How to make a mini-PC with your own hands? Mini computers

Advantages

Why do you need to assemble a mini-PC with your own hands? Of course, in universal systems there are no problems with capacity, but there are many other inconveniences. The mini-PC attracts with its compact size, low noise level and excellent power reserves.

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Of course, the performance of such a system directly depends on how much money you are willing to invest in it. Fortunately, many manufacturers have taken care of users: everyone can build a mini-PC for both work and play.

Self-assembly

Another important point: to assemble a mini-PC with your own hands, you need to control everything that gets into the system case. Many people think that it is much easier to purchase a ready-made PC. Of course, to some extent this is true. But if we talk about savings and further upgrades, then doubts will arise whether this is so.

Self-assembly is advantageous because you can find components at a discount or promotion in the store. It will be possible to vary the elements and supplement them in the future. For an upgrade, this is the most profitable option. This way you will know what is inside you, understand what you can improve and replace with in the future.

How to make a toy laptop?

The laptop that will be folded out is made from the following materials:

• Thick cardboard
• Black background (paper)
• Glue
• Pencil and ruler
• Scissors

You need to cut out two squares from cardboard, which are connected to each other with adhesive tape. You can take a solid piece of cardboard, which you just need to bend in half. You also need to cut out the keyboard, screen bezel and mouse from cardboard. The keys are also cut out of cardboard and glued to the keyboard.

Black paper is glued in place of the screen; you can use slate paper, on which you can draw with crayons and erase them. The top cover of the laptop can be covered with stickers or the child’s signature can be made.

Assembly problems

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Questions about how to make a mini-PC are no different from those asked by a user with a universal system. Problems can also be very similar and occur in almost every buyer.

So, the first thing you will have to face is the variety of platforms. It is very difficult to understand them, and especially in the future compatibility. At the time of assembling the PC, you will have to understand the form factors of the elements, understand what a socket is and how to choose a processor for it. After this, you will need to think about RAM and the capabilities that the motherboard provides.

There are a lot of such details. They must be taken into account, otherwise after assembly the system may produce errors or not turn on at all. But when assembling a mini-PC, the capacity of all the elements in the case remains important.

Components

So, if you decide to assemble a mini-PC with your own hands, you need to think about the tasks that it will perform. From here it will be easier to start from what components to purchase.

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When it comes to mini-PCs, it is very important to initially choose the right case. After all, if it is a compact system, the chassis must also be compact. Next, select the motherboard. It should fit perfectly into the selected housing.

The processor is considered the “brain” of the system, so you will need to select it next. A PC will not be able to work without RAM and storage. Therefore, you need to choose the appropriate size modules that would fit into a small “box”.

In theory, you can fit a video card into a mini-PC. But if you decide to make the smallest system, you will have to make do with an integrated one. Also, don't forget about the power supply.

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Frame

So, as mentioned earlier, you will have to start with the body. Typically, mini-PCs are referred to as the mini-ITX form factor. But there is no such concept regarding buildings. The chassis are:

• big-tower;
• midi-tower;
• mini-tower.

These options apply to vertical enclosures. In addition to them, there are also horizontal models - “desktops”. For a mini-PC you need a mini-tower. The dimensions of these enclosures may vary. On average, their dimensions are 15 x 36 cm. But even more compact models can be found on the market.

Larger mini-PC models can easily accommodate even a universal power supply. But you will need to find the largest mini-tower option. If the case is very small, then the power supply in it will be external and built-in. It should be borne in mind that usually such options are designed for 60 W.

Search for extraterrestrial life

Research support
Is there life beyond our solar system? How can a particle accelerator be improved? How will the climate change in the coming decades?

If you want to take part in the search for answers to such questions, you can put your technical means at the service of science. The BOINC software platform of the University of California at Berkeley is one of the most famous software systems for organizing distributed computing.

The most famous projects include [email protected] - a program for searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. To participate, you must install the free BOINC software on an unused computer, connect it to the Internet, and allow it to be used on your computer network.

Labor intensity: low; costs: no

Motherboard

Since we are creating mini-PCs with our own hands, the motherboard must be of the mini-ITX form factor. Platforms of this type have dimensions of 17 x 17 cm. If the case is larger, you can take a closer look at microATX. This option has dimensions of 24.5 x 24.5 cm.

The peculiarity of mini-ITX is that the motherboard is often sold together with a processor. Therefore, this option is very profitable to purchase if you are just thinking about a home PC. If you need a productive system, it is better to choose the chip yourself.

CPU

It will be easiest here. We look at the motherboard socket and select the processor. You can do the opposite if you like. The main thing is to achieve compatibility and correct operation of both devices.

The processor itself is quite compact, so you won’t have to look for any smaller versions of it. You can choose any one that you like and that will fit on the chosen platform.

What should you pay attention to? In order not to lose compatibility, you will have to study the socket - connector on the board, and then select a chip for it. Also make sure that it is not very “hot”, since the cooling system in the mini-PC is tight.

You should also immediately think about whether you will buy a video card and whether it will fit in the case. If you are planning to build a basic system, then you can choose a processor with an integrated video card. For gaming systems you will have to choose an adapter.

Turn an old computer into a media center

An old gaming PC is the perfect idea to turn it into a home theater. You won't need to buy a new wireless keyboard and mouse to use it; Kodi (formerly XBMC) has been redesigned into a simple, polished media center app that organizes all your movies, videos, and music into a remote library. It's a seamless app that runs on Windows, Linux, or OS X. Users won't have to search for video codecs—software that allows you to view types of videos—as the latest version 17.6 "Krypton" downloads everything on its own.

Plex Media Center is a younger, but even more popular, home theater solution. Plex is another free multi-OS option with a clean living room interface and a library system that downloads all the metadata for your TV shows and movies and organizes it for you.

Anything you can't watch with Kodi or Plex (though they can handle just about anything), Zoom Player, VLC, and Media Player Classic Home Theater are all very reliable video players.

You can also turn your old PC into a makeshift Steam Machine by running it in Big Picture Mode, and even if it's a few years old, it will be able to play some of our favorite living room games. Stream In-Home streaming .

RAM

The main requirement is a multiple of the number of modules to the channels on the motherboard. If the case and motherboard allow, you can choose universal modules. They are generally not the largest PC component, so they can fit into a mini-computer.

If there is not much space, you will have to purchase a “laptop” version. SODIMM has more compact dimensions. What to look for when choosing RAM?

First of all, you need to compare its parameters with the processor parameters. The specifications for the chip indicate the amount of RAM it supports. You will also have to take into account the possible frequencies and type of memory.

The remaining parameters can be selected as desired. This includes timing and tension.

Distributed Computing

The excitement associated with the collective search for medicines or extraterrestrial life has gradually faded away, but nevertheless there are dozens of such projects on the Internet. You can plug your old machine into one of these giant computing projects and keep it running for a year or two. There is no benefit for you specifically, but you will help all of humanity.

Based on materials from www.dailycupoftech.com.

Probably, these are not all methods of using outdated and no longer so necessary hardware. Offer yours; we are ready to offer a prize of $100 to the author of the most original solution. Write in the comments!

Storage device

If you have a desktop mini-PC in front of you, then most likely you can easily fit even a laptop hard drive there. But if we are talking about a fast and silent PC, then you will have to pay attention to solid-state drives.

The advantage of SSDs is not only their fast and silent operation, but also their compact size, which is very important in our case. You just have to think carefully about the volume.

The fact is that a 1 TB hard drive costs about the same as a 240 MB SSD. Given the difference in the cost of devices, you will have to think about whether you are willing to shell out a pretty penny for a capacious SSD or sacrifice speed and buy a hard drive.

Give to charity

Give me your old computer. It would be nice to do something good for a family member, friend, school or charity, and if you choose one of the later options, you may get a small tax write-off. But before you give your computer away, make sure you completely erase all personal data from it.

First, you should back up any files you want to keep, as well as deauthorize any software connected to the machine. As for wiping your PC, you can find this option under Settings > Update & Security > Recovery in Windows 10. Windows 8.1 also has a built-in option to reset your PC in System Settings. This OS level tool can update your PC and delete all the files on it in one go. The same can be easily accessed in Windows 7 by inserting the OS installation disk and formatting the disk.

Cleaning disks is not always enough if there was confidential data on them. For cleaning hard drives (important: not SSDs), the third-party option we suggest is Darik's Boot and Nuke. For SSDs, you'll want to download and use Parted Magic, which leaves the drive in an unrecoverable state and reverts to its factory default state.

power unit

As previously mentioned, you may find that the case will already have a built-in power supply. Of course, in this case you will not be able to control its model or power, but usually this option is cheaper. There are models that, in principle, have an external power supply connection. In this case, you can significantly save space.

If we are talking about building a mini-PC for gaming with your own hands, then you cannot do without a full-size power supply. But you should understand that the case will be slightly larger than the one that, for example, can be attached to the back of the monitor.

You need to choose a power supply based on the sum of the electricity consumption indicators of all elements. Compact systems usually require little, so you can purchase the simplest power supply for them.

Additional items

Making a simple cardboard computer requires few materials and is an extremely simple job. Sometimes you can get broken parts of a real device, this could be an old mouse or a non-working keyboard.

In this case, it will be a little more interesting for the child to press the keys during the game, because the computer will become more realistic. Use prints of brightly colored desktop wallpapers with pre-made icons to create a more realistic look for your computer.

Video card

This is an optional element of the system, especially if you prefer a processor with integrated graphics. A gaming system needs at least one video card. You can take a closer look at single-slot options.

By the way, there are ready-made systems in which you can see several video cards. But here you will have to carefully think through the cooling system, which you cannot do without.

Scanner

A scanner is designed to enter information from paper into a computer. Performs functions opposite to a printer, which outputs, that is, prints information onto paper.

Scanner

If a printer prints a picture from a computer onto paper, then a scanner, on the contrary, transfers the image from paper to the screen.

Often a printer and scanner are combined in one device, which is colloquially called a printer, although the more correct name would be MFP - short for "Multi-Functional Device".

Find out more: What is a scanner and how to use it

Cooling system

There are many fanless mini PCs available in the market. It all depends on the system you decide to assemble, and on the components that are already inside.

What are the options? Firstly, you can install a small cooler on the processor, which will easily cope with cooling not only the chip, but also the motherboard as a whole. This will not be easy to do since space is limited. But in online stores there are horizontal type coolers of compact sizes.

Secondly, you can install a full-size power supply that will circulate air in the system and help cope with minor heating. The fact is that the mini-PC system as a whole does not consume a lot of electricity. All components are compact, so they do not require much power.

Thirdly, you can use case fans. Of course, there are few such options, since everything depends on the case itself. But you can always find a couple of places for fans.

Fourthly, if we are talking about a gaming PC, then you cannot do without a thorough cooling system. You will most likely have to make a choice towards water cooling. But it is worth remembering that it is expensive.

Build a home server

There are many independent games that allow you to host your own servers, such as Minecraft and Starbound. You can always host the server on your regular PC, but it won't be accessible when you turn off your computer. However, turn your old rig into a server and you can stick it in a closet and let it run around the clock. (Note that this is not a very clean way of doing things if you're worried about energy costs.)

The rules for starting a server are different in each game, but using Minecraft as an example, you need to first start the game and start the LAN world. The process also requires you to install Java and edit a few command lines.

Hosting a dedicated server is a great way to have your own personal gaming space online, especially if you have a large group of friends who play together. Given the closure of GameSpy Technologies, the ever-growing contingent of good multiplayer games is in need of new server space.

Server construction also does not necessarily have to depend on the game. Following the same pattern as the media center options, you can turn your old setup into a Linux home server. You can run Plex on a Linux server and watch your movies on any computer, Roku, or other streaming device on the same network. You can use it for file backup or as a web server or mail server. And most games with dedicated server support will also have a Linux option.

Mini PC example

And finally, some mini-PCs can easily do without a cooling system. A striking example is the Hystou FMP03 7200U. This pre-assembled PC does not have a cooling system as such. It doesn't even have a power supply inside; it runs from an external device. Also, you will not find a hard drive in it, since the manufacturer recommends connecting an external drive via the SATA cable included in the kit.

The peculiarity of this model is that in the absence of a cooling system, the PC does not heat up and remains silent. The manufacturer implemented cooling, if, of course, you can call it that, using a housing, which, in fact, is a radiator.

Source

Try the experimental software platform

Ever wanted to try your hand at the terminal or go to the dark side (Apple)? Do this to your old PC - it doesn't matter if you break it! In case you've ever wanted to take the plunge into Linux, Ubuntu is an easy-to-use, open-source, GUI-based operating system, so don't worry about getting buried in scripts.

Meanwhile, there are many other lightweight distributions that make Linux OS easier to understand, such as the lightweight Bodhi Linux or the friendly DouDou. If you're looking for a more challenging challenge, you can dive into Arch, a distribution designed for advanced Linux users.

Building this custom Hackintosh is also made incredibly easy thanks to this step-by-step guide, and Apple tends to release their big OS updates for free, which is a nice benefit.