Comment on What fun things can I do with an M.2 SSD and 2x4GB ram?
PeachMan@lemmy.world 6 months agoThe biggest thing to worry about is DIMM vs SODIMM. The latter is much smaller, and probably what most mini PCs will use. So if you have full sized DIMM RAM, you might have trouble finding a mini PC that will work.
And even if it is the right size, you’ll still want to make sure that your motherboard supports your specific RAM clock speeds.
Starglasses@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
It’s not vital to keep the ram since it is definitely bulky when it comes to a mini pc.
I also don’t necessarily need a “normal” case. Could I make something weird? Could I make a shoe-computer?
Alto@kbin.social 6 months ago
Could you? Probably. Should you? Probably not.
Realistically unless you're up for spending at minimum of a couple hundred bucks, you're not going to get a true mini-pc (unless you want to buy a NUC or something, but that kinda defeats the purpose). Any mini-itx case you'd want (<14L) is going to be around the $100 mark on the cheap end. Unless you really luck out and find a compatible used motherboard on the cheap, youre looking at another $100 minimum. Could get a used 4600g for ~$65, but it's probably not going to come with a cpu cooler if it's used. Add in a power supply that fits, that's another $140 on a good day.
Small form factor PCs are stupid expensive because it's a fairly niche market that very few people absolutely need.
What I'd personally do is find a used dell inspiron or similar for <$150 and toss that all in it
Starglasses@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
I definitely know. I already made myself a small form factor case. My cat is bigger than my computer ;)
I like these niche hobbies and the silliness that can go into it. I think I spent $250 on this case and (k, due to covid) it took more than a year to ship. Now its smallness is so large!
Worth it :D
Starglasses@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Couldn’t post the picture here, sso I posted it to cats. My cat and my PC
Alto@kbin.social 6 months ago
In that case (pun intended), your best bet would probably be to try to find a NUC (or similar) that supports expansion. I think I remember seeing some that did, but it's been a few years since I've looked into that market. I know intel stopped making them first party, so it might be a pain in the ass to find now
PeachMan@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Sure, the sky is the limit. You could also just get a motherboard, processor, and power supply, plug everything in and shove it in whatever container you want.