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On 21/04/17 08:32, Neil via list wrote: > On 20/04/17 18:17, mr meowski wrote: >> >> Think about the size of a modern top-end smartphone - and then subtract >> the bits you need to make just a computer. Strip off the keypad, >> antennae, battery, speakers and so on. You'll be left with an eight core >> 64 bit CPU and ~8Gb RAM plus a GPU, ~128Gb solid state storage and the >> dedicated circuitry to drive USB peripherals and wifi, bluetooth, GPS >> and telephony signals all on a SoC way smaller than a Raspberry Pi. >> Shrinkwrap it in a tiny little case with a couple of micro slots for the >> same power and peripheral ports as your PC and you could fit a stack of >> four of them inside a cigarette packet. >> >> Just one of them would run rings around a former high-end PC from 10 >> years ago in all but a few benchmarks. Welcome to the future. >> >> You're correct about getting inside of them though - whilst things like >> Intel NUCs and similar are considerably bigger than that, they do pack >> full scale x64 architecture into a form factor that is nonetheless tiny. >> Unfortunately a side effect of this impressive miniaturisation is the >> death of easy maintenance. I'm pretty sure the manufacturers don't want >> you to ever fix them, just chuck 'em in the bin and buy another one. >> Welcome to the past. >> >> Cheers >> > Live and learn. I suppose there are various sizes available. I was > imagining something about the size of a biscuit tin at least. One > would seem strange alongside a large monitor, keyboard and a printer. > > Most of the ones I looked at had some photos which, deliberately?, > made them look quite big. It was only when I checked the actual sizes > that I realised just how tiny some of them are. Yet they still seem to > have many ports available. What about overheating? > > Regards, > > Neil > I have seen the likes of the Gigabyte 'nettops' eg. http://www.ebuyer.com/716608-gigabyte-brix-bxbt-2807-ultra-compact-pc-kit-gb-bxbt-2807-250-4 for a couple of years now, and thought they would be a decent basic, or even a headless box if you want-/needed such a thing. Not so sure whether they are so cost-effective, and they are definitely a one-shot solution .... but then if you're installing *buntu and go .. then does it really matter?!?! Modern CPUs and power-management mean that the mobile processors don't consume a lot of power, nor create the ensuing waste heat unless you're doing constant video-encoding or such-like, so there should be less wastage (and the whole box is probably a bit more efficient than one's Average PC of the 90s .. ). MJE
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