workarounds!" - I thought, and began to look for ways to get rid of the drive socket. The design looked monolithic and instilled despondency, besides noticed an annoying detail: when I bought the case - even in the check the power supply unit from the FSP was indicated at 150W. I found something incomprehensible to me, an unknown CWT company, obviously of Chinese origin, but at 250W! I think Atom has enough of these 250W even if they turn out to be Chinese. In any case - be careful! In the photo, this case comes with a FSP PSU!
But back to the assembly, but rather disassembly. After some time, it came to the realization that you need to remove the front panel of the case and look for something interesting there. And I was right!
Having unscrewed the 2 screws, I got rid of the “second floor” of the case and the following picture appeared to my eyes:
Now you can safely proceed to the installation of elements. I started with a hard drive, first screwing it up incorrectly, as it turned out, it was necessary to turn the board up and fix it with two bolts from the front panel side, and another one with another. Then we fasten the motherboard, put the memory plate, and stretch the wires. As a result, we see the following picture:
At this assembly of the "first floor" is completed, but in fact - it has already been completed. We put the DVD-drive, and put in the place of the "second floor". It turns out like this:
Checking whether everything is in place, we replace the front cover, and we can close the system unit. Now it takes on this form:
However, here we are given his Majesty CHOICE: in the box from the case there are special legs that allow you to put the block "edge":
Now you can safely move on to installing the OS and other things. As an OS, by the way, after some deliberation, time-tested Windows XP was chosen.
It makes no sense to describe the installation of the OS - I won’t surprise anyone, I can only say that the result was a VERY quiet computer, with quite reasonable performance for easy multimedia, document management, and the Internet. This system is heated to about 25-37 degrees. That evening I spent following it, I didn’t experience much discomfort from use compared to the main PC on the Core i7. I didn’t do performance testing, because I don’t have anything to compare with - in fact, I don’t compare Atom and Core i7.
By the way, when I finished and was about to prepare him for “shipment” to my parents, I noticed a funny picture:
Funny picture turned out in terms of size.
At this point my review is completed, I really hope that it will be useful for the Habr audience.
The author is Woland, if someone has an invite to hang out, then if it’s not a pity, WolanD91@gmail.com
Nepofigist - thanks for the invite.
Having recently read a post about a Nvidia ION-based nettop, I decided to share my own, I hope with interesting experiences.
So, recently I faced the task of assembling a computer. Quiet, inexpensive, but - computer. The goals were easier than ever - to provide parents with access to the Internet, the ability to work with documents, and in the future - to teach them to use Skype.
After reviewing the prices, I had already approved myself a system unit based on the Celeron E1200. The price was suitable - 8500rub, and it would be a full Midi-Tower computer. But then my opinion was attracted by integrated solutions based on Intel Atom. In my practice, I have not yet come across these typewriters, and having estimated the cost, I noticed a very tangible benefit, not only in price, but also in the compactness of this solution. The Mini-ITX form factor implies little room for expansion, but I doubt that my parents will want to install an ATI HD5970 video card. But the place of such a PC will be much less, and it will consume less energy at times.
Gently - traffic!
Therefore, I dropped the idea of ​​buying a full-fledged system unit and decided to try to build such a nettop:
Intel D945GCLF motherboard
Stopped on this model primarily because of the low cost. The cons of the Atom 230 + ICH7 have long been known to everyone, if anyone has forgotten, let me remind you that the mobile processor is adjacent to the desktop chipset, which consumes much more energy than the processor itself. Paradoxically, the processor is cooled by a small radiator, and on the chipset a rather large radiator and a fan. But, we don’t have a laptop here - we’ll not warm our knees, and we don’t need to fight for minutes on the battery either, but the plus is the Intel brand and low cost. Also here you can find the integrated Intel GMA950 video chip, 1 DDR2 memory slot, 100 Mbps LAN, 1 PCI slot, as well as support for 6 USB ports, which was very important to me. Of the minuses of this model for myself, I note that the video output on it is an outdated D-Sub. If anyone is interested, here is a link to more detailed specifications of this solution.
')
DDR2 PC6400 1Gb Kingston ValueRAM CL5 memory module
Everything is simple here - a simple and inexpensive memory was needed, I did not hear any bad reviews about Kingston, so I took it. Why 1GB? Because I was not going to install Windows Vista or Windows 7, and no demanding applications are planned. But let me remind you that in my case it will not be possible to take one bar and buy a second one over time - the connector on the motherboard is only one.
Hard Drive 160GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS
Preferred this model, based on the fact that it is single-disk, which means it will make less noise, warm up less, and it is clearly less chance of dying. In terms of volume - media content in large quantities on the computer is not planned, and therefore this is enough.
By the way, in the process of assembling, we visited thoughts to assemble the exact same system for torrents, but put a 1.5-2 TB hard drive there.
DVD-RW drive Sony Optiarc AD-7240S
There is nothing special to substantiate - many people need a disk drive now only to install the OS, and some even manage with a flash drive or installation over the network, but I suspect that my parents will sometimes watch DVDs, so in my case the thing is necessary. Because of my old hatred of IDE cables, naturally I installed a SATA drive.
Foxconn RS233 (H) Enclosure
A very interesting exterior, from the minuses of which only the glossy front panel immediately rushed into the eyes - it looks beautiful, but not only it stains, but also attracts dust and is easily scratched. But in the store I did not know it yet, but oh well - we will survive, but the price is democratic.
So, I decided to stop at this option. In total, all the iron cost 6600rub.
We collect?
What did I find after unpacking the boxes? And I discovered that ... there is nothing to actually unpack. In the box was only the case, everything else, including the motherboard was in the bags. Well, okay, better let's see how it all looks like not being collected yet.
First of all, we will look at the case - despite the fact that in the future we will only look at it, and not at all on the motherboard, or the hard disk.
In this place I wildly apologize for the quality of the photos, the fact is that we all celebrate the New Year, and during the celebration I, unfortunately, broke my camera and it is still under repair. Therefore, the photos had to do the old "soap box"
A rather nice body, I also liked the fact that the walls in it do not shake and the 5-year-old child does not fold it into a knot - this is often the case for cheap cases.
All the iron in general looks like this
it turns out a bit:
I think very few people will be interested in once again looking at the hard drive or disk drive separately, but the motherboard is very interesting, first of all because of its size, and therefore it gets a separate photo, compared to a pack of cigarettes, for a better understanding of its dimensions:
(I’m noting that I’m not promoting smoking in any way, and I’m certainly not advertising the tobacco brand)
Well, let's proceed to the assembly. Armed with a screwdriver and climb into the case. Opening the case to my view, this picture appeared:
I collect the computer in the Mini-ITX for the first time, and therefore this picture puzzled me a bit - the “motherboard” is of course small, but it’s still not easy to insert it - the slot for the drive hinders. "We need to look for workarounds!" - I thought, and began to look for ways to get rid of the drive socket. The design looked monolithic and instilled despondency, besides noticed an annoying detail: when I bought the case - even in the check the power supply unit from the FSP was indicated at 150W. I found something incomprehensible to me, an unknown CWT company, obviously of Chinese origin, but at 250W! I think Atom has enough of these 250W even if they turn out to be Chinese. In any case - be careful! In the photo, this case comes with a FSP PSU!
But back to the assembly, but rather disassembly. After some time, it came to the realization that you need to remove the front panel of the case and look for something interesting there. And I was right!
Having unscrewed the 2 screws, I got rid of the “second floor” of the case and the following picture appeared to my eyes:
Now you can safely proceed to the installation of elements. I started with a hard drive, first screwing it up incorrectly, as it turned out, it was necessary to turn the board up and fix it with two bolts from the front panel side, and another one with another. Then we fasten the motherboard, put the memory plate, and stretch the wires. As a result, we see the following picture:
At this assembly of the "first floor" is completed, but in fact - it has already been completed. We put the DVD-drive, and put in the place of the "second floor". It turns out like this:
Checking whether everything is in place, we replace the front cover, and we can close the system unit. Now it takes on this form:
However, here we are given his Majesty CHOICE: in the box from the case there are special legs that allow you to put the block "edge":
Now you can safely move on to installing the OS and other things. As an OS, by the way, after some deliberation, time-tested Windows XP was chosen.
It makes no sense to describe the installation of the OS - I won’t surprise anyone, I can only say that the result was a VERY quiet computer, with quite reasonable performance for easy multimedia, document management, and the Internet. This system is heated to about 25-37 degrees. That evening I spent following it, I didn’t experience much discomfort from use compared to the main PC on the Core i7. I didn’t do performance testing, because I don’t have anything to compare with - in fact, I don’t compare Atom and Core i7.
By the way, when I finished and was about to prepare him for “shipment” to my parents, I noticed a funny picture:
Funny picture turned out in terms of size.
At this point my review is completed, I really hope that it will be useful for the Habr audience.
Nepofigist - thanks for the invite.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/87939/
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