Are any Celeron 1037U Motherboards actually available?

[nForce2]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138368

Price on the Biostar Celeron 847 just dropped to $64.99 with free shipping.

That is not quite as good as the free 8GB deal I was expecting, but it is a move in the right direction.

That actually makes it the cheapest 847 motherboard on Newegg. Hopefully that will help clear them out more quickly. :thumbsup:

 

[nForce2]

Hold the phone... I found another one. Nano-ITX this time.

Qotom Q1037U
http://www.qotom.com/zhongduanji/view_Q1037U.html

The item pages for this one on aliexpress have been updated with more pictures, and it looks like they simplified the design for production.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Nano...-Dual-Display-1-SIM-mainboard/1124018545.html

The copper heatsink is now aluminum, and the fan is different. It looks like several connectors have been removed as well, but I'm not sure what they were for.... (LVDS, a jumper block, and something else?)

 

[nForce2]

Here's another new one, the ZA-1037L6.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.159.BgkoOz&id=27382696320

Intended for router/firewall usage, the standout features are that it has 6 gigabit ethernet ports and a compact flash slot. At today's exchange rate, 888¥ = $145 (US).

 

[nForce2]

It looks like this product, the QOTOM-Q100, is the Qotom Q1037U motherboard in an aluminum case, bundled with an 8GB SSD and power supply. One of the references says that it will come to the market in September.

The photos I'm finding show two different case designs... no idea which one you would get. But if you need small size with a case, it might be a bit more flexible than the BRIX depending on your needs.

It looks like this has also been updated, with the one case design dropped, and another one added. It looks like the taller case is designed to accommodate a 2.5" hard drive, which would be a nice feature to differentiate it from the NUC or BRIX. :thumbsup:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/high...eron-1037u-CPU-1-8g-dual-core/1354953987.html

 

[nForce2]

And another new one, the GIGABYTE MRNM7AI.

12/19V DC input, dual-channel memory, and a unique feature: HDMI and Display Port as the video connections (with VGA also available via a pin header). The PCIe x4 slot is apparently optional.

http://b2b.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4696#sp

 

[Lonyo]

If only some of these were actually widely available

 

[86waterpumper]

Ok I had time today to fire the system up just to check if the board was at least working etc. I still don't have the hard drive installed, but I can say that it does have a nice uefi bios, hottest temp that I saw after a good while sitting at the bios was 50c. This was even after I slowed the cpu fan way down with smart fan control. At first it had the fan turning near 6k rpm. At about half speed it still held the temp at 50 in the bios which is pretty good.

On other systems I have built I always find bios temps to run higher than in windows. the heatsink was just barely warm to the touch was not hot by any means. I am thinking despite the smallish fan the noise while doing normal tasks will not be very intrusive. I was sort of surprised to see no s4 or s5 sleep states? It detected my memory at 1600 speed correctly, so that was nice. Anyway I will update further after i install windows and test more.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

6SATA ports, pricey as hell.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813176015

 

[nForce2]

If only some of these were actually widely available

No kidding... But they are making progress!

Ok I had time today to fire the system up just to check if the board was at least working etc.

Just curious, how loud was the fan when it was running at 6,000 RPM (full speed?) ? You mentioned that the fan in normal usage wouldn't be obtrusive (which is good to know), but does it really get loud when it spins up?

Have you tried changing the value for the "CPU Fan Stop Temperature" to something other than zero? (For example, if you set the value to say, 60 degrees, will it actually turn the fan off?)

Also, if possible, would you mind taking a picture of the BIOS screen options under "F-Center"? (I think that's where Foxconn puts their clock speed and thermal throttling controls?)

Thanks for the updates!

 

[nForce2]

6SATA ports, pricey as hell.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813176015

That's the same one that has been out for a few weeks now (see page 2).

We were hoping that its high price was just a starting point, since it was the very first 1037U motherboard to hit the market. But even now that others are out, and at much better prices, the Giada still remains the only one in general availability with USB 3.0, the only one with dual Ethernet, and aside from the Biostar that recently appeared in the UK, it was the only one available with a full-size PCI-Express slot.

So there are probably better options now... but maybe not, depending on your needs/requirements. :hmm:

 

[nForce2]

Although not a standalone motherboard, this one also looks pretty interesting:

The Qotom-T30.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini...chassis-motherboard-dual-core/1312219331.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...dr3-ram-8g-ssd-fanless/108231_1314636964.html

The specs are generally comparable to the others, but with a footprint of 205x140mm, this must not be using any of the Mini-ITX motherboards.... and the connector arrangement doesn't match the Q1037U Nano-ITX motherboard, so it must be its own custom (non-standard) motherboard. It also claims to be fanless - which would make it the first completely passively cooled 1037U system I've found, if it is true. :thumbsup:

The price is $159 shipped (to the USA), which is pretty decent when you consider that it has a nice aluminum case.

 

[86waterpumper]

Just curious, how loud was the fan when it was running at 6,000 RPM (full speed?) ? You mentioned that the fan in normal usage wouldn't be obtrusive (which is good to know), but does it really get loud when it spins up?

Have you tried changing the value for the "CPU Fan Stop Temperature" to something other than zero? (For example, if you set the value to say, 60 degrees, will it actually turn the fan off?)

Also, if possible, would you mind taking a picture of the BIOS screen options under "F-Center"? (I think that's where Foxconn puts their clock speed and thermal throttling controls?)

Thanks for the updates!

The fan was plenty loud enough to hear at full speed but was maybe equivalent to a older laptop. It was not horrible, but I personally like a really quiet computer. I cannot see a usage for this machine where it would stay loaded with 100 percent cpu where anyone would ever need the fan to be going wide open? I will test alot more with it, all I did really was to set the smart fan to enabled instead of disabled so those values you see are just what the bios picked. I will see if I can set it higher and see if a value of zero keeps the fan off till 50, or 60 etc. I guess these cpus are safe up to 80c at least right? I don't want to get it up so hot that the puny fan cannot bring it back down haha.

I will get a pic of the other bios screen for you but it may be middle of the week or so.

 

[Zap]

Although not a standalone motherboard, this one also looks pretty interesting:

The Qotom-T30.

Very nice. No USB 3.0 though, which is a deal breaker for me. Also, "optional" WiFi N-150. So does it come with WiFi or not? And N-150 is "meh."

 

[86waterpumper]

Yeah tiny form factor with no way to upgrade to usb 3.0 sucks. I plan to put a pci-e card in the foxconn. Even the intel nuc doesn't have usb 3.0 right? USB 3.0 seems to be the slowest adopted standard ever? I don't get it. These type systems where you can't fit big internal storage in are where you need it most. Anyway celeron 847 nuc is like 160 bucks? I guess they are the same as biostar want to sell those out first before releasing a faster one

 

[AkumaX]

Nice, newegg is now finally dumping the 847 boards, hope I can get the 1037u biostar by thanksgiving to build a new htpc.

1037u + free 8gb ram!!!! (here's to hoping :awe

 

[AkumaX]

And another new one, the GIGABYTE MRNM7AI.

12/19V DC input, dual-channel memory, and a unique feature: HDMI and Display Port as the video connections (with VGA also available via a pin header). The PCIe x4 slot is apparently optional.

http://b2b.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4696#sp

It'd be great if we knew if the board's DP could output to 2560x1600

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It'd be great if we knew if the board's DP could output to 2560x1600

It would just have to be Displayport 1.2, right?

 

[AkumaX]

It would just have to be Displayport 1.2, right?

Not sure. I've seen plenty of gfx cards/motherboards that have HDMI 1.4a, and they only output max 1920x1080 (when, technically, the HDMI 1.4a standard does 2560x1600 @ 60hz and 3840x2160 @ 30hz)

 

[cbn]

Although not a standalone motherboard, this one also looks pretty interesting:

The Qotom-T30.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini...chassis-motherboard-dual-core/1312219331.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...dr3-ram-8g-ssd-fanless/108231_1314636964.html

The specs are generally comparable to the others, but with a footprint of 205x140mm, this must not be using any of the Mini-ITX motherboards.... and the connector arrangement doesn't match the Q1037U Nano-ITX motherboard, so it must be its own custom (non-standard) motherboard. It also claims to be fanless - which would make it the first completely passively cooled 1037U system I've found, if it is true. :thumbsup:

The price is $159 shipped (to the USA), which is pretty decent when you consider that it has a nice aluminum case.

I am not sure what to think of this computer just yet, but check out the price on the options:

PS: The PC is the original configuration is without memory and hard drive, if you need, you need to add money Optional.Memory: 2G (add 7USD optional)

HDD: MINI PCIE SSD 8G (add 11USD optional), 16G (add 18USD optional), 32G (add 24USD optional)

$7 for 2GB RAM....that is really good!

$24 for a Mini PCIE 32GB SSD....that also seems like a good price. But I wonder about the quality.

P.S. It looks like from the second link it comes with 2GB RAM and 8GB SSD for $165 shipped.

 

[nForce2]

I will test alot more with it, all I did really was to set the smart fan to enabled instead of disabled so those values you see are just what the bios picked. I will see if I can set it higher and see if a value of zero keeps the fan off till 50, or 60 etc. I guess these cpus are safe up to 80c at least right? I don't want to get it up so hot that the puny fan cannot bring it back down haha.

Looking at the datasheet, I think Tj,max is 105° C?

(Page 75: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us...d-gen-core-family-mobile-vol-1-datasheet.html)

I will get a pic of the other bios screen for you but it may be middle of the week or so.

Awesome, thanks! I appreciate it. :thumbsup:

I wish the manufacturers would post their manuals and documentation for these motherboards... but so far, nobody has. :|

 

[nForce2]

Very nice. No USB 3.0 though, which is a deal breaker for me. Also, "optional" WiFi N-150. So does it come with WiFi or not? And N-150 is "meh."

A lot of these listings on AliExpress look to me like they are basically geared towards bulk purchases from overseas resellers - and many of them I have seen say to contact the seller for options and pricing. So I think the pricing might just be a starting point for how you configure it? (Either way, yes, it is ambiguous what you will get....)

I assume the optional wifi is either an internal mini-PCIe card or an internal USB device? (Something easy to add or remove as-needed.)

Yeah tiny form factor with no way to upgrade to usb 3.0 sucks. I plan to put a pci-e card in the foxconn. Even the intel nuc doesn't have usb 3.0 right? USB 3.0 seems to be the slowest adopted standard ever? I don't get it. These type systems where you can't fit big internal storage in are where you need it most.

No kidding. :\

Following your idea, I wonder if one of these mini-PCIe USB cards would work? You would have to cut new holes in the aluminum case for the connectors, and find a cable that lays flat coming out of the mini-PCIe card, but assuming you can do that, I bet there would be space for it inside the T30 case.

http://www.logicsupply.com/products/admpeasu3a

 

[86waterpumper]

I still haven't gotten those bios shots nforce2 I will soon. I didn't see any real fancy settings in that section, I saw where you could write protect the bios, also spread spectrum is enabled by default in that section so I left that alone. There is a enable/ disable hyperthreading, the setting for hyperthreading was already enabled but colored red as if to show no cigar.

I see by default the system takes 256mb ram for the video. I am wondering if that is even necessary maybe I should set that to something even smaller this machine won't be playing any games seems for regular tasks since I only stuck 4gb in I would be better off freeing it up? Any suggestions on that?

I did get windows 8 installed last night. I can say that with a ssd the system feels very snappy and fast compared to a e-350 or the like. Doing tons of windows updates still uses alot of cpu but unlike a atom or e-350 it doesn't stay pegged at 99 percent you can still use the computer at the same time without alot of lag which is nice. I was even able to play a 1080p youtube video while applying windows updates obviously that pretty well maxed the cpu but the fact that it did it was cool. fullcreen 1080p playback on youtube with no other tasks going consumes between 35 and 50 percent cpu, so this is very workable! From what others have said the 847 celeron was fairly maxed out doing this. I still have not tested netflix that may tax it a bit more.

I know windows performance index is not a good benchmark but I did it for curiosity sake. CPU and memory both scored 5.9 I found that odd I know this board is single channel so I was not that surprised at the memory score just found it odd they were exactly the same score for both. Some have said that the wei locks ram at 5.9 for systems with 4gb on a 64 bit os? I don't know if that is so or not. Anyway graphics were the weak link, scored something like a 3.3. This shows this is def. not any hd4000 level igp I think it is just regular hd video. Windows 8 must have changed the limits or upped them on some sections, this board has a sata 3 port, and with a plexter m5 pro scored a 8.2 haha can't argue with that. Anyway I will test more on the fans/ bios settings and power draw as I get time. I am very pleased with the system I think it was a good amount of performance per dollar for it's intended purpose there is not much way to argue that.

 

[nForce2]

I am very pleased with the system I think it was a good amount of performance per dollar for it's intended purpose there is not much way to argue that.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Now that you're getting it up and running, have you hooked it up to your Kill-A-Watt meter? Even with an oversized power supply, it should still have pretty decent power levels, I would think.

 

[cbn]

Yeah tiny form factor with no way to upgrade to usb 3.0 sucks. I plan to put a pci-e card in the foxconn. Even the intel nuc doesn't have usb 3.0 right? USB 3.0 seems to be the slowest adopted standard ever? I don't get it. These type systems where you can't fit big internal storage in are where you need it most. Anyway celeron 847 nuc is like 160 bucks? I guess they are the same as biostar want to sell those out first before releasing a faster one

Yep, usb 3.0 is pretty rare at this moment for the budget offerings. Out of all the "embedded solution" boards at Newegg $100 or less the only ones that have usb 3.0 are the two ASUS Celeron 847 models with HM70 chipset and this AMD Brazos 2.0 board--> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138365

 

[86waterpumper]

Yeah I plan to hook the kilawatt up soon as I get a chance. I want to compare it at idle and load to the e-350 system I built in this same antec case before (same power supply). Of course windows 8 isn't ever truly idling seems it is always doing something in the background Since this system only has 1 ssd hard drive it ought to do very well.

The issue with the antec 300-150 isk psu isn't really the oversized part as much as it is efficiency. The thing is only like 70 percent efficient. I got it on a clearance sale and on a pretty tight budget on this build so I am stuck with it. Also when I bought it I was not sure whether I would go with a 1037u or a socket type board with a full on desktop cpu. I imagine if you wanted to you could probably run this system off a 60 watt pico. I think I can get a pretty fair estimation of full on load consumption it is idle usage that will not be as low as it should due to the psu.