I’ve built more custom PCs in the last several years than I’d really care to count. Most of them were based on standard ATX or micro-ATX motherboards. Rare was the request for anything smaller. In fact, I think the only micro-ITX machines that I built were for my own personal use. Those machines were great, but with Pico-ITX boards on the market for some time, I’ve been considering replacing them with something smaller. This new ARTiGO Pico-ITX Builder Kit makes me think it’s the perfect time to do just that.

This kit allows you to construct your very own x86 PC based on the Pico-ITX motherboard standard. The result is a computer that is so small, it could fit inside of a drive bay on your desktop PC. Granted, it won’t be the most powerful machine on the block, but it will take care of most basic tasks. Here’s a complete rundown of the specs:

• CPU - 1GHz VIA C7 Processor
• Chipset - VIA VX700 Unified Digital Media IGP Chipset
• Memory Support - 1 DDR2 533 SODIMM Socket, Up to 1GB
• Hard Disk Support - 1 UltraDMA 133/100/66 IDE 2.5″ Hard Disk
• Operation System Support - Windows 2000 / XP, WinCE, XPe, Linux
• USB Ports - 4 USB 2.0 ports
• LAN Port - 1 10/100Mbps RJ-45 LAN port
• Audio - Build-in High Definition Audio
• Audio Ports - 1 Microphone-in jack & 1 Line-out jack
• Display Port - 1 VGA port
• Dimensions - 15cm x 11cm x 4.5cm
• Average System Weight - 520g

You’ll be able to pick on of these kits up beginning on December 14 for $300. The only things you’ll need to get this PC up and running are a hard drive and a stick of RAM. (of course the keyboard, mouse and monitor don’t come in the box either)

Source: The Inquirer