My 10 year old computer is dying.  I need a new small one that can run Mach 3 or 4.  It needs to be under 9" square and 4" deep.  Also, what operating system should I use?  The old one is still running XP.  It is not connected to the internet.  Any suggestions would be greatly suggested.  Oh, BTW, my old one had a parallel port.  I am guessing I will need to change to a USB or Ethernet port type BOB, so I will need to replace that as well.

Thanks,
Vince

I am thinking of one of these: NEXBOX T9 Mini PC Windows 10 Intel Z8300
Has anyone used one for Mach?

Vince

Hi,
I've used a dual core Atom mini ITX for Mach for several years without trouble.

I installed Windows 7 Embedded 32 bit as OS and ran two PP with Mach3. Despite on-board graphics it worked well.
More recently have upgraded to Mach 4. While the Atom can be very slow to load large Gcode files it otherwise runs
fine. Note that I upgraded to an external controller at the same time.

Truth is that you don't need a 'whiz bang' PC to run Mach, one that runs without interruption or hesitation due to hardware/software
conflicts is whats required. I think the NEXBOX will be fine. You will need an external controller to use Windows 10 as OS.

Craig

Thank you for the reply.  When you say Windows 10 will require an "external controller", do you mean a motion control board that takes an USB or Ethernet connection?

Vince

Hi,
either. Ethernet is fastest and has better latency performance. Ethernet is transformer isolated as
standard, USB can be isolated but need to be specified. Whether galvanic isolation is important is
a moot point.

I would recommend that if you buy one that you get one that has a Mach4 ready plugin in addition to
a Mach3 plugin. At this time the manufacturers whom offer cheap ($100-$200) Mach4 ready external
controllers are Warp9,PMDX, PoKeys and CNCdrive. All of these companies have been around a while
and all enjoy a good rep for backup. You need to read and interpret the specs and weigh those against
your requirements/expectations to make a choice. The good news is that any of them are pretty damn
good. Avoid the cheap-no-name stuff, the forum is littered with posts of people trying to get these
pieces of junk running.

Craig