I've been working with the new Intel mini-ITX board for a week now, and can summarize my experience with it so far.
On the Windows side, it works well. For now I have tested only Windows XP. With a Hitachi 250GB 3.5" HDD, it loads reasonably fast. Drivers loaded without any hassle, except the sound driver requires you acknowledge it being not signed.
CPU-Z reports it has as mentioned here an Intel Celeron 215 processor, Yonah based, 65nm process, 1.24 volts, Stepping 8, rev C0, with MMX, SSE 1 2 and 3 extensions. FSB is 533. L1 cache is 32kb for data and code, with 512KB L2 cache. The sensor chip is a Winbond W83627DHG.
The system keeps the processor fan at max, but will keep the system fan down to almost nothing when it starts up, keeping it quiet until temperatures build.
On the Linux side, the frame buffer mode or just vesa works ok, with a max of 1024-768 resolution. At least with SuSE 10.2 and 10.3, while it was detected ok, the video driver used caused major tearing on the screen. If you install the driver from Intel's site by using rpm -if , to force it to overwrite the current driver, it solves the issue. Sound works ok.
On Lm-Sensors, the driver for the Winbond chip is supported but only on kernel 2.6.21. The app itself does not support it yet, but when it does it can control fan speeds.
Under heavy load, the processor's heatsink gets fairly warm but never almost burning hot like my older VIA C3 systems did. The northbridge doesn't get too hot either.
I would update the BIOS upon receiving it to correct the light codes. It does not use beeping as it has no speaker or a header for a speaker to tell you what is wrong.
The good?
1. Fast and cool 1333 mhz processor.
2. Cheap for a mini ITX board at $75.
3. Good Intel support.
4. Rubycon and Sanyo caps.
Of course, the downsides of this board is:
1. One IDE channel. If it had a SATA port I would understand. Thereby, don't expect to burn DVDs over 4x, and expect overall xfers between the optical drive and the HDD to be slow.
2. No CD/AUX input on the board. While no one uses it for CD playback anymore, it can be used for audio input from Leadtek tuner cards. Want to use a tuner from them? Sorry.
3. Needs 12v input. Most cases for mini-ITX boards do not include it for obvious reasons; they have such low power consumption. This limits case selection.
4. No program for thermal monitoring. Probably due to its intended market; on Intel's marketing material, a picture of a young boy who looks like he lives in India.
5. The BIOS has no setting for suspend modes. It only does S1 suspend, which is almost usesless for saving energy.
I plan to use this board for those people who need the least amount of system they can get. With about 25-27 watts used to power this system, it is also very green.
On the Windows side, it works well. For now I have tested only Windows XP. With a Hitachi 250GB 3.5" HDD, it loads reasonably fast. Drivers loaded without any hassle, except the sound driver requires you acknowledge it being not signed.
CPU-Z reports it has as mentioned here an Intel Celeron 215 processor, Yonah based, 65nm process, 1.24 volts, Stepping 8, rev C0, with MMX, SSE 1 2 and 3 extensions. FSB is 533. L1 cache is 32kb for data and code, with 512KB L2 cache. The sensor chip is a Winbond W83627DHG.
The system keeps the processor fan at max, but will keep the system fan down to almost nothing when it starts up, keeping it quiet until temperatures build.
On the Linux side, the frame buffer mode or just vesa works ok, with a max of 1024-768 resolution. At least with SuSE 10.2 and 10.3, while it was detected ok, the video driver used caused major tearing on the screen. If you install the driver from Intel's site by using rpm -if , to force it to overwrite the current driver, it solves the issue. Sound works ok.
On Lm-Sensors, the driver for the Winbond chip is supported but only on kernel 2.6.21. The app itself does not support it yet, but when it does it can control fan speeds.
Under heavy load, the processor's heatsink gets fairly warm but never almost burning hot like my older VIA C3 systems did. The northbridge doesn't get too hot either.
I would update the BIOS upon receiving it to correct the light codes. It does not use beeping as it has no speaker or a header for a speaker to tell you what is wrong.
The good?
1. Fast and cool 1333 mhz processor.
2. Cheap for a mini ITX board at $75.
3. Good Intel support.
4. Rubycon and Sanyo caps.
Of course, the downsides of this board is:
1. One IDE channel. If it had a SATA port I would understand. Thereby, don't expect to burn DVDs over 4x, and expect overall xfers between the optical drive and the HDD to be slow.
2. No CD/AUX input on the board. While no one uses it for CD playback anymore, it can be used for audio input from Leadtek tuner cards. Want to use a tuner from them? Sorry.
3. Needs 12v input. Most cases for mini-ITX boards do not include it for obvious reasons; they have such low power consumption. This limits case selection.
4. No program for thermal monitoring. Probably due to its intended market; on Intel's marketing material, a picture of a young boy who looks like he lives in India.
5. The BIOS has no setting for suspend modes. It only does S1 suspend, which is almost usesless for saving energy.
I plan to use this board for those people who need the least amount of system they can get. With about 25-27 watts used to power this system, it is also very green.