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Low Power SFF PC

V

valunthar

n00b
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
3
I'm currently trying to spec out a couple of very low powerdraw systems for basic computing tasks such as file serving, downloading etc.. I've been doing a lot of searching but so far I haven't found a system that fits what I'm looking for. There are many that are close, but they usually have at least one drawback that keeps me from going for that machine.

My system specs are as follows:

Less than 20W total power draw. Ideally less than 10W as these systems will be running constantly.
Able to support at least one hard drive internally
Reasonably high performance
at least one networking port, ideally at least one gigabit port.

So far I've looked at various Atom based machines with various degrees of success. Most of them fit the performance and hard drive criteria but their power draw is higher than I'm comfortable with.
The FitPC version of the Atom board brings the power draw way down, but it currently has limited linux support (unable to support modern kernels) and is priced a bit too high for my liking
The GuruPlug server Plus is pretty much ideal, except for the fact that it can't support an internal hard drive.
I could go with an ALIX system, such as the ALIX2D13, however it runs into the same problem as the Guruplug as it also lacks internal hard drive support as far as I can tell.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
 
shoot, 10 watts is kinda pushing it
Just the WD Caviar Green 1/2TB hddrives idle at 4w and read/write at 9w/4.5w respectively.
If atoms don't fit your bill, look into the sony VIA mini itx boards. I read some time ago on BitTech that they outperformed atoms and could perform HD cinematics without a hitch, I read this a while ago though.
 
The VIA boards seem to be exactly what I'm looking for, most of the boards I'm looking at draw ~10W while allowing for atom-like performance. I've mostly settled on getting a VIA M800 or N800 board, however I'm unable to verify if the power draw for these boards are similar to the power draw for the previous generations of VIA processors.

Worst case I could go for the next step down as far as motherboard size goes and get something like this http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/embedded/ProductDetail.jsp?productLine=1&id=1050&tabs=1 . Either way, I've gotta say that I'm very impressed with the range of products that Via offers.

EDIT: Does any one have any recommendations for good SFF cases and power supplies?
 
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