VIA takes tiny mobo spec to second generation
Mini-ITX 2.0 launched
5th June 2008 15:16 GMT
Computex VIA has launched the second generation of its Mini-ITX micro motherboard form-factor.
Mini-ITX 2.0 retains the 17 x 17cm size of its predecessor, but now mandates a chipset capable of hosting a PCI Express x16 slot for a graphics card. The chipset should have sufficient integrated graphical horsepower to handle DirectX 9 graphics - the add-in slot's present for folk who want DirectX 10.
Naturally, VIA hopes mobo makers and DIY PC folk will opt, respectively, for its own system chippery and CPU technology, such as - it said wherever possible - its Nano processor.
And since VIA's pals with Nvidia at the moment, how about a GeForce to fill that PCIe slot, sir?

VIA's vision of Mini-ITX 2.0
VIA's spec calls for a VGA port on the board, with HDMI delivered by the add-in card. What, no DisplayPort? HD sound is part of the spec too, with a trio of audio connectors for multi-channel output.
The board should provide two 3Gb/s SATA drives ports and a parallel ATA connector, plus Gigabit Ethernet and at least four USB 2.0 ports. The mobo should allow up to 2GB of DDR 2 memory to be installed.
VIA said it expects to see Mini-ITX motherboards on store shelves in Q4.


Intel Core i7 I7-920 Quad Core Processor (2.66GHz, 4x256kB, 4.8GT/s QPI, LGA 1336 Socket B)
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor (3.4GHz, 6MB L3 Cache, 4x512KB L2 Cache, 2000 MHz Bus, Socket AM3)
Intel Core i5 750 Qaud Core Processor (2.66GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 2.5 GT/s Bus, Socket H LGA1156)
Asus P7P55D Motherboard (Intel Socket H LGA1156, P55 Express, ATX, 16GB DDR3)
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G/SB710 Socket AM3 ATX Motherboard