Will mini-PCs take over desktop computing?

[FanlessTech]

After the "tablet bubble" people are definitely back to desktop PCs. The "post-PC" world is really the "post-beige tower" world.

I don't consider compute sticks to be PCs though. They are thin clients, or cloud devices to me. PC is freedom and flexibility when it comes to the OS, RAM, or storage.

 

[Zodiark1593]

After the "tablet bubble" people are definitely back to desktop PCs. The "post-PC" world is really the "post-beige tower" world.

I don't consider compute sticks to be PCs though. They are thin clients, or cloud devices to me. PC is freedom and flexibility when it comes to the OS, RAM, or storage.

And the freedom to have as powerful or as weak hardware as one desires. I consider the compute stick to be a pc as well due to the open ecosystem. Just a very low end pc.

 

[cbn]

I don't consider compute sticks to be PCs though. They are thin clients, or cloud devices to me. PC is freedom and flexibility when it comes to the OS, RAM, or storage.

Hi FanlessTech,

The Cedar City (Core M) Compute stick breaks the trend with a SATA SSD :

The RAM must be soldered down though.

 

[FanlessTech]

Now we're talking

 

[nk215]

At least at my home, that's true. I upgraded my LAN to 10Gbit network. Built an ESXi host and moved to thin/zero client. Virtual GPU is not quite mature yet so I settled for a server populated with 4 quadro 4000 cards for direct passthru (CUDA only work in passthru mode, vGPU does not yet support CUDA, the new gen 2 grid is out of my range).

Even a 15 years old laptop (thinkpad X40) does a pretty OK as a thin client. A dual core laptop (X200) does a good job. Photoshop (from a 2500K desktop) connected to a virtual machine via 10Gbit feels almost native.

 

[JimmiG]

The laws of physics still apply. More powerful hardware is going to draw more power and produce more heat, requiring larger enclosures, active cooling etc. Look at the Snapdragon 810. It's going to get more and more difficult to keep increasing the performance of SoC without running into thermal issues and throttling. It's the same thermal brick wall Intel and AMD hit at the height of the GHz race.

More than anything, the rise of powerful mini-ITX PCs is the result of more advanced cooling technology. We can now stick 100W CPUs and 200W GPUs into a tiny enclosure without it melting through the desk. Unless you live in a shoebox, I see no reason *not* to go with full ATX. You get more expansion slots, more room for storage and other components, better cooling and importantly, they're easier to work with. I've never found myself wishing my Define XL R2 was smaller...

"Cloud computing" (using someone else's computer over the Internet) for compute-intensive tasks isn't going to work for the masses. For every 4790K+GTX980 in the "cloud", that level of performance has to be allocated physically somewhere. That physical hardware costs money to buy, produces heat and draws power. It works for simple tasks where many users can share otherwise unused CPU cycles, but not for more demanding ones unless you're willing to spend a lot of money for someone else to run that kind of hardware for you.

 

[DBissett]

Would love to swap my goliath towers for really small boxes but they fit under the top of my desk out of the way so I hang on to them and upgrade the innards from time to time. The biggest problem is just pulling them out and lifting to a table when I want access. I mean the P180 weighs a ton.

 

[Magic Carpet]

The laws of physics still apply. More powerful hardware is going to draw more power and produce more heat, requiring larger enclosures, active cooling etc. Look at the Snapdragon 810. It's going to get more and more difficult to keep increasing the performance of SoC without running into thermal issues and throttling. It's the same thermal brick wall Intel and AMD hit at the height of the GHz race.

More than anything, the rise of powerful mini-ITX PCs is the result of more advanced cooling technology. We can now stick 100W CPUs and 200W GPUs into a tiny enclosure without it melting through the desk. Unless you live in a shoebox, I see no reason *not* to go with full ATX. You get more expansion slots, more room for storage and other components, better cooling and importantly, they're easier to work with. I've never found myself wishing my Define XL R2 was smaller...

"Cloud computing" (using someone else's computer over the Internet) for compute-intensive tasks isn't going to work for the masses. For every 4790K+GTX980 in the "cloud", that level of performance has to be allocated physically somewhere. That physical hardware costs money to buy, produces heat and draws power. It works for simple tasks where many users can share otherwise unused CPU cycles, but not for more demanding ones unless you're willing to spend a lot of money for someone else to run that kind of hardware for you.

Good post :thumbsup:

 

[jpiniero]

After the "tablet bubble" people are definitely back to desktop PCs. The "post-PC" world is really the "post-beige tower" world.

Nope, they are going to smartphones. See Apple for instance - sold 48M iPhones last quarter and will probably sell another 50M+ iPhones this quarter. MS is headed in this direction too... well everyone is.

 

[mysticjbyrd]

Realistically, in 5-7 years, most people will have a convertible laptop/tablet that wirelessly connects to a monitor (or possibly with a single USB style connector).

Anything remotely ATX form factor will be reserved for hardcore creative types (3D, video, etc). Even academic labs will probably just use the tablet form machines with cloud compute.

I hate it, because it will force me to buy hardcore server hardware to keep my hobby going....

Don't buy a lottery ticket.

 

[Spungo]

Would love to swap my goliath towers for really small boxes but they fit under the top of my desk out of the way so I hang on to them and upgrade the innards from time to time. The biggest problem is just pulling them out and lifting to a table when I want access. I mean the P180 weighs a ton.

Does anyone know why it took so long for computers to get smaller? Like I said before, the 80386 didn't even have a heatsink. They could probably put that in a gameboy and it wouldn't melt. Look at the Super Nintendo. That thing was very high end when it came out, and it was tiny. Why were desktop computers 10x as big?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Why were desktop computers 10x as big?

Because, they were "IBM-compatible". IBM's first PCs, set the standard that all others follow, as far as form-factor, expansion slots (size/count) etc.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Nope, they are going to smartphones. See Apple for instance - sold 48M iPhones last quarter and will probably sell another 50M+ iPhones this quarter. MS is headed in this direction too... well everyone is.

>=75 million, actually.