SilverStone had an early enclosure on display at CES for the upcoming Mini-STX standard, the tiny form-factor introduced with Intel's "5×5" motherboard (which we first reported on almost exactly one year ago).
The simple black metal enclosure (as yet unnamed) looked and felt like a production unit, but we are still in the early stages with the first mini-STX motherboards being announced only this week. No details were given on when it would be available for purchase, or exactly how much it will cost.
It is interesting to note the enclosure's I/O, which should indicate the standard for the new motherboards. On the front panel we had openings for a standard USB and Type-C port, and 3.5 mm audio; around back there were two more USB ports, LAN, DisplayPort, and HDMI. To the left of the HDMI port you can see the power input for the external power supply, as mini-STX will have a lot in common with the thin mini-ITX standard. (Thin mini-ITX optionally supported internal PSUs, but given the space constraints it looks like the mini-STX boards will be using a laptop style power supply.)
The tiny Mini-STX enclosure fits easily in one hand
We will await any official announcement of this (and any other) upcoming mini-STX enclosure from SilverStone.
Wall warts and power bricks?
Wall warts and power bricks? This form factor is DOA. No one wants half of their computer hanging onto the power cord on the floor.
It’s cute, I just don’t
It’s cute, I just don’t understand the use.
Would anyone be interested if
Would anyone be interested if Intel laid out a form factor for build your own laptops? I know that idea gets kicked around a lot.
PFsense or other distro small
PFsense or other distro small router. This form factor is made for that. Office PCs is another use.
What people dont realise here
What people dont realise here is that you can create a fairly powerful gaming computer even with tiny form factors as this. With a cpu with decent integrated graphics like Iris 580 Pro (Intel Skull Canyon) you can play heavy games on medium settings in 1080 resolution. The issue is if the coming cpus will have lower than 65w usage. It supports 6th generation Core i5 for example.
Maybe its possible to install even higher end cpus with more powerful aftermarket coolers, but for now only box cpu coolers will fit.