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Mini-ITX, Major Review

Jan 19 2006 12:48PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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In a two-part series back in early 2004, I built up and bench-tested Via's then-state of the art Mini-ITX motherboard, the EPIA-M10000 (code-named 'Nehemiah'). Many of its limitations, both absolutely and relative to a Pentium M-based mini-ITX alternative that I also evaluated, derived from its trailing-edge CLE266 north-bridge chip. As I mentioned at the end of one of the part-one writeup's sidebars, Via planned follow-on designs that would employ more modern CN400 core logic.

After an interminable delay, Via got me an updated board last fall. The VT-310DP has several notable characteristics, beyond its CN400 embrace: it's a dual-processor design (each processor is identical in features and speeds to the one in the earlier EPIA-M1000 board), for example, and it contains three Ethernet ports, one of them capable of 1 Gbit speeds. Between travel, holidays and other distractions, I haven't yet fired up the board, although I plan indepth print and web coverage for later this spring. Until then, satiate yourself with a solid writeup on the MiniITX website.

http://www.edn.com/blog/400000040/post/1360002536.html

Dual Processing power article