-
Save 15% on ALL SFF Network merch, until Dec 31st! Use code SFF2024 at checkout. Click here!
General Chat Thread
- Thread starter onlyabloke
- Start date
I'm thinking of the Fantastic Voyage ship, somehow... ? How great would it be to have that case shrink to a sub-1L size!
Imagine if we're building computers from gum stick sized components
- Jul 19, 2015
- 818
- 1,359
Imagine if we're building computers from gum stick sized components
Gumstix have been doing it for years. They also have the Stagecoach if you want to try your hand at clustering a few
An interesting thing I stumbled on today: there is an 'unofficial' (managed by SGeT rather than Intel) standard called the 'Embedded NUC'. It's essentially the guts of a NUC stuck onto an MXM-like module, intended to be slotted into a board that breaks out the USB ports, video outputs, PCIe links, etc.
And while looking at that, I stumbled across the Congatec TS175
95mx125mm, available with up to an i7-7820EQ (45W, up to 3.7GHz turbo), and a 16x PCIe 3.0 link. This one uses the Com Express form-factor, which looks positively tiny when plonked on an ITX host board.
What I have sadly not been able to find is a carrier board with Com Express Type 6 on one side, and MXM 3 on the other (or combining the two on one plane). However, the Com Express carrier design guide does have an explicit section on interfacing with MXM.
And while looking at that, I stumbled across the Congatec TS175
95mx125mm, available with up to an i7-7820EQ (45W, up to 3.7GHz turbo), and a 16x PCIe 3.0 link. This one uses the Com Express form-factor, which looks positively tiny when plonked on an ITX host board.
What I have sadly not been able to find is a carrier board with Com Express Type 6 on one side, and MXM 3 on the other (or combining the two on one plane). However, the Com Express carrier design guide does have an explicit section on interfacing with MXM.
- Jul 19, 2015
- 818
- 1,359
Size of an SODIMM but you do sacrifice x86 if that's a thing you care about (I'm fairly sure I've seen SODIMM form factor boards w/ lighter x86 CPU's on in the past but dont take that as gospel). I'm a fan of the just enough computer / just enough OS philosophy myself but ultimately it depends what your intended use will be.
- Jul 19, 2015
- 818
- 1,359
ive gone through two VIA systems in the past, both shat and died in fairly short order because QA at VIA is apparently not a thing. I wasn't aware they made anything smaller than picoITX though w/ x86 processors?
edit:
http://www.kontron.com/about-kontro...arc-computer-on-modules-with-an-x86-processor
http://www.adlinktech.com/PD/web/PD...ource=&category=Computer-on-Modules_SMARC-LEC
Nice. Being that it has Pentium and Celeron support, that means it can handle x64 and has a fairly broad extended ISA supported.
The VIA comment was just a guess...I know that all Intel and AMD x86 processors earlier were much too power hungry for a small component like these. That was before Atom processors, though.
Damn, the Wacom Cintiq Pro got released in my area. Might actually sell my old Cintiq 12 towards getting the new one (although I'd probably wait a very long while before committing to it, seeing Dell has a large tablet display recently announced)
Throughout the years I've made my 2008 MacBook cheat obsolescence with some OS X upgrades and a new hybrid SSD, but now seems like the iGPU is not doing so well :<
Maybe I'll have to open up my laptop again and remove some dustbunnies, maybe that is causing the problem.
Maybe I'll have to open up my laptop again and remove some dustbunnies, maybe that is causing the problem.
If you happen to have some spare SODIMMs, try swapping the RAM. That looks like classic in-memory corruption, and if you have an integrated GPU then the fault will be in the main system RAM due to it being shared. IIRC, the 2008 Macbooks were all supplied as standard with two SODIMMs, so you could also try running on one stick and then the other, to see which is faulty.Throughout the years I've made my 2008 MacBook cheat obsolescence with some OS X upgrades and a new hybrid SSD, but now seems like the iGPU is not doing so well :<
Maybe I'll have to open up my laptop again and remove some dustbunnies, maybe that is causing the problem.
I just had a thought: I wonder if the GPU makers would incorporate a powered Displayport-embedded USB-C port on their cards
I'd like to see it happen. They would need to incorporate at least a basic USB 2.0 controller in order to be compliant with the Type C specifications (even when using DP Alternate Mode), and to avoid having to do PCIe bifurcation weirdness (i.e. having an x16 slot card connect the GPU at only x8 internally and waste the other x8 on a USB controller) that would likely need to be incorporated into the GPU die itself. Or possibly doing something really weird like routing an internal motherboard USB 3.0 (or Type C) header to the GPU.
The manufacturers can route audio through the GPU (HDMI) so I would expect this would also be possible with USB 3.0. It would be nice to have a GPU that can supply a full-option USB-C port considering its limited realestate on the rear I/O.
