“I’ve seen a ton of articles around the web lately comparing the Mac mini to the near full size desktop PC. What they fail to compare is the amount of computing power per square inch you get with the mini. So, I decided to take it upon myself to create the fastest PC possible with the size constraints of the mini’s small form factor,” Kevin Rose writes for KevinRose.com.
“The Mac mini is a mere 6.5”x6.5”, so I had to find the smallest (and most powerful) motherboard possible. I decided on VIA’s yet to be released Nano-ITX based boards. Luckily VIA liked the project idea, and were able to ship us a pre-production version for testing,” Rose writes. “Feature-wise, the mobo is pretty impressive. It has the VIA 1GHz “Nehimiah” [sic] Processor, SATA, Ethernet, integrated audio/video, two SODIMM slots, and most importantly it’s only 4.7 x4.7 inches.”
“Due to size restrictions, fitting a CD-ROM drive in the mini enclosure would be impossible with this motherboard. Luckily, this motherboard supports pretty much every external bootable device, including bootable CD-ROM and USB thumb drives,” Rose writes.
Full article, complete with nightmarish pictures, here.
MacDailyNews Take: Kevin Rose currently hosts “The Screen Savers” on G4TechTV. There’s no word in his article about whether this thing actually works, but if it does, one thing’s for sure, it’s the only way to get viruses, adware, spyware, and worms into a Mac mini’s case. Ugggh!
Rumor does have it, though, that on initial boot up, instead of a chime, one can clearly hear this hideous Brundlefly-like device croak,”I am not a Frankenstein. I’m a Fronkensteen.”
Also of note, the VIA 1GHz “Nehemiah” gets beaten pretty badly by Intel’s Celeron (Tualatin) 1.3 GHz which, according to this comparison, is about half the speed of the Mac mini’s G4 1.25 GHz processor, to say nothing of the Mac mini’s available 1.42GHz G4. Also, this “FrankenMac mini” seems to have lost FireWire and it’s ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB of DDR SDRAM with AGP 4X support with DVI output (traded for Integrated VIA Unichrome 2D/3D graphics!) along with it’s optical drive in the process. Yuck, what a mess!
We’ve emailed Mr. Rose a short message: “IT’S GOT A ROTTEN BRAIN! IT’S ROTTEN, I TELL YA! ROTTEN!” If this FrankenMac mini is capable of receiving our email, we fully expect Rose’s reply to be even shorter: “Ixnay on the ottenray.”
Yay! Young Frankenstein references! Love it MDN!
This stunt should have gone in the ‘Dumbest moments in Business’
TMTOHH
Did ya see the size of that heat sink. No wonder he couldn’t fit a DVD in it.
He aims to “create the fastest PC possible with the size constraints of the mini’s small form factor,” yet he fails to get even the optical drive inside the case. Sounds like he failed right from the start. And, of course, all of the other things MDN mentioned just add to it. Figures (my magic word
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My nominee for best of Stupid Hacker Tricks.
This post was brought to you by the MacDailyNews magic word “number,” as in I was numb before I read this article, and now I’m even number.
Dolt.
He writes, “Luckily VIA liked the project idea, and were able to ship us a pre-production version for testing.” Translation: I was able to con VIA out of a free motherboard for this stupid ‘test’.
He has nothing better to do with his time than to adulterate a perfectly good Mac with that god-forsaken P.O.S. It’s like putting a Yugo motor into a BMW Z4, just because ‘he can’.
What a tool.
The trick, while admirable in its audacity, is really a failure. Sure he fit the motherboard in the case, but guess what, he had to leavethe DVD/CD-RW drive out. This is an engineering masterpiece? It’s like ripping out the engine in a Ford, replacing it with a Honda, and then saying, “Well, in order to achieve this feat, we had to take out all the seats.”
He doesn’t get it at all.
It’s the OS, stupid.
This post brought to you by the word keep, as in, you can keep your puny mini Windows Franken-PC and put it where the sun don’t shine… in a shoebox in a closet under a rock and a hard place.
Just proves that a pc could never be a small as a mac. Just too much heat on the processors on the Wintel side of the computer world. Thats why mac laptops are that much thinner then any Windows laptop.
PC Users-
the inherent poor quality of their machines and software means they cannot concieve of a computer that might not need rebuilding. lets face it any half competent Microsoft user is going to eventually think “I could build a better One”. The next assumption is that all computers are the same.
actually there are thinner and lighter laptops in the wintel world.
much like this monstosity, however, they save weight and space by sacrificing the optical drive, and often even basic ports for external expansion, which are fobbed off onto a laptop dock.
sad really
On a side note, it is unfortunate what has become to TechTV and the Screensavers since G4 took them over. They used to be one of my favorite channels and shows. Now, I haven’t watched it in months and probably never will again.
As a tech project, this is outstanding. I just hope he kept the mini innards and having completed what he set out to do, just slotted the Mac back in place.
If a PC motherboard maker came up with something small enough, I guess a Pentium M would be the best processor to stick in it.
Running FreeBSD of course
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This is just a sign of how bad screen savers has gotten. Leo NEVER would have even mentioned trying this abomination. I HATE what they’ve done to tech TV and especially ‘savers. I used to really enjoy that show, but they’ve managed to turn it into a miserable experience all around.
Hey guys, give them some credit, it’s the first reaction to the mini that’s actually a presentable prototype. It probably even boots.
Given a couple years, there will be a comparable PC. Of course by then the mini will have a G5 or G6 processor. Maybe Transmedia will make a comeback and supply the PCmini with a low-heat processor. I’d like to see that company succeed, and I think they could if people start to understand that it’s not all about how many GHz your processor has, but what what you do with it that counts.
My mini works great, now fan noise, not much clutter (except for that external power converter). I don’t think we’ll see a PC fit inside a mini case, but we will see other small form factor PCs in a variety of shapes, all bigger, hotter and noisier than the mini. The PC mini might have a leg up on add-ons. I think though that Apple will get traction in the video conversion market (and many others) because of the mini.
It’s a great PC news peice and tech article! Can we build a PC with the features and power of a Mac mini, with the same form factor? No, we can not.
Sound like they admitted defeat to me. Then to add insult to their own injury, they backed that claim up with their best effort.
why is MDN bashing this? this is probably the best ad for the mac mini out right now.
“let’s see how good of a PC we can put into a mini case”
“oh wait, we can’t, we can only put some of a slow PC in one!”
that tells everyone that the mini is really well designed and fast.
so don’t bash, say thanks for proving that apple is better after all.
That’s like putting a capuchin brain in a human. It’s cool that you can it, I guess, but…
Are you kidding? That’s like putting a Yugo 3-cylinder into a Saab.
This guy is a complete* idiot.
(* Yes, complete is the MDN magic word)
Put in a Pentium 4 Emergency Edition and it will make a nice little space heater…
This is even more disturbing than the guy who turned a Power Mac G5 into a PC – cos this time it’s true!
Wow. Pathetic. The Windows folks are really stretching this time around. Even a proof of concept machine fails miserably at coming anywhere close to what a Mac mini can provide.
Today’s post brought to you by the word “running”, as in “The PeeCee Peeple are running around like chickens with their head’s cut off trying to do something…anything…that will put them in the shadow of the soft warm glow of Apple’s superior engineering and innovation…
You guys are a bunch of ass monkies. Seriously. Kevin Rose owns Macs, and its what he uses at home. He’s said so many times. This isnt about him getting it about the OS, its about just the sheer ability to do it or not. Obviously he didnt because the cd drive isnt inside.
God forbid someone do something that you guys or mdn doesn’t like to a Mac. OMG you guys are about 2 steps away from jumping up and down on his nuts and screaming “ITS THE OS!!! ITS THE OS!!!” with spit flying from the corner of your mouths! You guys need to take a chill pill. Bottom line is its just a computer. Yeah, its light years ahead of PC’s. God knows, as do I, that pc’s suck. But they’re all just physical appliances.
GET A GRIP.
What is it you dont get that some guys like kevin, and honestly me too, we just like to do stuff just to see if it can be done. Kinda like when he built the theft proof laptop with thermite.
Brought to you by “except” as in Jeesus you guys would be cool, except you forgot to take your prozac.
[Brundlefly-like]
Talking with my kid at breakfast about ‘insect politics’.
But anyway, I would have to agree with ‘ha!’ on this. This guy has proven beyond a shadow…
“You guys are a bunch of ass monkies.” – Bishop
You’re missing the point, Bishop.
First, the correct phrase is ass monkeys. If you were using Safari on a Mac the in-line spellcheck would have caught that.
Second, nobody gives a shit what this Kevin Rose idiot uses or even whether he lives or dies. Right now it is plainly obvious that he is a moron – and he is being called out as such very effectively.
Magic word: distance …as in “There is little distance between your head and your ass.“