Choose Your Form Factor – Future Developments

With the small form factor line constantly expanding, more manufacturers entering into the market, and growing consumer demand for more high-performance, multimedia boards, you can guarantee that Mini-ITX will maintain pace with technological advancements.

The Intel Invasion

Almost all industrial Mini-ITX mainboard manufacturers feature solutions utilizing Intel's processors. Generally more expensive, but promising better performance, embedded consumers might have initially been swayed from jumping the VIA ship for only that reason.  Aside from the Intel Atom and Celeron ULV options, these boards generally do not have soldered on processors, adding to the overall cost of a mainboard, but allowing more processor speed options. However, since the evolution from Mini-ITX mainboards being equipped with the power-hungry, desktop Pentium 4 or Pentium D processor series to the more energy-efficient Core 2 Duo Mobile and Atom processor lines, the boards increasingly edge closer to competing with VIA's token low-power consumption promise. The Core 2 Duo Mobile (Merom) 2.0 GHz processor has a thermal envelope of 34 W¹⁴, while both VIA's C7 and C7-M (VIA's newest addition) 2.0 GHz processors have a power consumption of 20 W¹⁵.Intel's entry level uATX mainboards (D201GLY, D201GLY2, D201GLY2A) had a much lower price when measured against VIA's low-end mainboard, VB7001G. The Intel Little Valley series generally sold around $69.00¹⁶ per unit compared to VIA's VB7001G mainboard, being sold around $123.00¹⁷ per unit.

Be warned, however, about the Little Valley series mainboard. Despite its popularity and solid performance ratings, this was not a board for long-term projects. In under a year, there were three versions of this board released, and the Little Valley 1 and 2 (D201GLY & D201GLY2) were considered EOL by the time the D201GLY2A was released. The D201GLY2 was a fanless version of its predecessor and had 2 SATA connectors. The latest, the D201GLY2A, is identical to the D201GLY2, but it has a fan. This board went EOL, too, in summer of 2008.

The Little Valley was seceded by the Intel Little Falls series (D945GCLF and D945GCLF2) Mini-ITX mainboard, sporting the new Atom processor. Since Intel's announcement of its ultra-efficient Atom processor in March 2008¹⁸, there have been numerous Mini-ITX mainboards being designed using the 45 nm processing platform (many of them showcased during Computex 2008 last June).  However, Intel paired the über low-power Atom with its 945GC desktop chipset, which raises some legitimate questions, such as "Why do that?" The Little Falls 1 board shows no real improvement (save the processor) from the Little Valley board. The desktop chipset requires a tall heat sink and fan (much like the one on the Little Valley), while the Atom CPU uses a super low-profile heat sink that makes case compatibility a breeze. Also, the I/O offerings are the same, too, with the main differences between the two being the CPU and chipset, memory capacity (Little Falls supports up to 2GB RAM), LAN chip manufacturer, and audio chip.

The Little Falls 2 mainboard does show significant improvements over its predecessors, but still has the power-hungry D945GC desktop chipset.

The Centrino Atom

As I mentioned above, Intel released the Atom CPU in March 2008; it is Intel's smallest and lowest power processor¹⁹ and utilizes the new 45nm processing technology. The Centrino Atom is the processing platform that hosts the Atom CPU and its collection of chips. Designed primarily for Internet-centric devices, the primary focus of the Atom is on low-cost, efficient applications. Now, what that means for Mini-ITX remains to be seen. Even though Intel's Little Falls Mini-ITX board might be a low-cost, quasi-efficient solution for embedded applications, its features are surprisingly sparse when compared to other Mini-ITX mainboards. What we hope to see (and have so far already started seeing) is other mainboard manufacturers take the lead in providing low-power, affordable Mini-ITX mainboards that tout both the Atom CPU and some advanced I/O offerings. For information on new Atom-based mainboards, visit our blog.

We currently offer an Intel Atom line of mainboards, varying from the dual core Atom 330 to the Atom N270. The N270 is paired with the embedded 945GSE chipset, which allows for more power savings over the D945GC chipset that is paired with the Atom 230 and 330 processors.

5th Generation Centrino (Centrino 2)

With Intel constantly setting the mark for processor technology, it isn't any surprise that many of the Mini-ITX mainboard manufacturers out there are starting to design boards around Intel's CPUs and chipsets before they hit the market. In the beginning, we found that our Mini-ITX board suppliers lagged a bit in developing viable solutions based on Intel's original Core 2 Duo Mobile solution, the Napa platform (3rd Generation Centrino). As soon as we began seeing interesting boards for the applications we work with, Intel had already released a new revision, Santa Rosa (4th Generation Centrino) and Santa Rosa Refresh (introducing Penryn processor support). (If you are interested in more information regarding the Santa Rosa Platform, see my blog post.)

But, now, with Intel introducing the latest mobile processor platform, Montevina, which is housed under the new Centrino 2²⁰, we are getting glimpses at and samples of Mini-ITX mainboards designed around this technology. This greatly extends our customers development/project cycles because we have more time to work with the hardware—and so do they—before Intel stops production on its chips.

Dell's Mini-ITX Excursion

Dell introduced in late May of 2007 the EC280, "a complete desktop computer developed for Chinese consumers who are first-time or relative novice personal-computer users."²¹ The system is framed around a Mini-ITX mainboard with Intel's Celeron 205 1.2 GHz processor and SiSM661GX chipset, and has a price tag of about $335.00 (comes with Windows XP Home pre-installed). The EC280 is a low-cost, quiet, low-power-consumption PC that will only be available for purchase in China.²²

VIA's Green Streak

Even if VIA appears to be slower than Intel, and even AMD, in the development of high-performance Mini-ITX solutions, it certainly is making progress with its eco-friendly, ultra-low-power initiatives. VIA has released a 1-watt processor, the Nano processor, C7-D carbon neutral desktop processor, and of course, the energy-efficient Pico-ITX mainboard as well as the term TreeMark, a benchmark for determining how many broad-leaf trees it takes to compensate for the lifetime of one processor.²³ The C7-D processor only requires 4 broad-leaf trees, whereas the leading competitor (one can only assume it is Intel), necessitates a total of 28 broad-leaf trees. VIA has several links outlining its "clean computing" initiatives, but I only care to mention the ones relevant to Mini-ITX, for the time being. The C7-D is the first, and so far only, processor to be named "carbon neutral." The VB7001G and VB7002G Mini-ITX mainboard are equipped with this processor. To be carbon neutral, "every kilogram of carbon dioxide produced in the generation of electricity" to power the processor is being offset by VIA's efforts in reforestation, energy conservation, and research in alternative energy.²⁴ So far, it appears this processor will be geared toward consumer and corporate office use, and seen less in the Mini-ITX form factor, but that has yet to be determined.

But, VIA's most promising developments that have hit the market have been the Pico-ITX mainboard, the 1-watt Eden ULV processor, and the Nano chip. The Pico-ITX mainboard, if it continues to do as well as it has, will certainly offer many advantages to embedded computing, namely its incredibly small footprint. The 1-watt 500 MHz Eden ULV processor has an idle power of 0.1 W, and, when paired with VIA's CX700 media chipset, which operates at 3.5 W, it can support "a wide range of multimedia, connectivity and storage options and enable system platforms with a maximum power of less than 10 watts."²⁵ Not too shabby for use in a fanless, ultra-quiet system. IEI is equipping its 500 MHz fanless, AFOLUX All-in-one Panel PCs with the 1-watt Eden processor.

VIA Nano 

Intel has made prominent advances with more efficient processors (Atom), but VIA can still maintain its lead when we begin seeing new boards using the Isaiah x86 processor architecture, titled Nano. "The first processors implementing the VIA Isaiah Architecture will use proven 65 nanometer technology for greater power efficiency, which, combined with new enhanced power and thermal management capabilities, will ensure the best performance per watt on the market and help drive the rapidly emerging categories of green, silent and small form factor desktop PCs and home media centers, and ultra thin and light notebooks and mini-notes."²⁶ The Nano was unveiled on January 24, 2008.

We currently have one Nano-based Mini-ITX mainboard from VIA, the VB8001.

Small Form Factor Ahead

After observing the trends of the major players within the Mini-ITX form factor, one can't help but think that there are two options for success in the market: lose weight or take steroids. Many of these Core 2 Duo Mobile mainboards keep beefing up their performance, which works well for those demanding image processing applications, but are not feasible fanless options, mainly due to the processor's thermal output. VIA continues to slim down the size and power consumption of its mainboards, working hard to become a major high-end presence in the embedded computing world. VIA's mainboards translate well into fanless systems, and can provide a variety of solutions for POS, kiosk, and industrial applications. This is a healthful balance for the current Mini-ITX arena, it will be interesting to see how the technology continues to develop and shape the solutions we offer here at Logic Supply.

[Article written and compiled by: Kristina Drobny, Marketing]
[Article Date: September 2007]
[Last Update: February 2009]

Choose Your Form Factor Bibliography

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