If you are thinking about building a second or third PC for your home, you can save money and energy by building a nettop. Here's how to do it.
Netbooks and nettops are one of the fastest growing segments of the PC landscape. Running on Atom or Neo processors, and meant for basic day-to-day computing tasks, they're a handy addition to any household. And with their lower energy consumption, these devices won't be adding a lot to your electricity bill.
So why build a nettop? Building a nettop is a much cheaper alternative to a full-scale desktop PC, particularly if you're looking for a system primarily to surf the Web. The CPU and motherboard alone we are using will only cost you $80 combined. And the brand new Intel Atom D510 processor (the first Pine Trail Atom processor) has the graphics (GPU) built right into the 1.66 GHz chip. The dual-core D510 also has hyperthreading, so it can theoretically handle up to 4 data streams at once. Not bad for $80.
The small form factor of a net top is definitely a plus if you are looking for an unobtrusive PC. Say you are looking for a PC for the kids or a small media center that you can place inside of your home theater console; this could work for you. It doesn't have an HDMI port, but you can easily add the nettop to you network and use it for all of your media files.
This particular nettop build also only needs a 60Watt power supply. That, added to its small form factor, makes it a good candidate for anyone wanting a more eco-friendly system. You will also save power with a 2.5-inch hard drive, the Western Digital 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor, but that doesn't mean you have lose speed. It actually runs at a fast 7,200 rpm.
Now, there are some caveats to having a nettop. You won't be running the fastest processor out there, and you will be limited in the speed and amount of RAM you can use. In fact this particular build calls for DDR2 RAM, which is a generation behind in terms of memory. Lastly, you are currently limited to using the now ancient Windows XP operating system. But when saving money as well as the planet are high up on many people's list of priorities, a nettop is definitely worth considering. Read on to build one of your own.
Parts
Motherboard: Intel D510MO $80 List (processer included)
Processor: (1.66GHz) Intel Atom D510
Chassis: Antek ISK 300-65 $60 List
HDD: 300GB Western Digital 2.5" WD VelociRaptor $150
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc Slim DVD drive $35
OS: Windows XP $110
Memory: 1GB, Crucial DDR2 $27
So why build a nettop? Building a nettop is a much cheaper alternative to a full-scale desktop PC, particularly if you're looking for a system primarily to surf the Web. The CPU and motherboard alone we are using will only cost you $80 combined. And the brand new Intel Atom D510 processor (the first Pine Trail Atom processor) has the graphics (GPU) built right into the 1.66 GHz chip. The dual-core D510 also has hyperthreading, so it can theoretically handle up to 4 data streams at once. Not bad for $80.
The small form factor of a net top is definitely a plus if you are looking for an unobtrusive PC. Say you are looking for a PC for the kids or a small media center that you can place inside of your home theater console; this could work for you. It doesn't have an HDMI port, but you can easily add the nettop to you network and use it for all of your media files.
This particular nettop build also only needs a 60Watt power supply. That, added to its small form factor, makes it a good candidate for anyone wanting a more eco-friendly system. You will also save power with a 2.5-inch hard drive, the Western Digital 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor, but that doesn't mean you have lose speed. It actually runs at a fast 7,200 rpm.
Now, there are some caveats to having a nettop. You won't be running the fastest processor out there, and you will be limited in the speed and amount of RAM you can use. In fact this particular build calls for DDR2 RAM, which is a generation behind in terms of memory. Lastly, you are currently limited to using the now ancient Windows XP operating system. But when saving money as well as the planet are high up on many people's list of priorities, a nettop is definitely worth considering. Read on to build one of your own.
Parts
Motherboard: Intel D510MO $80 List (processer included)
Processor: (1.66GHz) Intel Atom D510
Chassis: Antek ISK 300-65 $60 List
HDD: 300GB Western Digital 2.5" WD VelociRaptor $150
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc Slim DVD drive $35
OS: Windows XP $110
Memory: 1GB, Crucial DDR2 $27
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