Choose Your Form Factor (Continued)

Mini-ITX in Detail

Even though Mini-ITX has made some headway into the end-consumer market for use as a personal computer, it is still better suited for SBCs, Linux embedded devices, and industry-focused applications such as digital signage. As noted before, this is due to the low-power requirements, size, affordability, integrated I/O, and x86 compatibility. The Mini-ITX form factor is highly versatile with a slew of options to choose from when deciding on the best solution for a project.

There are numerous mainboard and related-components manufacturers, other than VIA, feeding products into the Mini-ITX arena. For example, Mini-ITX mainboards are frequently framed around Intel's processors and chipsets, but now Intel has released its first uATX (slightly bigger than Mini-ITX, but uses the same mounting holes and backplane layout) mainboard designed and produced in-house⁸. Most customers, when faced with having to decide between an Intel-based board or a VIA-based one, will immediately opt for the familiarity and greater power of Intel. However, most embedded applications don't require that much drive, and would equally benefit from a more cost-effective, energy-efficient solution. It is best to have a solid idea of what the requirements of a system might be before locking a project into a specific platform.

Distinctions

The beauty of Mini-ITX is that it is a low-power, minimal-heat-output solution. This characteristic easily lends itself to designing completely fanless systems. A fanless computer employs passive cooling techniques that transfer processor heat via a heat pipe to chassis fins located on either the side or top of the enclosure. The result is a super-quiet system with no fans, which prevents dust and dirt from being circulated around inside the case. Not to mention, the less moving parts in a computer, the less chances there are for hardware to break. Swapping out a hard drive for flash memory will configure a fanless platform as solid state. This essentially translates to "no moving parts" and boasts more resistance to shock and vibration and longer-lasting performance⁹.

Nano-ITX in Detail

Nano-ITX mainboards are much smaller than Mini-ITX mainboards, but not small enough to generate the amount of excitement as the Pico-ITX board. Granted, when the Nano-ITX form factor was introduced, the Pico-ITX was hardly a glimmer in VIA's eye and the 12 cm x 12 cm board seemed promising. However, the price of the first Nano-ITX mainboards were a little too costly to sway customers in the applied computing market. It was originally plugged as a mainbaord with "unequalled visual experience for smart digital media and mobile entertainment devices."¹⁰ So, the Nano-ITX form factor was introduced by VIA in an effort to dive into the consumer electronics realm where other x86 competitors couldn't yet contend. This might have pushed people away from Nano-ITX, because sales for the N- and NL-series never quite took off.

Also, most of the case manufacturers developed few chassis designs for the earlier Nano-ITX mainboards making it difficult to create long-term system solutions.

The latest Nano-ITX mainboards, the NX and the NR, have a lot more to offer: they are more affordable and are equipped with VIA's new C7 processor and CX700 multimedia chipset. Still lacking a back panel I/O comparable to the Mini-ITX form factor, the boards are specifically constructed for purely embedded applications and use in custom enclosures. The newer boards have support for dual LVDS panel displays, thanks to the CX700 chipset, and they offer 2 SATA connectors with RAID support among other features.

Distinctions

The Nano-ITX form factor is small. Its unobtrusive design integrates well with space-constrained applications. It is overall more energy-efficient than the Mini-ITX form factor while still providing extensive I/O albeit lacking adequate back panel options.

Pico-ITX in Detail

The introduction of the new Pico-ITX mainboard has generated much excitement. Only 10.2 cm x 7 cm, the VIA EPIA PX10000G is a full-featured, miniature form factor enabling customers to take advantage of a super-quiet, super-light plaftorm. "The VIA EPIA PX mainboard sets a new world standard for ultra compact embedded system platforms, providing a full complement of multimedia and connectivity options on a platform smaller than any standard PC mainboard or x86 system-on-module," says Daniel Wu, Assistant Vice President, VIA Platform Solutions Division, VIA Technologies, Inc¹¹. Framed around VIA's C7 processor and mobile VX700 chipset, it features VIA Unichrome Pro IGP Graphics, dual monitor support, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9 HD video acceleration, and HD audio support. The VX700 chipset has a power envelope of just 3.5W and boasts rich video graphics¹².

The Elusive PX-O

When initially released in May, developers had the opportunity to utilize the PX-O board, which was an add-on card providing direct I/O ports from the PX onboard connectors. The board fitted into a row of pin headers, passing through the PS2 and front panel connectors. The PX-O board offered 4 USB 2.0 ports, TV-out, a buzzer, and 3 audio jacks: line-in, line-out, mic-in along with CN9 and CN10 connectors. With the I/O board connected, the PX measured 12.8 x 10 cm, and 1 cm was added to its height¹². The size increase seemed to contradict with the main advantage of the PX—extremely small dimensions. So, it isn't surprising that the production units lacked the PX-O board when they first arrived at Logic Supply. In lieu of the PX-O board, a 4x USB header pin connector is included. But, one must seek additional cables for audio, TV-out, and the buzzer.

Distinctions

Still fairly new to the game, the PX10000G has yet to enter full-swing into the embedded marketplace. VIA is working with case manufacturers to begin developing the Pico-ITX as a standard form factor, and many of them have already released interesting enclosures that take advantage of the extremely small footprint of the PX10000G. For a full product review of the PX, see mini-itx.com. VIA just released it's own DIY Pico-ITX builder kit, title the ARTiGO , that includes a Pico-ITX case, a power supply, a modified PX10000G, and a custom IDE connector.