mini barebone, mini case, mini ITX M/B manufacturer

Andrew Amanda asked how to connect his PC to a TV. If there’s anything in the computer world that’s become significantly easier over the years, it’s connecting your PC or laptop to a TV. Even vintage TVs—as long as they have an auxiliary input of some sort, whether it be HDMI, DVI, component, or even composite. There may be a digital to RF converter out there somewhere, I just haven’t seen it. The qualifier here is that unless your computer has an exact match for the older video connection technology on the TV in question, such as a VGA port, it will probably require HDMI, DisplayPort, or USB-C output. These signals, being digital, can be translated to analog or other types of digital signals through a converter or adapter. There is one exception: DVI-I and DVI-A (rare) both included analog signals that could be used to drive standard VGA connections. I have about five of those small DVI-to-VGA dongles, not to mention several HDMI-to-DVI types, which are similarly simple an...

When the HP Elite x3 launched earlier this year, we lamented its likely legacy as the last great Windows 10 phone. It stood alone as the embodiment of Microsoft’s PC-as-phone vision at a time when Microsoft was ruthlessly burning its mobile hardware division to the ground and gutting what few Nokia remnants lingered. But now it appears that the HP Elite x3’s highlight feature—the ability to run PC software on a phone—may actually find its way into Windows 10 Mobile’s core at some point in the future. Frequent Windows sleuth WalkingCat dredged up hints of Windows 10's ability to emulate x86 (read: PC) software on ARM (read: mobile) processors, via a “CHPE” designation in code. Mary Jo Foley, a Windows reporter with impeccable sources, followed up on the report today. Foley says “CHPE” indeed refers to Microsoft plans to introduce x86 emulation to Windows 10 in a “Redstone 3” update in fall 2017. The “C” stands for “Cobalt,” Microsoft’s code name for x86 emulation, accor...

VROC, which debuted at Computex and stands for Virtual RAID on CPU, lets you connect multiple NVMe PCIe SSDs directly to your CPU in a bootable RAID partition. In other words, you can get massive amounts of storage and smoking transfer speeds. But there are a few catches. VROC works only with Intel SSDs, and only with Skylake-X. Plus, if you want VROC you need to buy a special dongle to enable the feature on your motherboard. On Monday, Intel added another twist. The company told PCWorld that VROC keys will be available in only two ways: bundled with new X299 motherboards or bundled with Intel SSDs. That's right: Individual keys to enable VROC will not be sold directly to consumers. However, Intel said it's leaving it up to board and system vendors to decide what to do for those who already purchased X299 motherboards and systems based on the upcoming feature. Intel declined to release final pricing for the VROC key, because the key won't be sold apart from a bundle...