Small is Beautiful: 10 Years of Mini-ITX, Page 2
VIA
Sascha: “It has to be the Humidor 64 by Jeffrey Stephenson. This guy is the godfather of small form factor modding and had a huge impact on the community. Jeffrey achieved a build quality with his projects that is unbeaten. His designs are the best ones for the last decade and it seems that he will never run out of ideas.”
VIA: What's changed most about the platform for Mini-ITX fans over the last 10 years?
Sascha: “Mini-ITX became mainstream. Apple continued the small form factor revolution with the Mac Mini and companies like Intel, AMD or Gigabyte are supporting this standard now. Without Mini-ITX, consumers wouldn't be able to buy small, energy efficient and inexpensive Nettops in these days. When it comes to x86, the Mini-ITX form factor has been one of the most important inventions in the last 10 years because without it, we would still use huge desktops with a TDP of 300W.”
Other enthusiasts had similar reasons for coming up with their own Mini-ITX DIY projects. As Geir Ergoy of the Coelacanth-PC explained:
“The minimal size, low power consumption, integrated processor that came ready-to-use with fan, and no need to install additional PCI-cards. It's simply ready to use. Only needs RAM.”
Jim Wiggins of the Accordian-ITX mod pointed out another key benefit of the Mini-ITX:
“It was the first mobo size that could really fit into a whole lot of random "enclosures. There were so many possibilities.”
Indeed, the creative potential of the platform proved to be a key attraction for many enthusiasts, including Russ Caslis of the Millennium Falcon-ITX project (amongst others), who noted:
“The Mini-ITX platform enabled me to make some PC mods that demonstrated my creative side. It opened a door to a community in which I could get positive feedback about my talents - a community in which my technical side and my artistic side could come together and get attention.”
The renegade spirit of the Mini-ITX modder community, combined with an extraordinary willingness among its members to cooperate and share information with each other, spurred a quite incredible sense of energy and excitement around the platform.
Projects ranged from the simple yet elegant, such as using the retail packaging that the Mini-ITX board was shipped in to create a case, to the almost insanely complex that required sophisticated craftsmanship, advanced programming skills, and lots of sleepless nights before they were finally completed.
While some modders began squeezing Mini-ITX boards into old computer cases, toasters, radio and TV enclosures, toys and dolls, and even a gumball machine, others concentrated their energies on building their own enclosures out of Lego and virtually any other material they could imagine. The levels of creativity and dedication shown were quite simply breathtaking.
Mini-ITX Mods
To celebrate the imagination, innovation and passion of the Mini-ITX modding community, we have put together this collection of some of our favorite mods from the past ten years.
Given the huge variety of projects, breaking them down into different types proved extremely challenging. But in the end we settled on five very loose categories namely Home PCs, Home Media Centres, Web/File Servers, Car PCs, and Robotics. We hope you are as inspired by them as we are!
Home PCs – With Unexpected Style!
When the Mini-ITX was first released, many households still only had a single beige box PC that was so large and noisy they would try to keep it out of sight in some remote corner of their house. So, not surprisingly, when the Mini-ITX platform was released, the small size, low power consumption, and quiet operation of the platform inspired many modders to use it for building a second PC for the home. The compactness and low noise of the board freed them to create something that would be small, quiet, and attractive enough to fit into the bedroom, kitchen, and even living room.
In addition to running “light” applications such as word processing, email, and Internet browsing, many of these home PC mods were also designed to serve as a dedicated home entertainment centre for watching movies and listening to music in the privacy of their own rooms, allowing them to avoid interruptions by the other family members wanting their turn.
Many modders chose to go with a retro style mod, using old computer cases they had lying around and were just begging to be transformed. They installed a Mini-ITX mainboard in the chassis of their old TV, Commodore, BBC computer, or Sega gaming console – not as trivial a task as it may sound given the limitations of these old enclosures.
Others such as the Cool Cube, Project Jelly Bean, the Spider Case, and the Millennium Falcon were even more adventurous, involving the design and production of a custom-made chassis or gutting of toy models, the painstaking (and at times painful) integration of components into tight spaces, the addition of lighting effects for that realistic feel, and in one extreme case the use of over 200 screws. Let’s hope they had a power screwdriver!
The plethora of Mini-ITX Home PC mods presaged the emergence of a burgeoning new market for low power small form factor desktops targeted at the home user best exemplified by the Mac Mini that took off in the early 2000s. Sadly, no commercial system to date has quite attained the creative and stylistic heights achieved by the Mini-ITX modding community.
Representing the Home PC Mods section we have:
Home PC Modding Project -Creator
The “Coelacanth-PC” - Geir Ergoy
Commodore 1541 Disk Drive ITX PC - Steve Olsen
Cool Cube - Travis Hydzik
Mega-ITX - Nick Young
Project Jelly Bean - Antony Winn
Spider Case - Alex “Qtip 42” Wiley
BBC-ITX B - Graham Thompson
Millennium Falcon PC- Russ Callis
The “Coelacanth-PC”
Modder: Geir Ergoy
Country: Norway
Date of Project: October 6th, 2004
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA MII 12000
Inspiration: HITACHI TU75 Reise-TV
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.mini-itx.com/projects/coelacanth-pc/
Those long cold winter nights in Norway must give you lots of time to sit and ponder! Geir Ergoy of Norway had an old ATX computer that was noisy, slow and unstable and was looking for something to put his efforts into. “Sick of those boring, grey cases, I decided it was going to be radical.” Checking around for some inspiration young Geir had a few ideas. An old oscilloscope? Nope, none to be had. How about a microwave? Too big, what a waste of a Mini-ITX. Next up, maybe an old radio receiver … no, not quite right. Then he remembered an old Hitachi black and white TV at his cottage, jackpot! Having to wait until the next trip to the cottage, as it was over 200km away, he started to gather materials and prepare.
Finding a cheap CRT monitor was first up and he was able to get one for only $28. As he says, “I have some serious concerns about the quality, and the store where I bought it does not sell them anymore... I hope the screen lasts.”
He then decided on installing a CD-ROM and to use a VIA EPIA MII 12000 Mini-ITX board with a VIA C3 processor.
With the TV finally in his hands he went to work. Rummaging through his closet netted an old toy suitcase which was just right for the front panel. “I had decided to install a numeric keyboard next to the CRT. Both because it will look good and because it will make it possible to operate the most basic functions of the computer without a real keyboard.”
After some good old fashioned blood sweat and tears the finished product came out. This mod reminds us to never throw anything away; who knows what purpose it might serve? We hope that CRT screen is still running Geir!
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The “Commodore 1541 Disk Drive ITX PC”
Modder: Steve Olsen
Country: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Date of Project: August 26th, 2004
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA M10000
Inspiration: Commodore 1541 Disk Drive
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.mini-itx.com/pro
jects/c1541/
There have been many a mod done using old Commodore and Apple PC cases, but the as Steve Olsen says “I think Commodore "designed" the case with Mini-ITX in mind.” Originally planning on using a mail box bank that his father builds and sells at craft fairs, Steve Olsen just couldn’t wait that long for a custom build as they were just a little too small.
One Saturday afternoon with nothing better to do he starting taking apart an old Commodore 1541 disk drive that was sitting around. Placing the VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX board and DVD drive inside he found that there was only 1/16 of an inch to spare between them, perfect!
After closing it all up and installing some software, something wasn’t quite right. “The case was first build with no fans. WOW it got really, really hot. The CPU was at 65 C, and the drive case plastic was stinking of an old skunk. The DVD and hard drive were super-hot. Yet, everything remained stable.”
He opened it back up and added in two case fans and the smell went away. Also the blue lights on the fans added a nice finishing touch to the retro refit.
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The “Cool Cube”
Modder: Travis Hydzik
Country: Perth, Australia
Date of Project: March 9th, 2005
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA M-Series
Inspiration: Previous mods with multitudes of fans
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.mini-itx.com/projects/coolcube/
What motivates people to take on a modding project varies from one person to the next, be it to create a PC for a specific purpose, wanting something to fit the aesthetics of a room or just for the pure fun of it.
Travis Hydzik has been an active modder since the early stages and was in search of a new project. “The idea of this case came from looking at all those modded cases with multitudes of fans for added air flow, and thinking how about making the ultimate cooled case just out of fans.”
An important lesson to note from Travis, as well as some of our other modders, is to first sketch out your ideas and create paper or cardboard templates to get that nice fit and to minimize the number of trips you need to make to the hardware store.
Choosing a VIA EPIA M-Series Mini-ITX board for its compact size factor, Travis started searching around for the components to help him achieve his vision. Going for an industrial feel he chose to work with aluminum and over 200 round head screws as well as adding in some LED and cold cathodes for lighting effects.
He used a total of 18 Panaflo CFM fans in the final build and the metallic industrial look turned out better than even he had expected.
Although, as with any mod, there is always something you would like to do over. “I might think about adding fan grills as it’s pretty much impossible to move around when powered, without getting at least one of your fingers caught up in a fan.” Sounds like theft prevention to us.
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Mega-ITX
Modder: Nick Young
Country: Berkshire, UK
Date of Project: July 18th, 2005
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA 5000
Inspiration: Sega MEGA-CD
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.mini-itx.com/projects/mega-itx/
Nick Young of Berkshire in the UK was in search of some much needed peace and quiet from his bedroom PC. “I have been working with computers for a long time now, but it was not until I moved home from University in December 2002 that I realized how noisy they had become.” Finally by the summer of 2004, Nick and his frazzled nerves couldn’t take it anymore and he decided to do something about it.
A big fan of the Mini-ITX case mod revolution, he had learned a valuable lesson from the community, “I wanted a case before purchasing anything else. This is a key point for anyone building a Mini-ITX project. Get the case first, and then plan the rest of the components around the case, something I am only too familiar with now.” With a taste for retro he turned to eBay and came across a non-working SEGA Mega-CD for only 15 pounds. It was small, unobtrusive and would blend well with his bedroom décor, a match made in heaven.
Wanting to keep the original feel of the case presented Nick with some problems. To be able to use the original CD he had to place the VIA EPIA 5000 Mini-ITX board on a slight angle to accommodate the RAM. Once he began tinkering with this one part, other issues arose.
To close the case and have the ports match up he had to add some spacers, also new buttons were required to open and close the DVD drive as well as adding in new power buttons. After some serious problem solving and ingenuity he got it all to fit together.
He loaded on a Linux Fedora Core 2 O/S and powered up. The sweet sound of silence! Finally a PC to serve his email and teaching material needs, but most importantly, was conducive to a good night’s rest.
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Project Jelly Bean
Modder: Antony Winn
Country: Australia
Date of Project: June, 2002
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA 5000
Inspiration: 1/10th Scale VW Beetle
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.viaarena.com/project-jelly-bean.aspx?ID=128&MCatID=1&P=1
“There's a rule of thumb about estimating how long a project will take to complete. Take the time you think it will take, multiply it by two, add 10% and then change the unit of measurement to the next largest unit.” That is some sage advice coming from something of Mini-ITX pioneer and legend amongst enthusiasts, Antony Winn. His VW Beetle mod was a star attraction at Computex 2002 in Taipei and has been a source of inspiration for many other modders over the years.
Antony was commissioned to do this build by VIA for the show and luckily he was able to press through and complete it in time. It even gave him an excuse to buy that Dremel tool he had been wanting for some time.
The choice of green was to go along with the VIA Eden processor logo color. The VIA EPIA 5000 board used in the mod featured this processor and although unsure of it at the time, the color was the inspiration for the name of the mod in the end.
“No case mod is complete without at least one High Intensity LED. So I used 6 of them.”
He also modified the front bumper to eject the DVD.
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The “Spider Case”
Modder: Alex “Qtip 42” Wiley
Country: USA
Date of Project: September 23, 2003
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA 800
Inspiration: Digital artwork by Giorgio Camnasio
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.mini-itx.com/projects/spidercase/
Alex “Qtip 42” Wiley was looking for something beyond the norm to house his home PC and to enter in the 2003 TechTV case contest. Inspired by Giorgio Camnasio’s “Mechinical Spider” and its menacing look, he set to work at a feverish pace for 12 hours a day for a month straight to meet the deadline for the contest. Using a VIA EPIA 800 with a 800MHz VIA C3 processor, a 30 GB hard drive and a 24x CDRW drive as his spider’s life force, his project started to take shape.
Starting with an old oil bucket, some fiberglass, fiberglass jelly and enough bondo to keep a body shop supplied for a month, Alex sculpted his spider’s body. (We bet Alex could get a job doing auto body work after this!)
As with any DIY project there is an inherent learning curve involved and Alex learned a valuable lesson the hard way. “About halfway through cutting the legs out, I stuck my middle fingertip into a table saw and found out first hand why people wear gloves.” Back to work with a stitch in his finger Alex was reminded once again of this important safety rule. “As I was cutting the lower portion of the legs, I routed my thumb and figured out for the second time why I should learn things the first time (wear gloves!!!@#).”
Entering a scaled back six legged version in the TechTV contest didn’t bring home the hardware he hoped for b
ut satisfaction and the chance to meet other modders and share his safety lessons with them. With the time pressure off and healed hands Alex put the finishing touches on. The final mod included eight legs, two functioning fangs for powering on and opening the CD-Rom drive as well as some evil looking LED lights.
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The “BBC ITX B”
Modder: Graham Thompson
Country: England
Date of Project: May 11th, 2005
VIA Board Used: VIA EPIA ME 6000
Inspiration: Commodore ITX-64 mod
Purpose of Mod: Home PC
Link to Full Story: https://www.mini-itx.com/projects/mega-itx/
Graham Thompson was looking for an upgrade of his Apricot P90 but wanted something different from a “bog standard desktop” as he put it. A work colleague mentioned the mini-itx.com website to him and he stumbled across Neil Jansen’s project, Commodore ITX-64.
“Of course, being an Acorn user in the past, I knew I had to retaliate.” From his school day memories of the BBC model B, he wondered if a Mini-ITX board, hard drive and power supply could be squeezed in while leaving all the external connectors intact.
Obtaining a VIA EPIA ME 6000, power supply and hard drive from the mini-itx.com store, he was good to go.
The trickiest and most time consuming part of the mod was the keyboard. He used an existing keyboard controller wired into the Beeb’s own keyboard which required a great deal of circuitry know-how and the creation of a new keymap file.
Next, a quick modification to the new power supply so it would fit inside, mounting of the hard disk and the revamped keyboard and presto, he had his stealth Beeb to rival the Commodore ITX-64. “Of course the project wouldn't be finished without a BBC emulator to run the old games (I used BeebEm).”
