Super short Mobos

[rmmy1313]

Was browsing around for some ideas for my HTPC build and I noticed that there are some builds that are around an inch thick. I can't remember ever seeing a Mobo that is under that height, at least not one that is going to have any performance. So I was wondering where does one get a Mobo with extremely low profiles?

[xr4man]

just about any mobo would do. but you'd have to get a 1u heat sink for the processor.


i supose if you want to be really slick, you could get a mobo with the shortest possible connectors on the io panel and then desolder any that you don't need and are too tall.

[rmmy1313]

Is that what people are doing? Desolder unneeded I/O ports from the boards to make them that short? If that's the case then I won't worry about it anymore.

[Airbozo]

There are some pretty thin Motherboards out there. Intel just came out with the NUC (New Unit of Computing) and they look pretty cool:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/next-unit-computing-introduction.html

I saw some of them at the Intel ISS a couple of weeks ago.

They are also making several of the thin mini IT boards for AIO computers. Some have the heatsink off the board connected via heatpipes.

[Konrad]

Not sure how far this Next Unit of Computing will really go ...

My experience is that PC technologies become de-facto standards based far more on compatibility than on specifications. I've seen literally hundreds of products and technologies come out with superior specs, sometimes blatantly superior specs and even comparably low-cost ... yet they fade to extinction because they lose to the "inferior" alternatives which offer out-of-box compatibility and good support.

Although we are talking enterprise level marketing, mass production, and Intel clout (which can be awfully stubborn if they wanna dump money into it). The enterprise crowd is generally corporate and criminally conservative, resistant to change yet compelled to streamline their formula for success ... so who knows, eh?

[Airbozo]

Not sure how far this Next Unit of Computing will really go ...

My experience is that PC technologies become de-facto standards based far more on compatibility than on specifications. I've seen literally hundreds of products and technologies come out with superior specs, sometimes blatantly superior specs and even comparably low-cost ... yet they fade to extinction because they lose to the "inferior" alternatives which offer out-of-box compatibility and good support.

Although we are talking enterprise level marketing, mass production, and Intel clout (which can be awfully stubborn if they wanna dump money into it). The enterprise crowd is generally corporate and criminally conservative, resistant to change yet compelled to streamline their formula for success ... so who knows, eh?

There are a couple of things that are driving the small form factors right now. One is the emerging market of All In One systems, which has been around for several years, but are just really coming into their prime due to the new boards and low power processors and GPU's. Plus there is now a DIY market segment for the AIO's. Another thing that I am seeing in the market are the use of these NUC style devices being used to create AIO's out of a normal monitor. We have several customers that are basically selling a service that reminds me of the dumb terminal era. For a monthly fee they put these smart, dumb terminals in your offices and then provide the back end and redundant co-lo's around the country. The only thing a company needs to monitor and repair are the terminals themselves and that is really done for them. Walk up to any terminal and log in and there is your desktop and files.

Cool stuff, and several companies, including Google, Yahoo and Intel are checking it out.

[Konrad]

The robot overlords will be pleased, a digital civilization floating in the cloud will be much easier to topple.

Ah well, at least it's good to know that skynet will be a distributed small form factor. Available with a pink pulsing Apple logo soon enough. Nonetheless, I shall personally resist this trend, I think.

[Airbozo]

The robot overlords will be pleased, a digital civilization floating in the cloud will be much easier to topple.

Ah well, at least it's good to know that skynet will be a distributed small form factor. Available with a pink pulsing Apple logo soon enough. Nonetheless, I shall personally resist this trend, I think.

I personally feel the cloud is a fad. Again. From my recollection this is the 3rd iteration of the cloud and the laws still have not caught up with the idea or technology. Once there are enough cases of how easy it is to hack into these secure systems, companies will bring it back in house. That or they will not care, since the legal responsibility will be on someone else.

My company is investigating using one of the hosted services for email and applications. I am on the panel that is studying this option and I will not recommend it due to the security issues and the EULA's concerning the services. I just can't get over some of the legaleeze that holds the provider blameless in case of a breach of security or the fact that all bits are owned by the provider of said service.

[Konrad]

I believe that wired is inherently more secure than wireless, local storage is inherently more secure than remote storage, and I know I can trust some people yet I will never be able to trust all the people they unknowingly trust. And, oh yes, there are hackers and there are even hackers who work towards criminal purposes. Encryption only buys time and is continually divided by Moore's Law, while data can be copied and stored indefinitely.

That is, I think anything you store on the internet is basically public domain ... and there's enough fools broadcasting their banking info and secret financial records all over the cloud to ensure a healthy population of hungry sharks will continue to circle around waiting to get another byte.

I just use the cloud to store unimportant bloat data which I can't be bothered to save locally, burn onto discs, or spend a lot of time sorting through. It's also a great way to make off-site backups, provided you don't mind letting some corporation (which may revise their service terms and ownership at any time, etc etc) hold onto your stuff in some place half-governed by some foreign nation's laws. Joining the smart-dumb terminal trend on a powerfully distributed mobile cloud world is pretty damned handy - what a great place to store my playlists! - but I suspect I won't be the only cynic who holds back where it really matters.

Now time to put my tinfoil hat back on, before they use microwave emissions start reading/controlling my mind ...

[Airbozo]

......

Now time to put my tinfoil hat back on, before they use microwave emissions start reading/controlling my mind ...

The Tin Foil Hat is a conspiracy. The tin foil focuses your brain waves and makes them easier to pick out of the noise.

[xr4man]

I believe that wired is inherently more secure than wireless, local storage is inherently more secure than remote storage, and I know I can trust some people yet I will never be able to trust all the people they unknowingly trust. And, oh yes, there are hackers and there are even hackers who work towards criminal purposes. Encryption only buys time and is continually divided by Moore's Law, while data can be copied and stored indefinitely.

That is, I think anything you store on the internet is basically public domain ... and there's enough fools broadcasting their banking info and secret financial records all over the cloud to ensure a healthy population of hungry sharks will continue to circle around waiting to get another byte.

I just use the cloud to store unimportant bloat data which I can't be bothered to save locally, burn onto discs, or spend a lot of time sorting through. It's also a great way to make off-site backups, provided you don't mind letting some corporation (which may revise their service terms and ownership at any time, etc etc) hold onto your stuff in some place half-governed by some foreign nation's laws. Joining the smart-dumb terminal trend on a powerfully distributed mobile cloud world is pretty damned handy - what a great place to store my playlists! - but I suspect I won't be the only cynic who holds back where it really matters.

Now time to put my tinfoil hat back on, before they use microwave emissions start reading/controlling my mind ...

amen brutha!!! preach on!!!!!

[AmEv]

"Waiting to get another byte"

I see what you did thar.......