Any more info on Intel's proposed "5x5" mobo format, for USFF SKL rigs?

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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I remember seeing something about these when SKL was announced, they had a few pictures on the main site, etc.

Since CES2016 just happened, was there any updated info on these? Are they still coming out?

I would love to build a "tiny" SKL rig, after witnessing firsthand the difference in performance between my HSW Celeron, and my SKL Pentium CPUs, using the IGPs (with SSDs).

With an M.2 PCI-E 3.0 x4 SSD, a 5x5 SKL rig with a Pentium or i3 CPU with HD 530 graphics could really rock a desktop workload!

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/212859-intels-new-5x5-tiny-form-factor-socketed-cpu
 

Burpo

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2013
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Currently under embargo..

http://www.pcper.com/news/Motherboards/Mini-STX-Has-Arrived-Meet-ECS-H110SU-02-Motherboard

http://www.legitreviews.com/ecs-working-make-pc-world-smaller_177732

ecs_mstx_1.jpg


ECS-CES-2016-LIVA-Core.jpg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=E4HdEjnXCfc

AsRock & the rest soon to follow..

Silverstone has announced a new Mini-STX case as well..

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/silverstone-mini-stx-case-form-factor,30924.html

Silverstone-mini-STX-case_w_600.jpg
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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Thanks, Burpo! I didn't know that the new name for Intel's "5x5" initiative, was now called "STX". ASRock system with case looks interesting.

I built a fairly small rig with a Blu-Ray drive, but these STX rigs should be even smaller. I still use optical discs, though. I wonder if anyone will release an STX case that's a little taller, to accommodate a laptop Blu-Ray slot-load drive. Would be nice.
 

Burpo

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2013
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Exactly what I was thinking when i looked at it, so I'm thinking some case makers will agree & accommodate us ;)
 
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wpcoe

Senior member
Nov 13, 2007
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A very nice feature of that ASRock STX Mini-PC:
The other interesting aspect is the M.2 SSD slot - usually, vendors want to maintain both SATA and PCIe support, but ASRock has decided to support only PCIe SSDs - this means that the I/O lanes feeding the slot are not multiplexed from the H110 PCH, but, come from the CPU directly. The H110 chipset used in the DeskMini is one of the lower-end 100-series chipsets. The PCIe lanes from the PCH are PCIe 2.0 and the I/O options are limited. Therefore, it is a point of differentiation for ASRock to utilize the CPU's PCIe lanes for the M.2 SSD slot.