Suitability of Atom mobos for mach?

[lateAtNight]

Hey everybody,
Inspired by Smilers Sun Microsystem case build I am starting to use an old workstation tower of mine to house my PSUs, drivers etc. I'd still like to have the computer in same case though. Since most of the space is taken up by the cnc equipment, I am thinking of using one of Intels "Atom" boards. They seem to meet the vague spec provided by ArtSoft. Thinking of going for this one http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=47#d945gclf

The only thing is that it has an integrated GMA 950 graphics card, and ArtSofts web site has the Mach 3 spec saying "Non integrated video card".

I know some people are using laptops to run Mach... I was just wondering if anyone is using a laptop with a GMA 950 graphics chip or similar, and if so does it work alright?

I don't really know Mach, but from what I do, I don't really see why this is a requirement.

On another note i'll be receiving my smooth stepper tomorrow :), so no need to worry about power issues from the parallel port on these small mobos, which I think I read about somewhere.

Oh, one other thing, how important do you think one of the more expensive opto isolated breakout boards are?

Thoughts?
Cheers,
Dave.

[Lee Roberts]

The only thing is that it has an integrated GMA 950 graphics card, and ArtSofts web site has the Mach 3 spec saying "Non integrated video card".

I know of three machines running integrated graphics card's using Mach, I think this may have been something they recommended way back when pc systems were not as good/fast as they are now.

I could be wrong and there may be a specific reason, like screen refresh rate and the cnc machine being in sync, I don’t know but I’ve not seen any issue's with integrated video cards to date.

Maybe you could email them or post on the Mach forums and let us know what they say; the “integrated video card” is something I questioned as well.

[Smiler]

Hey everybody,
On another note i'll be receiving my smooth stepper tomorrow :), so no need to worry about power issues from the parallel port on these small mobos, which I think I read about somewhere.

Oh, one other thing, how important do you think one of the more expensive opto isolated breakout boards are?
.

When I had my wiring disaster recently, it was probably only the opto-isolators that prevented me damaging my SmoothStepper. Personally, I wouldn't risk not having isolation.

The opto-isolated BOB's sold by DIY-CNC and Zapp are very good quality & well worth the money IMO. Backup from Roy at DIY-CNC is first class. I have one of their Uniport's as I needed three relays (Router, Extract and laser cross) plus I like the idea of a charge pump to make sure nothing moves while the laptop and Mach start up.

Good luck with the build Dave.

Regards, Jeff.