The Micro ATX Computer Build

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Over the course of the year I shall be buying parts off this, in order to make a Fragbox style computer.

Then I will put Ubuntu or Mint on it and never use it.

Here's the parts list from a PC Picker site. It's supposed to help out with compatibility woes:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/f2q4yc

I have the Fractal Designs case and Power Supply already:



I'd show a picture of the power supply, but it's too hot to handle.

[Flack]

...but it's too hot to handle...

...and too cold to hold, you call the Ghostbusters and you... make a... uh... dated reference...

I'll be watching this thread closely. I've been wanting to build a Micro ATX machine for some time now to use for an in-car entertainment center.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

So far, this is what I can tell you - buying one item a month means you have a useless hunk of nonsense somewhere for like six months. I should just put a Raspberry Pi in it. But I won't.

So, with the case and the power supply down, I guess I'll get the motherboard next, that way if it doesn't fit I can adjust sooner rather than later.

[AArdvark]

Will this be a replacement PC or an additional machine? Is smaller the way to go nowadays? I could understand that as a 'regular' tower seems to be mostly air.



THE
INCREDIBLE SHRINKING
AARDVARK

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Will this be a replacement PC or an additional machine? Is smaller the way to go nowadays? I could understand that as a 'regular' tower seems to be mostly air.

Great question. I see it as my main Linux PC. It won't have the video card of the Windows 7 PC, so that computer will be the primary gaming PC for games like Fallout 4 that need a beefy machine.

I'd like everything else that I do, except for Photoshop (more on that in a second) to be on this tiny computer. So programming Cyberganked, programming the game after that, the play of whatever Steam games work in Linux, and any coding I do for work at home.

Right now I have a Linux computer running Mint in my office. However, the computer is a bit older. There's just enough lag to make it tough to use on a daily basis. So for that computer, I'd like it to be my build server. For instance, I'd like it to build Cyberganked each day and execute automated tests that I write. I'd like the old Linux computer to be a Nethack server, to host the movies that I've decided I'll always want a copy of, like Blade Runner and The Thing, and to possibly build some jobs that I run at work so I can more easily check on my automation jobs at home.

That is my plan. I want to transition to using Linux full time because Windows 8 and now 10 seem like a privacy-killing piece of shitware. There is a feature in Photoshop (not available for Linux) that I need to make the graphics in Cyberganked, so this will be a slow transition.

[Flack]

Random thought: I would love to built a little tiny computer tower and put a Raspberry Pi inside it. Maybe even move the SD slot to where a floppy disk would go. Hm.

Anyway.

So, like, yeah -- everyone's dream for years was to escape Microsoft's choke hold, but how do you do it? Every plan to move away always seems to have that caveat of "eeeeeeexcept for this." In the 90s/00s, many times that caveat was games. Linux has come a long way in that department -- not equal to Windows of course, but at least there are options now. I know virtualization of a Windows machine inside a Linux machine is a solution for some needs... then again that's not getting away from Windows, but simply downsizing it a bit.

I dunno, man. By knowing what data mongers Microsoft is but continuing to use Windows, I feel like that prison guard who watches other guards getting beat but says, "hey man, I just work here." I do wish there was a way to completely walk away from Windows but there always seems to be that one thread that holds on.

[RetroRomper]

Every system I've built in the last decade has been micro-atx simply because those motherboards were the cheapest and I've never needed more than one or two PCI-E 1x ports.

So what I want to ask is, is there more of a gimmick to this or did you misspell mini-itx?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I thought the power supply was officially and correctly Mini-ATX but I could have that wrong, yeah.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Speaking of Raspberry Pis, I signed up for a repro Amiga case. I found out that it will not include keys. Nnnngh.

Anyway, I think this is a good month to get the CPU and fan. Flack warned me about display ports. I think the video card I picked won't have one, but this is a format I am going to "sit out."

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Haha, so the case that I asked my brother to get a bunch of years ago is a MINI ITX style.

I had been buying parts for a MICRO ATX build.

I just tried to put the motherboard in today. Does it fit? Hahahahah of fucking course not.

Fuck everything.

[Jizaboz]

LOL

[Flack]

Don't people do all kinds of cool custom cases for those ATX systems? You should do one of those!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

The fact that the TITLE says "Micro ATX" tasks the shit out of me. It tasks me.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

So, I guess the question is, do I buy a Mini-ITX motherboard or a new case? I really, really like the case. But I can put a Pi in it.

I can get this green bastard for $50 through Newegg and be off to the races with a Micro-ATX build:

"APEVIA X-QPACK3-GN Micro ATX Cube Gaming/HTPC Case"

I'll probably just get the case. If I can remember to bring the processor home I'll see if everything boots.

(Here's the updated PC Parts list. I will be reusing a video card and probably a hard drive.)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/J4Ydnn

[Tdarcos]

Here might be something worth trying. A few years ago, the original XBOX had a game - I think it was one of the James Bond games - that if you loaded a corrupt save game, it then allowed you to close off the dashboard and load an unauthorized piece of software, specifically not signed by Microsoft.

The change was completely reversible, and it would allow you to load Linux as the operating system on the XBOX.

Of all the errors that Microsoft had in any of its software, and how hard it was to get them fixed, you'd better believe that Microsoft fixed that one with lightning speed for its next release of the console.

And it can't be that expensive, I was at Gamestop yesterday and picked up a pre-owned XBOX 360 for $109, plus $17 for a copy of Watch_Dogs for the '360 (all prices are plus Maryland 6% sales tax). I started up the machine, plugged it into my HDMI monitor, and installed the game. Works okay but I have to connect the speakers to the monitor. I'll actually start really playing the game once I finish editing and uploading my current cooking video.

[Tsummary]

Here might be something worth trying. A few years ago, the original XBOX had a game - I think it was one of the James Bond games - that if you loaded a corrupt save game, it then allowed you to close off the dashboard and load an unauthorized piece of software, specifically not signed by Microsoft.

The change was completely reversible, and it would allow you to load Linux as the operating system on the XBOX.

Of all the errors that Microsoft had in any of its software, and how hard it was to get them fixed, you'd better believe that Microsoft fixed that one with lightning speed for its next release of the console.

And it can't be that expensive, I was at Gamestop yesterday and picked up a pre-owned XBOX 360 for $109, plus $17 for a copy of Watch_Dogs for the '360 (all prices are plus Maryland 6% sales tax). I started up the machine, plugged it into my HDMI monitor, and installed the game. Works okay but I have to connect the speakers to the monitor. I'll actually start really playing the game once I finish editing and uploading my current cooking video.

Tsummary: In this thread, Ice Cream Jonsey ponders whether he should buy a smaller motherboard, or a larger case. As a solution, Tdarcos suggests he purchase an original Xbox and mod it.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Saving this, working on a build for my brother: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kCsp4C