$100 intel made mac mini competitor

[helveta]

What do you think of this?
http://computerhardwaretutorial.net/intel-nuc-next-unit-of-computing/

Add your own memory, hard drive and operating system and it looks like its roughly equivalent to a mac mini. Since I'd want to upgrade the memory and drive on any mini I purchased anyway, this looks like a good way to go.

 

[philipma1957]

if it had a real gpu slot I would like it.


right now this board is a better choice.


http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77E-ITX


I am going to use this board with this cpu

http://www.provantage.com/intel-cm8063701212200s~7ITEP3PC.htm

this ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220647


this gpu

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7750ULT

a few ssds. in a small case. this is a more powerful piece of gear then the intel you link to.

still dead quiet and small sized but not tiny like your gear or a mini.

I have been doing a real lot of graphic testing using my sony 46 inch led as the screen.

the mac pro hd5870 card and the imac hd6970m card are good most other mac graphics are not good. maybe the 4000 igu in your link is okay. it is know to be better then the 3000 by a lot.

 

[helveta]

I'm thinking of use as a HTPC. I wonder if this would put any pricing pressure on a hopefully soon to be released new mac mini?

 

[paulrbeers]

I'm thinking of use as a HTPC. I wonder if this would put any pricing pressure on a hopefully soon to be released new mac mini?

You are kidding right? Apple prices things the way Apple sees fit. Nothing puts pricing pressure on Apple.

Further the $100 doesn't include:
CPU
RAM
Case
Power Supply
Wifi Card

I bet the motherboard in the current Mini's is not even $100 of the overall cost of the unit (especially in the volume discount that Apple receives).

EDIT: Further, one thing this doesn't talk about is what CPU's can it use? It states i3 and i5's, but usually these motherboards are built to only handle fairly low power processors so my guess is that it will only handle the ULV processors that are used in the Macbook Air which means it won't even be able to match the Ivy Bridge Mac Mini's (when released).

EDIT 2: There are no SATA ports on this motherboard so the best you can use is small sized PCIE SSD's which usually tap out at 32GB (maybe 64). Any real hard drive storage has to be external. These are for signage for a reason!

 

[philipma1957]

You are kidding right? Apple prices things the way Apple sees fit. Nothing puts pricing pressure on Apple.

Further the $100 doesn't include:
CPU
RAM
Case
Power Supply
Wifi Card

I bet the motherboard in the current Mini's is not even $100 of the overall cost of the unit (especially in the volume discount that Apple receives).

EDIT: Further, one thing this doesn't talk about is what CPU's can it use? It states i3 and i5's, but usually these motherboards are built to only handle fairly low power processors so my guess is that it will only handle the ULV processors that are used in the Macbook Air which means it won't even be able to match the Ivy Bridge Mac Mini's (when released).

EDIT 2: There are no SATA ports on this motherboard so the best you can use is small sized PCIE SSD's which usually tap out at 32GB (maybe 64). Any real hard drive storage has to be external. These are for signage for a reason!

yeah I have done a lot of research on a small box htpc. if you diy one using quality parts it is easy to make a more powerful machine then any mini.
in cube/rectangle about 8 by 8 by 11. but that size fits 5 2011 mac minis!


As for the op's link even if it uses the highest quality low power cpu an i5 3570t is a 45watt cpu and it has intel 2500 graphics not the 4000.

 

[leman]

What do you think of this?
http://computerhardwaretutorial.net/intel-nuc-next-unit-of-computing/

Add your own memory, hard drive and operating system and it looks like its roughly equivalent to a mac mini. Since I'd want to upgrade the memory and drive on any mini I purchased anyway, this looks like a good way to go.

This is only the mainboard.

Add at least $120 for a quality case + PSU, $190 for a CPU, $30 for RAM, $75 for HDD, ca. $40 for wireless and bluetooth adapters, and you end with $460 for a more or less equivalent of the entry-level Mac Mini ($599). So you will save around $100-150. If I am not mistaken, you can get Windows 7 Home edition for that money (Ultimate will cost you much more). So an already-installed and assembled computer is rather unlikely to cost much less than the Mac Mini. Maybe some company could sell it for $500...

If it were like half the price of the Mini, than it would make some decent small office box with Ubuntu (or other Linux). But given that the end price is not likely to be that different, I'd rather take Apple quality with Apple OS.

 

[philipma1957]

This is only the mainboard.

Add at least $120 for a quality case + PSU, $190 for a CPU, $30 for RAM, $75 for HDD, ca. $40 for wireless and bluetooth adapters, and you end with $460 for a more or less equivalent of the entry-level Mac Mini ($599). So you will save around $100-150. If I am not mistaken, you can get Windows 7 Home edition for that money (Ultimate will cost you much more). So an already-installed and assembled computer is rather unlikely to cost much less than the Mac Mini. Maybe some company could sell it for $500...

If it were like half the price of the Mini, than it would make some decent small office box with Ubuntu (or other Linux). But given that the end price is not likely to be that different, I'd rather take Apple quality with Apple OS.

yeah if you build any diy pc of quailty its around 1k and up.

my next build will be;


CPU = INTEL I7 3770T $310
MOBO = ASROCK Z77E-itx 137
Ram = patriot gamer2 122
ssd = crucial m4 256gb 199
hdd = 1tb 2.5 inch samsung 99
gpu = sapphire hd 7750 ultimate 125
psu = seasonic x560 119
tv tuner = avermedia 99
oem windows = 120


total 1300 no case if you buy a nice htpc case that will fit all of the above it will be 100 more. you are at 1400.

the machine is really the maxi mac mini or the mini mac pro. yeah you can cut a corner here or there but you are at 1000. still a lot of cash. yeah this machine will smack around most any mac except the best iMac or a Mac Pro. Of course this will be a lot bigger then any mac mini. It also will not run lion or snow.

I am trying to figure out how to get this machine and a mac mini to boot off the same hdd/ssd. It is a project.

 

[leman]

y yeah this machine will smack around most any mac except the best iMac or a Mac Pro.

Uhm, it will totally wipe the floor with an iMac or a Mac Pro (besides the multi-CPU configurations). The name 'mini mac pro' hardly gives it any justice

 

[philipma1957]

Uhm, it will totally wipe the floor with an iMac or a Mac Pro (besides the multi-CPU configurations). The name 'mini mac pro' hardly gives it any justice

only call it a mini mac pro because it fits in a matx case like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112315


and if you want it to be a maxi mac mini it goes into this case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112364



oh add a blu ray and it comes to 1400.


my point is quality costs. and even with serious coin spent small size is hard to do.


op mobo for 100 bucks may be good for streaming netflix and a tiny build.

 

[gladoscc]

This is only the mainboard.

Add at least $120 for a quality case + PSU, $190 for a CPU, $30 for RAM, $75 for HDD, ca. $40 for wireless and bluetooth adapters, and you end with $460 for a more or less equivalent of the entry-level Mac Mini ($599). So you will save around $100-150. If I am not mistaken, you can get Windows 7 Home edition for that money (Ultimate will cost you much more). So an already-installed and assembled computer is rather unlikely to cost much less than the Mac Mini. Maybe some company could sell it for $500...

If it were like half the price of the Mini, than it would make some decent small office box with Ubuntu (or other Linux). But given that the end price is not likely to be that different, I'd rather take Apple quality with Apple OS.

Uhh, what? Why are you significantly overpricing your components? You can get a 2410M-performance CPU for ~$165, 500GB 7200rpm (better than mini) HDD for $65, you can get a quality case for MUCH less than $120....

Total, would add up to around $400 at most. Pretty significant when you compare it to $600. Throw Linux on it, and it's a serious contender, especially with inte's mobo.

 

[leman]

Uhh, what? Why are you significantly overpricing your components? You can get a 2410M-performance CPU for ~$165, 500GB 7200rpm (better than mini) HDD for $65, you can get a quality case for MUCH less than $120....

I was looking at newegg prices (no idea if there is a cheaper place in the US). The i5-2400S is $200. As for the case: Silverstone SG05, which is a good quality itx case is $105. Of course you can get some cheapo case for less, but I wouldn't call it quality. A really nice case like LianLi (which are the only one comparable with Mac Mini) will be well over $100, not including PSU. A 500GB 2.5" WD HDD is $73, Samsung is $80 (there is some company called HGST which is slightly cheaper but I never heard of it before).

Technically, you are right of course. Its always possible to downgrade the case.