Posted by admin | Under mini motherboard
Friday Jan 30, 2009
MSI has recently released its WinBOX, targetting it for industrial/embedded use.
Some may consider it as a viable alternative to the Eee Box, given its similar size, performance and low power characteristics.
Here is a comparison table of the MSI WindBOX and current Asus EeeBox models*:
| |
MSI WindBOX |
Asus Eee Box B202 |
Asus Eee Box B204 |
Asus Eee Box B206 |
| CPU |
Intel Atom N270 CPU (1.6GHz) |
| Chipset |
Intel 945GSE + ICH7M |
| RAM |
1 GB DDR2 RAM standard |
| Expansion Slots |
1 x Mini-PCIe slot |
None |
| Display |
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
1 x VGA output |
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
1 x DVI output |
ATI Radeon HD 3450 Discrete Graphics with 256 MB RAM
1 x HDMI output |
| Audio |
Realtek ALC662 5.1 Channel HD Audio |
| Storage |
2.5in SATA bay |
80GB 2.5in SATA hard drive |
160GB 2.5in SATA hard drive |
| LAN |
1 x 10/100 Ethernet |
1 x Gigabit Ethernet |
| WLAN |
1 x WiFi 802.11 b/g |
1 x WiFi 802.11 b/g/n |
| USB |
3 x USB 2.0 |
4 x USB 2.0 |
| Rear Panel I/O |
1 x USB 2.0 port
1 x RJ-45 port
2 x audio ports (mic and line-out)
1 x Card reader
1 x VGA port |
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ-45 port
1 x audio out (S/PDIF out)
1 x DVI port |
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ-45 port
1 x audio out (S/PDIF out)
1 x HDMI port |
| Front Panel I/O |
2 x USB 2.0 ports |
2 x USB 2.0 ports
2 x audio ports (mic and line-out)
1 x Card reader |
| Other |
Fanless
40W power adapter |
36W power adapter |
Remote control
Bluetooth
Built-in battery for UPS function
36W power adapter |
Remote control
36W power adapter |
| Dimensions |
180 x 255 x 19 mm
1.08 kg |
222 × 178 × 26.9 mm
1 kg |
*: note to overload the table, only Atom-based Eee Box models have been included. The Celeron-based Eee Box B201 and B203 models have been ignored.
Looking at the comparison table above, the Eee Box models come with much better features (Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11n, S/PDIF output, DVI or HDMI output) than the WinBOX. The WinBOX may be sllent thanks to its fanless design (and provided it is equiped with a SSD drive); this is however not sufficient to compensate for the lower features it offers.
The Asus Eee Box models are a better choice; with the B204 and B206 models being the ones to go to take benefit of their discrete graphics in a small form factor and quiet (26dB) HTPC configuration.
Technorati Tags: 945gse, Asus, atom, comparison, Eee Box, EeeBox, MSI, N270, Wind BOX, WindBOX
Posted by admin | Under mini motherboard
Monday Nov 17, 2008
The MSI IM-945GSE (MS-9830) Mini-ITX motherboard, as well as the IM-945GC (MS-9832) Mini-ITX motherboard look like they will soon been available online.
Here are some of the online retailers, prices and availabilty information at the time of writing:
MSI IM-945GSE board:
MSI IM-945GC board:
There is quite a premium to pay for these boards, in the $150-200 range.
I recall both boards were listed as “limited quantities available” at PC Connection end of last week. It looks like they have gone quickly…
Technorati Tags: 945gc, 945gse, atom, availability, mini motherboard, mini-itx, MSI
Posted by admin | Under mini motherboard
Tuesday Oct 28, 2008
The MSI IM-945GC Mini-ITX motherboard (also known as the MS-9832) is slowly appearing in retail channels at the time of writing.
This is the first Mini-ITX Atom motherboard to feature 4 onboard SATA ports, making it an excellent candidate for a low power home server.
With the Atom N270 processor and 945GC chipset, it will not be as power efficient as the MSI IM-945GSE. Still, MSI has been able to keep the board fanless.
Other features for this board are one DIMM (up to 2GB RAM), 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports, one PCI slot and one Mini-PCIe slot, 3 serial ports (headers for up to 3 additional ports) 4 USB 2.0 ports (headers for up to 2 additional ports), one IDE port.
Here is a comparison table of the different MSI boards with Atom CPU:
| |
MSI IM-945GSE (MS-9830) |
MSI IM-945GC (MS-9832) |
| CPU |
Intel Atom N270 CPU (1.6GHz) |
Intel Atom N230 CPU (1.6GHz) |
| Chipset |
Intel 945GSE + ICH7M |
Intel 945GC + ICH7 |
| RAM |
1 x SODIMM, up to 2 GB of DDR2 400/533 RAM |
1 x 240-pin DIMM, up to 2 GB of DDR2 533/667/800 RAM |
| Expansion Slots |
1 x PCI slot
1 x Mini-PCIe slot (PCIe x1+USB) |
| Display |
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
1 x VGA output
1 x DVI output |
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
1 x VGA output
|
| Audio |
5.1 Channel HD Audio |
| Storage |
1 x IDE port
2 x SATA2 ports |
1 x IDE port
4 x SATA2 ports |
| LAN |
2 x Intel 82574L PCIe Gigabit |
2 x Realtek 8111C PCIe Gigabit |
| USB |
6 x USB 2.0 |
| Rear Panel I/O |
4 x USB 2.0 ports
2 x RJ-45 ports
3 x audio ports (line-in, mic and line-out)
1 x VGA port
1 x DVI port
2 x COM ports |
4 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x Keyboard connector
2 x RJ-45 ports
3 x audio ports (line-in, mic and line-out)
1 x VGA port
3 x COM ports |
| Internal I/O |
USB headers for 2 USB 2.0 ports
4 x COM headers
1 x 20-pin ATX Power connector
1 x Parallel port |
USB headers for 2 USB 2.0 ports
4 x COM headers
1 x 20-pin ATX Power connector
|
Technorati Tags: 945gc, atom, mini motherboard, mini-itx, MSI
Posted by admin | Under mini motherboard
Friday Oct 3, 2008
Mini-ITX.com has reviewed five Atom Mini-ITX: Intel D945GCLF motherboard, Gigabyte GA-GC230D, Jetway JNC91, MSI MS-9830, and Intel D945GCLF2 (featuring the Dual Core Atom 330).
They found the D945GCLF2 to stand out thanks to it’s Dual Core Atom CPU, without compromising the power consumption, while the MS-9830 did offer the lower power consumption thanks to the use of the 945GSE chipset, and was the only motherboard in the reviewed that offered DVI.
Read the full review here.
Technorati Tags: 945gc, 945gse, atom, Gigabyte, Intel, Jetway, mini motherboard, mini-itx, MSI
Recent Comments