Atom-powered D945GCLF Mini-ITX motherboard now available

We've heard lots of racket about Intel's hot new Atom chip courtesy of all those subnote manufacturers who plan on using it, but Tranquil PC has noted that the first Mini-ITX motherboard to get powered by said processor is now available for ordering. The Intel D945GCLF comes loaded with a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU and support for high-definition audio, 10/100 LAN, PCI, SATA II, GMA 950 graphics and DDR 2 533 / 667 (just to name a few highlights). The board can be ordered up as we speak for £52.90 ($103), and shipments are expected to make their way out during the first week of June.

[Via Tranquil PC's Weblog, thanks David]

[Shadowise @ May 19th 2008 8:24AM]

Hmmm, I was just thinking of replacing the VIA mini-itx board I have with something more powerful... might be time to have a look.

[rektide @ May 19th 2008 2:36PM]

Its 64 bit too so it would make a super badass low power ZFS storage box. (ZFS crawls without 64 bit support.)

[Adam Z. @ Jun 6th 2008 8:47PM]

@ Mark that's the northbridge, not the processor. The atom is under the small heatsink in the foreground.

[Erwos @ May 19th 2008 8:29AM]

I keep wishing they'd slap HDMI and gigabit ethernet on one of these.

[Shadowise @ May 19th 2008 9:02AM]

http://mini-itx.com/2008/03/06/intels-eaglelake-mini-itx-boards

HDMI & GbE as requested.

[Maurik @ May 19th 2008 10:22AM]

ok granted it would make the thing larger than you'd want. It is possible to add an old graphics card with a DVI-D connector.

like http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129087

and it's cheap

[Maurik @ May 19th 2008 10:23AM]

OOOPSS!!! that's PCI-E ...

[Erwos @ May 19th 2008 10:44AM]

@Shadowise: awesome catch. Might use one of those in an upcoming HTPC project.

[rektide @ May 19th 2008 2:46PM]

Shadowise, thanks man, the GbE / PCIe was a dealbreaker.

Now I just need some SATA II port multipliers. ;)

[D. Archibald Smart @ May 21st 2008 10:44AM]

You got that right, I'd seriously buy two or three of those.

[naa @ May 19th 2008 8:30AM]

Awsome! Cheap media centers for all!

[rektide @ May 19th 2008 2:58PM]

I doubt theres the CPU power to decode some of the top of the line formats. That may be a dealbreaker for some.

[Gav @ May 19th 2008 8:38AM]

They're actually £62.16 including VAT, which is quite a difference.

[Zach @ May 19th 2008 8:44AM]

Their listed for $74.33 (Cad) at my favorite e-tailer.

[SneAKz @ May 19th 2008 9:06AM]

And where would that e-tailer be?

[tim @ May 24th 2008 6:13PM]

I'd also like to know what that retailer may be..

[TheCow5 @ May 19th 2008 8:40AM]

its missing an HDMI port and opticle audio out.
but after all is sead and done can this thing run Vista MediaCenter and play back HD MKV files without needing help.

that CPU and video card may need help.

[Pang @ May 19th 2008 9:53AM]

If this can play 1080p MKV's with a bitrate up to 12k i'm there. But really, if its a single core 1.6 I reall doubt it unless theres offloading to the gpu... but can any gpu now deal with x264 in mkv containers? (without all the fancy encoding techniques to get it working).

[chris fredette @ May 19th 2008 11:02AM]

Yea, but it's got a parallel port. Seriously can you even buy something with a parallel port anymore?

[Steven1350 @ May 19th 2008 1:45PM]

@chris fredette

I recently got an ASUS P5N-D (a regular ATX board). Not only does it have a paralell port, but it also has a SERIAL port. Now that is a waste of space

[rektide @ May 19th 2008 3:00PM]

serial ports are still the de-facto standard for remote controlling simple devices and headless servers. parallel ports, on the other hand, have no modern use what-so-ever. i'd much rather have a serial port or two than a parallel port.

[maff @ May 19th 2008 8:42AM]

isn't that the Intel Atom Z530??

[Andrew @ May 19th 2008 8:46AM]

While we're trying to shrink computers, I don't understand why we're still including parallel ports. Seriously, when was the last time any of us used a parallel port?

[Adam @ May 19th 2008 9:00AM]

Yesterday actually

[unhappyrobot @ May 19th 2008 9:00AM]

I agree Andrew. Parallel and even Serial ports should not be included anymore. If the user needs one then they can get a USB => Parallel/Serial dongle.

[Andrew @ May 19th 2008 9:09AM]

Adam:

I knew the first reply would be within minutes being someone saying they were using one right now or something, but 95% of us don't use one, or don't need to use one (as in, could update your 10 year old printer).

Unless you have a special application, in which case this computer isn't probably for you anyway, then the large majority of us don't need one anymore and they just take up space.

[Gav @ May 19th 2008 9:19AM]

Actually, a lot of Mini-ITX boards are used in specialist applications, so the inclusion of serial and parallel ports aren't that stupid.

For example, a friend of mine does professional stage lighting at a theatre, and has a Mini-ITX PC controlling a DMX lighting setup via. Parallel.

[Adam @ May 19th 2008 9:20AM]

My printer is a month old, it doesn't even have parallel! I use it for programming PICs which requires a fully wired port, USB dongles only provide the bare minimum needed for a modem, ie NOT fully wired and even in this day and age the serial programmers are still more reliable than the USB versions

[Mike @ May 19th 2008 9:25AM]

unhappyrobot:

I kinda understand how you feel about parallel ports, but serial ports will be on computers for a very long time. A vast majority of UPSs, routers, switches, and 1000 other items that are often used around these boards require serial. Sure, you could use a converter, but then if you had a farm of these that would be a few thousand converters. Serial is pretty useful in some applications too when you wanna have something screwed onto the back of the case and not just a random usb connector that can pop off.

[Andrew @ May 19th 2008 9:49AM]

Gav: That's actually a good reason for it then. And Adam, yes, some people program with it. Like I said, MOST people don't use it. Obviously there are a few, but if you program for it, you probably don't use an atom powered mini PC right? And Gav, does your friend really need the smallest computer possible?

Really, I guess my point is moot because mini-itx is a set size and won't get smaller, and smaller versions already have the parallel port off. My point was more of a don't hold up the rest of us for those very few who do use it, but I guess if there's room on a mini-itx, it's probably the least used port on a computer now, but it's still used by some, so it might as well be left on.

It seems like mini is right about the size where they sometimes have them, sometimes don't. I've see mini-ITX systems with and without.

[BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 1:27PM]

My carputer uses both parallel and serial.

[chris @ May 19th 2008 2:06PM]

Actually USB to parallel does not work for many parallel devices. Due to how the parallel port is normally integrated.

In other words I had to look long and hard for a pc with one cause the damn sunplus programmer, is slow as hell in usb, and the usb to parallel no workie.

[naa @ May 19th 2008 8:47AM]

Tis the Intel Atom 230 @ 1x 1.60GHz (Diamondville 45nm)

[maff @ May 19th 2008 1:37PM]

ahhh, the SC230 (how confusing is intels naming scheme)

http://www.techspot.com/news/29221-Intel-Diamondville-details-revealed.html

[Mark @ May 19th 2008 8:51AM]

Wow, looks like I should have waited another week before picking up a Shuttle PC.

[iwog @ May 19th 2008 8:57AM]

lol, "Note the maximum height component is the fan cooled north bridge chip (45mm above the main board)"

Thats not a CPU cooler there, thats the fan for the north bridge apparently.

[linuxamp @ May 19th 2008 9:27AM]

Why do they need such a big heatsink. MIDs don't need it why does this thing?

And IMO I'd like to see a router board made from this. 4x Gbit, mPCI, no parallel.

[Juke Box Hero @ May 19th 2008 12:22PM]

That fan isn't for the Atom proc. It's for the north bridge chip.

[Shane Reustle @ May 19th 2008 10:43AM]

Does this come with the linux preloaded on it?

[Flagdibit @ May 19th 2008 9:56AM]

Yeah, it's on that invisible hard drive in the photo, next to the copy of Duke Nukem Forever.

[Shane Reustle @ May 19th 2008 10:43AM]

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/05/15/splashtop-linux-interface-coming-soon-to-every-asus-motherboard/

[SweetSauce @ May 19th 2008 1:22PM]

@Flagdibit

Why the sarcasm? It is definitely ok to not reply if you don't understand what you are planning to be sarcastic about.

As linked by Shane Reustle, embedded Linux is not that far away. And just so that you can understand; "embedded" does not require a hard drive.

[pfromg @ May 19th 2008 9:38AM]

>Awsome!

why? MAC mini eats anything this can do for breakfast.I don't see what the carry on is about these atoms, they are not only low power ,but they are low performance as well.In other words , they are crap.
I mean if you need a crap, slow pc , theres plenty of them around and they are often quite cheep.

[JerkyChew @ May 19th 2008 9:44AM]

Apples to oranges, no pun intended. Comparing this to a Mac Mini, which is a Core 2 Duo-based machine, is dumb.

[crsh @ May 19th 2008 10:00AM]

Unfortunately, the Mini is completely outdated; there's no reason to keep selling that old hardware for $600.

[Reece @ May 19th 2008 9:53AM]

I could see this coping well in a car PC

Although that might require a car first...

Damn :(

[Skry @ May 19th 2008 10:20AM]

I like it, been thinking of making myself a HTPC, but I have a low budget and this is probably a long way over it.

There are ITX boards with HDMI, however they are expensive, and the reasonably priced ones usually come without a CPU which forces you to buy a very expensive laptop intel chip.

[fourthletter @ May 19th 2008 10:30AM]

So any chance of some benchmarks on these atoms yet ?

[fourthletter @ May 19th 2008 10:36AM]

Ok sorry google to the rescue.
http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4412-view-Intel-silverthorne-atom-processor-benchmark.html

According to this Atoms are actually slower than a 900Mhz Celeron is there some special reason that Asus is putting this in an Eeepc ? It stinks, certainly good enough for phones, PMPs and the like but in laptops or media centers this thing will really suck.

[rektide @ May 19th 2008 2:49PM]

Way way way better power consumption, better graphics card (obviously, as it WASNT MADE BY INTEL, zing).