Asus ITX-220

[Cookie Monster]

Has anyone used one of these tiny beasts before?

Link

Thinking of building a basic web browsing/word processing/media PC to replace the old relics at home (literally space heaters). After doing some research, the celeron 220 is a single core CPU based on the Conroe architecture. Clocked at 1.2GHz, L2 cache of 512K and consumes 19Ws. Gaming is of zero priority so even an Intel GMA would do fine.

Was wondering if it would stack up against either:

rig 1)
P4 2.53GHz
Gigabyte GA-8ST667 (S478/SIS NB/SB chipsets!)
2x512MB DDR333

rig 2)
P4 3.0GHz with HT
Asus p4p800 deluxe
2x1Gb DDR400

 

[JackMDS]

The Single Core (ATOM 220) works at a level like the old P-III 1.1GHz (may be slightly better).

The P-4 are twice as powerful CPU wise. However the P-4 take much more Electricity.

This is a similar board but it has Dual Core ()ATOM 330), and it is a better board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813121359

Cost the same but No Free Ship.

These boards do very well with Windows Home Server, or as general surfing word processing computers.

 

[dawza]

I have the D201GLY2, which uses the same CPU with the less-than-spectacular SIS chipset. Compared to a single-core Atom, the 220 is about 25-30% faster. In actual use, the 220 feels a good bit snappier. For the purposes you listed, a 220 should be just fine. I also have an older 2.93 Celeron 478 test rig, and it is faster than the 220, although for browsing and general office work, the difference is smaller than between the Atom and the 220. As JackMDS stated, power consumption is obviously much higher and IMO does not justify the additional heat output relative to increased performance (again, for your specified tasks).

The 220 does require active cooling, and that 40mm fan looks like it would be loud. I have an 80mm fan at 5V cooling mine.

I could deal with a 220-based system for browsing and light app use- a single core Atom, IMO, is just a bit too underpowered for anything more than a netbook or file server. I have no experience with dual-core Atoms.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Thanks for the feedback

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
The Single Core (ATOM 220) works at a level like the old P-III 1.1GHz (may be slightly better).

The CPU in the OP's board is a Celeron 220, not an Atom 220. Very different beast. Also, you are thinking of the Atom 230. There is no Atom 220.

 

[mmntech]

Originally posted by: Aluvus

Originally posted by: JackMDS
The Single Core (ATOM 220) works at a level like the old P-III 1.1GHz (may be slightly better).

The CPU in the OP's board is a Celeron 220, not an Atom 220. Very different beast. Also, you are thinking of the Atom 230. There is no Atom 220.

The Celeron 220 supposedly outshines the Atom by quite a bit even though it's clocked slower. It's Conroe based.

Zotec makes some ITX boards that have user replaceable CPUs. Might be worth a look at. You could probably drop something much faster than a celly 220 in there without breaking the bank. Something like a Celeron E1400 Allendale, which is dual core instead of single. It's $50. So $100 versus $80 for something that will meet your needs a bit better, especially if running Windows 7 or Vista.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813500010

 

[Cookie Monster]

I was thinking about that as well. But the place I come from dont have much ITX options, and the ones I can potentially buy are the MCP79 (GF9300/ION) ITX boards. These are pretty expensive for what they provide so its all a trade off. At this point in time, I think ill be better off looking at the mATX alternatives.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
At this point in time, I think ill be better off looking at the mATX alternatives.

For micro ATX you will use a bit more power than an Atom or Celeron 220 setup, but gain a lot more power and flexibility. Heck, you probably will gain performance over your Pentium 4 beasts. Here are a couple of options:

Intel-based
Go with a Pentium Dual Core E5200 on a Gigabyte G31 chipset motherboard. The reason is that the E5200 is the lowest end 45nm Intel chip and the Gigabyte board allows underclocking and undervolting.

AMD-based
Go with one of their 45W chips and probably some motherboard using an AMD 760 chipset. IIRC that is a die shrink of an older chipset (or maybe AMD 740?). I'm not super familiar with those and don't know if any support underclocking/undervolting.

With both setups, you can maximize power/heat savings by using a notebook HDD (save 5-10W) and using the absolute smallest capacity efficient PSU you can get away with. The reason is that most PSUs are not very efficient at low outputs. That 80+ Gold 1kW PSU you have your eye on? Efficiency would probably be around 60% or less running an Atom based system at under 50W. The highest capacity PSU I'd recommend would be an 80+ unit in the 300W range. Seasonic makes some 300-350W units. I think Enermax makes some 330W units. Alternately go specialized with something like a PicoPSU. You can get 90W PicoPSU with power brick for around $60 and it will likely be 80-90% efficient running these rigs.

I'd estimate easily under 50W from the wall using power savings, notebook HDD and a PicoPSU for a system that outperforms those P4 rigs.