Get yourself an i7 NUC.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...-overview.html
I'd try a I7 6700 without a video card. You can always add it if needed.
RETIRED. NO JOB. NO MONEY. NO WORRIES!
Crunched SETI Classic to the end.
SETI@home classic workunits
17,550
SETI@home classic CPU time 86,861 hours
Gigabyte Brix is a great choice. Can get up to 4 cores/8 threads with 128MB Iris Pro graphics (can crunch Collatz and such on the on-die graphics processor).
Most (if not all) models include VESA mounts so you can attach it to the back of your monitor. This way it takes up no desk/floor/shelf space at all
Have you checked out the new i7 NUC? Completely different form factor. Not sure what I think of it yet.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...-with-nuc.html
Anyway, a bit more expensive than the brix, but also a bit faster CPU.
Wow! Those things are tiny. And to think I thought the Mini ITX rig I built for my bro a year ago was small. OK, I'll have to check into these, might be worth it not to mess with a build and just use what they have...strange to think that way, but kind of neat.
An no 3.5 or 2.3 inch HD. The SSD is a stick of gum now.