Computer for CNC Router

[cncguy2]

Hello everyone I am a longer time watcher on YouTube of Linus Tech Tips but a first time poster here.

 

I remember in one of Linus video's he helped a neighbor out with finding a pc that would work on his cnc router and for the life of me I cannot find the video but I am hoping that you guys and gals could help me in my search

 

thank you in advance 

 

I have been needing a solution for awhile now because I have been going through cheap pc’s quite alot and I believe that this is due to the HDD and vibration 

 

 

Here are the requirements of the build:

Passively cooled
Windows 7-10 32 or 64 bit
Dedicated to the machine running only 1 program and nothing else (Mach 3 control software) http://www.machsupport.com/software/mach3/
internet access optional but not preffered
vibration resistant
moisture resistant
Dust resistant
Ethernet Port
x4 usb 2.0-3.0 ports
min 1 ghz cpu
min 512mb ram
video card min 512mb ram
solid state min 120gb hard drive
1 vga port minimum

ambient temp range from -10-110 deg F

 

I think thats it

I got quoted by a local computer store to build one for me but I think it is a little expensive I have computer building experience but I am not sure what to choose on the hardware side of things I can just build it

here are the images of what they specd me

 

 

Altec Fanless NUC Custom
Intel Celeron N2930 Quad-Core 1.83 GHz CPU
8GB DDR3 Ram
120GB msata SSD
Windows 7 Pro
3 Year Warranty

$699.99

 

 

Honestly I think this would be a good machine but currently its a little out of my price range as I have other equipment to buy

 

Here are a couple other options that I have been looking at could you please let me know if I am on the right track thanks 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Byte3-Fanless-Win-Pro-Mini/dp/B076CC93FP/ref=lp_13896591011_1_25?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511305775&sr=1-25&th=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/Byte-Plus-Fanless-Windows-Desktop/dp/B01KY0Y26I/ref=sr_1_44?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511306003&sr=1-44

 

https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-Fanless-Graphics-Windows-ZBOX-CI325NANO-U-W2B/dp/B01MSNGYD1/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/133-7384887-5254124?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

thank you  

[seon123]

I think the video you were looking for was this one?

Spoiler

 

NUCs are way outside of what I know about, especially when it has to handle moisture, dust and vibrations. 

[cncguy2]

@seon123

 

lol thanks for that link forgot it was the one where linus went werid pimp daddy for a second I will re watch it 

[mariushm]

100$ Asrock J3160DC-ITX  motherboard with soldered cpu and DC IN jack  AND 65w laptop adapter style power supply included in package.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157714

 

Motherboard has DVI, Displayport and HDMI. I think there's no analogue out (could be wrong, DVI could be DVI-I so you could use a passive DVI to VGA adapter), but then again a DisplayPort to VGA active converter is less than 10$ and works fine.

 

You have a sealed power supply so no risk of overheating due to getting filled with dust, and can be replaced anytime, as it's a standard barrel jack connector and a standard voltage.

 

Massive heatsink on CPU, even if the pc gets dusty it will still be fine.  It's a quad core 1.6 ghz default, up to 2.24 Ghz boost ... integrated graphics with as much memory as you give it. It's a 6w TDP cpu so it won't heat up much, but just for super extra safety you could add a 80mm / 92mm / 120mm fan at low rpm to move air through the case. Even if the fan dies, the system will still run just fine as long as the pc won't be fully covered in dust or fiber glass or wood chips

 

Has mini pcie to add a cheap wireless card if you want to, or you can just use the pci-e x1 slot for wireless.

Has plenty of usb ports on the back and there's some headers on the motherboard as well.

Get a sata SSD and a so-dimm memory stick (ddr3) and you're done, motherboard has sata power connector (to provide 5v and 12v if you power the board from supplied 65w adapter)

 

ANY itx case or matx with support for Itx (or you can just hack the board in the matx case)... even though it's passively cooled, there needs to be some airflow hence some holes so unavoidable that you'll have dust / whatever depositing inside.  It would be fairly reliable, maybe every 6 months or so you could just get some air can and spray some air through the case holes.

 

as for vibration resistant, you can place some hot glue on the sata cable (at the connector), you can also put some hot glue on the DC in connector so that there's no chance of slipping out , loctite blue (thread locking solution) on the threads for spacers so that they're hard to unscrew..

 

 

another suggestion .. Asus N3050T at around 75$ https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132732

 

..  only dual core  1.6 ghz / 2.16 ghz , but has vga support, 2 mini pci-e , one with with mSATA support so you could plug a mSATA hdd/ssd directly on the board, 2 sata ports , also has LVDS connector (in case you'd want to connect a flat panel lcd directly for example)

The fan is probably mostly for show, it's a 4w TDP cpu.  You can replace it with a 80/92 mm fan at low rpm and that will cool that heatsink better than that tiny fan.

Also has a DC In jack which accepts 12v or 19v standard adapters

[cncguy2]

@mariushm

 

thank you for the suggestions I will look into those 

 

question what is the advantage to building out a computer like that versus the pre-built mini pc's? it seems like after I build out the system with case/os/ssd/etc I will be in it for more than the pre-built?

[mariushm]

Well, should be fairly obvious from the pictures in your post.

 

First one has only 3 usb ports and 2 hdmi ports , you want vga and 4 usb ports... not quite fitting your needs

second one (byte3) has a lot of I/O (vga, usb ports etc)  and for 200$ may be a good deal (by the time you add a so-dimm and a hdd / ssd and a wi-fi card and case to the 105$ mb+psu combo) you get around the same price, but the quad core cpu would be much faster.

byte+ only has 2 usb 3 ports 

 

btw both byte+ and byte 3 have 32gb emmc drives which are pretty much crap, slow and with shitty endurance. But i suppose if you're not writing data constantly on them they'll be fine. emmc is pretty much cheaper and lower quality than even TLC based ssds, almost like using SD cards as hard drives.

 

zotac look nice but at 239$ it's quite expensive for what you get .. you can do better doing it yourself.