X-bit labs

Monday, September 19, 2005

VIA EPIA – An Ideal Platform for Living Rooms? Feasibility of Mini-ITX PCs for Living Rooms Explored

XYZ Computing has issued a guide on how to build a Small Form Factor (SFF) computer that could fit the living room atmosphere. Since this kind of a PC is not intended to be used for everyday work, the performance and functionality of the system can be sacrificed in favor of silent operations and neat looks.

The author describes how to build a system which could perform basic tasks: emailing, browsing the Internet, playing very basic games (FreeCell, etc.), and playing music. That said, this basic system does not have to be very powerful, hence, it would be easier to make it small and quiet. The author decided to stick to the Mini-ITX form factor.

“My research had led me to believe that the best motherboard choice for my purposes was going to be a VIA EPIA which featured an embedded processor. After talking it over with VIA we decided that one of their MII motherboards would be best. Originally I wanted something fanless, like the MII6000, but due to availability we eventually settled on the MII10000. This motherboard features a 1.0GHz VIA C3/ VIA Eden EBGA processor and the chipset is composed of a VIA CLE266 North Bridge and a VIA VT8235 South Bridge. The motherboard has some extras too, like built-in CF and PCMCIA readers,” writes the author.

• XYZ Computing: Mini-ITX.