Entries Tagged 'mini Itx' ↓

We build littlecomputers (for our own use, but we put them on other people's premises) out of rackmount boxes, mini-ITX boards, some peripherals and a little bit of box adaptation and customising cables.

I'm sure these qualify for self-certification, but I have no idea how we actually DO it for this type of product.

Can you advise?

Firstly, I don't think CE applies to you as you are not placing these products on the market, that said:

You are building machines with fast switching components so it seems to me that self cert is unlikely to be a viable route….

Note that even if all the component parts are CE marked, this DOES NOT mean that the final assembly will pass!

I would guess that there are really two sets of regs that are obviously relevant to your application:

EMC & Electrical safety.

The electrical safety is potentially easy, just use an external power supply that is CE marked (and that you are satisfied complies)! If you have to use an internal psu then things get a fair bit more complex.

EMC is where your problems will really start as computer logic boards are a notorious source of broadband noise, you will almost certainally have to filter all IO connections and take care to keep any slots in the box to minimal length (so they do not act as a slot radiator). for these purposes a lid that only makes contact at the screws counts as a series of slots….

Particular connections to pay attention to are the power feed (a ferrite ring often helps here, but then you need to measure, and any signal cables that directly export the motherboard 'ground' on the screen…

If you can get your board supplier to provide measurements showing that their boards will comply in your case and with your external wiring then the TCF route may be possible (basically you document that your system complies based on the noise power spectrum of each of its components), but I would be very surprised if that worked.

I would be very tempted to put an example (together with appropriate cables thru a test house for a preliminary survey even if I was basically going down the TCF route.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on the self cert, but as I say, I don't think you even need to CE mark (Check this with a specialist).

Regards, Dan.

I am yet to register my company, (just me at the moment)

I design and assemble mini pcs, smaller than yellow pages.
They are full power, with dual core desktop cpus and much RAM.

They use about half the energy of a normal pc.
The motherboard size is Mini-ITX
My name is Oli Dipple

I was thinking DippleITX, but i don't know whether thats catchy enough.

TinyPCs

This is a great article about – how to Select a Company or Product Name – developer-resource.com/how-to…

The article has some good advice on how to research names, and what to becareful of.

Here are some tips on selecting a domain name small-business-software.net/c…

Should get you started!
Best of luck

Olimpix
IT Olimpix

This motherboard supports AMD Socket AM3 multi-core processors with unique L3 cache and delivers better overclocking capabilities with less power consumption. It features dual-channel DDR3 1333 memory support and accelerates data transfer rate up to 5200MT/s via HyperTransport 3.0 based system bus. this motherboard also supports AMD CPUs in the new 45nm manufacturing process.

AMD 880G Chipset is designed to support up to 5200MT/s HyperTransport 3.0 (HT 3.0) interface speed and PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics. It is optimized with AMD’s latest AM3 and multi-core CPUs to provide excellent system performance and overclocking capabilities.

Experience ultra-fast data transfers at 4.8Gbps with USB 3.0, the latest connectivity standard. Built to connect easily with next generation components and peripherals, USB 3.0 transfers data 10X faster and is also backward compatible with USB 2.0 components.

Both boards get the regular Zotac mini-ITX treatment. Onboard Wi-Fi via a mini-PCIe module, dual DDR3 slots supporting up to 8GB, a multitude of video out connectors, gigabit Ethernet, and a PCIe x1 slot.  Both motherboards are supported with an AMD HD4250 GPU, and have HDMI + DVI back port connectors to match.

M880G-ITX - MSRP $229

the M880G-ITX uses the AMD M880G + SB820M chipset, and comes equipped with an AMD Turion II Neo K625 dual-core 1.5Ghz processor.  Aside from this, we’re also looking at six SATA 6Gb/s ports, capable of RAID 5.  This setup could make for a nice little home storage system.  apart from this, it might make for a simple machine that you might build for your Grandparents if they don’t play games, and do nothing taxing beyond word processing and looking at pictures.

As standard, the back panel comes with two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports (another two possible via a pin header), a serial port, a HD Audio set of ports, a PS/2 keyboard connector and an optical S/PDIF output.

880G-ITX - MSRP $119

the 880G-ITX instead uses the AMD 880G + SB850 chipset, and comes sans CPU, accepting any AM3 processor up to a 95W TDP.  apart from this, the board isn’t too different from the M880G-ITX, except from two fewer SATA 6Gb/s ports and two more USB 2.0 ports.

With Sandy Bridge around the corner, we’re not too sure what Zotac want from these boards.  the niche market they satisfy isn’t going to jump on them immediately, and they will have to be priced competitively to sell (we're awaiting MSRP information from Zotac).