VIA announces new Mini-ITX 2.0 standard June 05, 2008
VIA Technologies today announced a new minimum specification for Mini-ITX motherboards.
Mini-ITX 2.0 keeps the 17 x 17cm form factor we know and love, but updates several key areas.
Processor: High-performance, power efficient x86 processor, such as the VIA Nano processor
Memory: Support for minimum 2GB DDR2 SDRAM
Graphics: DirectX 9.0 integrated (IGP);DirectX 10 through an add-in card
Display: 1 VGA port for LCD display; 1 HDMI port on add-in card
HD Audio:3 Audio jacks for up to6-channel surround sound
Broadband Connectivity:1 Gigabit LAN port
Storage:2 Serial ATA II slots + 1 IDE (PATA) slot
Peripheral Connectivity: Minimum 4 USB2.0 ports
Expansion: 1 PCI Express 16-lane slot
Size: 17cm x 17cm
O/S Support: Microsoft® Windows Vista®; Microsoft Windows Vista Premium (through an add-in graphics card); Microsoft Windows® XP, and major Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Suse Linux and gOS
The first Mini-ITX boards hit the streets in early 2002 and since then many manufacturers have produced boards using their own interpretation of the specifications.
None of the Mini-ITX 2.0 features are particularly ground breaking in 2008 but they do set a new baseline, one that hasn't been set in a long time. A "Mini-ITX 2.0" board will bring a guarantee of Vista support, DX10 expandability, Gigabit LAN, SATA 2.0 and a PCI Express slot.
VIA expect motherboards and systems based around the Mini-ITX 2.0 standard to be available from leading vendors in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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