Mini ITX with USB3/SATA6 and HEX core support!

[Zap]

J&W launches ITX 6 core motherboard

CLIFFS:
Supports 95W AMD CPUs up to 6 cores
Supports core unlocking
PCIe x16 slot
AMD 890GX chipset
USB3 courtesy of NEC
dual gigabit ethernet courtesy of Broadcom
SATA 6Gbps courtesy of AMD Southbridge
VGA, DVI, HDMI outputs
mini PCIe slot for WiFi (may or may not be included)
2x SODIMM slots
optical SPDIF out
estimated $180 street price

The biggest problem (besides the price) that I see is AFAIK J&W MINIX does not have a USA office, and thus zero warranty support here.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Ewwww, SODIMMs...

 

[alyarb]

who cares, at least there are two DIMMs instead of one, and that is definitely the nicest AMD board in that form factor by a very long shot.

 

[cbn]

Deleted.

 

[flmjiggy]

http://www.mvixusa.com/product/Minix-890GX-USB3-Mini-ITX-Motherboard-USB-3.0-SATA-6Gbps
Almost out!
http://www.mvixusa.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=1613
price

 

[Zap]

Well, it is competing against what, the Asus board?

ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe

Brand: Asus <> J&W
Cost: $125 <> $200+
CPU: wattage 95W <> 95W
Core unlocking: YES <> YES
CPU overclocking: YES <> ???
Memory: DDR3 1600 <> DDR3 1600
Chipset: AMD 880G <> AMD 890GX
Southbridge: AMD 710 <> AMD 850
NIC: single Realtek <> dual Broadcom
USB 3.0: 2x <> 2x
USB 2.0 4x <> 4x
SATA: 3x 3G <> 4x 6G
eSATA: YES <> NO
Sound: ALC889 <> ALC892
SPDIF: optical + coaxial <> optical
PCIe x16 2.0: YES <> YES
IGP: Radeon 4250 <> Radeon 4290
IGP overclocking: YES <> ???
IGP output: DVI, HDMI <> DVI, HDMI, VGA
IGP Sideport memory: NO <> 128MB DDR3 1333MHz
Bluetooth: YES (but just a USB dongle?) <> NO
WiFi: YES <> YES (where is it?)
Mini PCIe slot: NO <> YES (maybe for WiFi?)

So, for the lower price, Asus gives you overclocking (it's in there "Genes" so to speak ) and a couple extras like eSATA (takes one of internal SATA ports), coaxial SPDIF and Bluetooth.

For the higher price J&W gives a better chipset, SATA 6G, dual NICs and better IGP. The difference in IGP is around 20% clock speed and the Asus lets you overclock it maybe to the same amount, but there's no making up for the Sideport memory.

Anyways, yes it is expensive, but it does have more features.

 

[RaiderJ]

Dang, ITX boards are really slick! If they weren't so expensive compared to a mATX board I'd get one for my main machine as I only have a single video card populating my expansion slots.

 

[Zap]

Asus Rampage III Gene is $230, so it isn't unknown for good mATX boards to get expensive.

 

[cbn]

Dang, ITX boards are really slick! If they weren't so expensive compared to a mATX board I'd get one for my main machine as I only have a single video card populating my expansion slots.

I suspect Mini-ITX is poised for an increase in popularity as CPU die shrinks allow these the boards to handle maximum overclocks of everyday processors (which which for Intel would be their dual and quad core processors in their mainstream line-up). When that happens prices of MINI-ITX will likely drop as smaller (all things being equal) would be desirable to most people.

Remember, 22nm is just around the corner for Intel and it might be @22nm overclocking four cores just doesn't pull that much current compared to a 45nm Core i5 750.

 

[jaydee]

I'll be buying the Asus board in the coming weeks. Not keen on paying $200 for a no-name brand motherboard that has no warranty support.

Although I do wish Asus had 4 SATA ports and support for 6Gbps. Sideport memory would be nice too, but IMO for $125, it's the clear winner here regardless.

 

[ther00kie16]

Biggest problem with mini-itx: only 1 expansion slot. They need to bring back mini-dtx, or rather bring it to market in the first place.

2 slots means it's perfect for dual tv tuners tv tuner + gpu for some gaming.

 

[Zap]

There are some DTX boards out there. I think Zotac makes one with an Atom D510 and PCIe slots.

 

[ther00kie16]

There are some DTX boards out there. I think Zotac makes one with an Atom D510 and PCIe slots.

yes, they exist for atom. but who's going to put a hefty gpu in an atom system? that Gigabyte board was an am2 board that was supposed to come out in 07 but never did apparently.

To me it makes perfect sense as mini-dtx can pretty much takeover all of matx market and some of mini-itx market and because I read there's no waste as 1 board perfectly divides into 4 mini-dtx sized boards with no waste.

 

[Zap]

Maybe companies will be more willing to put them out in the future because ITX cases from Lian Li and Silverstone can accept DTX mobos?

BTW, Foxconn makes a DTX board but strangely calls it micro ATX.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186178

They also sell it as part of a barebones in a slim case. It is strange because it only has one DIMM slot and the PCIe x16 slot is IMO positioned wrong. If they fixed those two problems (and added more SATA ports) then I think this board might be more popular.

 

[ther00kie16]

That is interesting, I'm assuming they put the x16 slot there so one can potentially add a dual slot card in addition to a card in the x1 slot.

That board's close. But 1 dimm, no hdmi and 65w limitation really keeps it from being an all-rounder that mini-dtx boards can be.

So did some more research and although it's AMD's form factor, it's ironic that Intel's the one making money off of it with all the Atom DTX boards and 1 for mobile core 2

It has hdmi and dvi but oddly enough has a x1 slot next to the x16 slot so it'd have to be an internal card... also has mini pcie slot.
If they can do something like that (with the x16 and x1 slots separated of course) for a 1156 board, it'd be amazing. mini pcie slot for wifi/bt, x1 slot for tv tuner, x16 slot for gpu if needed.

 

[Zap]

Hmmm, that looks standard mini ITX to me.

 

[ther00kie16]

Hmmm, that looks standard mini ITX to me.

I know, it looked that way after I posted cuz I was mostly looking at specs rather than pictures. Was too lazy to explain/modify post. But it's still strange that it has a x1 next to the x16.