Gigabyte Debuts AMD Fusion Mini-ITX Mainboard

[exfileme]

It's a GIGABYTE love nest containing AMD's E-350 dual-core processor and Radeon HD 6310 GPU.

Gigabyte Debuts AMD Fusion Mini-ITX Mainboard : Read more

 

[wiinippongamer]

Looking good, but what's the price?

 

[K2N hater]

A better heatsink wouldn't do harm I guess...

 

[fatkid35]

has pci-e 2.0 expansin slot but at X4 speed? hmm, if this is such a great all in one unit, why the pci-e slot? are tv tuner cards and wireless cards going to pci-e as a standard? i guess im missing something.

 

[mister g]

My library has catalog machines that I don't think the library ever turns off (as well as the public access ones). They probably won't need a the PCI-e slot anyway.

 

[rwpritchett]

Other bells and whistles included with GIGABYTE's new mainboard include support for dual channel DDR3 1333+ memory, a redesigned EasyTune 6 for managing and monitoring hardware resources, HDMI 1.3 certification, WHQL certification, support for ErP 6 and more.

The AMD fusion boards are single channel only. Bit-tech got it right.

The PCI-e slot is good for TV tuners or WiFi (which isn't bundled)... much better than a USB solution

I don't like the little fan on the heatsink though. These fusion setups should be able to run passive. The Asus EM35MI-I is the better option IMO with a large passive heatsink.

 

[samdsox]

wow seems like saphire and radeon were thinking the same

Saphire Fusion

 

[segio526]

Maybe two fans running slower (quieter) would be better?

 

[psiboy]

Needs to be HDMI 1.4a..... "Fail"

 

[segio526]

That HDMI 1.4 comment is very damning here since the 6000 series can't do 3D over 1.3.

 

[ravewulf]

[citation][nom]fatkid35[/nom]has pci-e 2.0 expansin slot but at X4 speed? hmm, if this is such a great all in one unit, why the pci-e slot? are tv tuner cards and wireless cards going to pci-e as a standard? i guess im missing something.[/citation]
TV tuner cards are usually pci-e 1x cards. Wireless are still mainly regular pci (from what I can tell by looking at Newegg) but there are still quite a few of them that are pci-e 1x

 

[oafed]

The new Zotac for Sandy Bridge has this beat HANDS DOWN. This one is missing both HD bitstreaming and likely 3D blueray support (only HDMI 1.3!) which make it a HUGE fail if they intend for it to compete in mid to high end HTPC builds.

Link to the mini-ITX board I am excited about (Zotac for Sandy Bridge):
http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-h67itx-a-e-wifi-lga-1155-mini-itx-intel-motherboard.html

 

[Simple11]

I think your mistaken on the idea of a htpc oafed. It's not a shuttle pc were building, but a power efficient home theatre pc. Asus has a great 330 series atom + first gen ION with DDR3 and WIFI-n, is the best choice for a htpc right now.

 

[alyoshka]

I still prefer the Asus one....

 

[pedro_mann]

I like the gigabyte board because of it's usb features, extra power, charge while machine is off etc. But the competing asus board wins these days because of it's EFI support. I can't believe gigabyte is still stuck on BIOS these days. Especially with 3TB drives out on the market, and the likelyhood that in a small form factor htpc system that users would only want to run 1 drive.

 

[oafed]

[citation][nom]Simple11[/nom]I think your mistaken on the idea of a htpc oafed. It's not a shuttle pc were building, but a power efficient home theatre pc. Asus has a great 330 series atom + first gen ION with DDR3 and WIFI-n, is the best choice for a htpc right now.[/citation]

I agree that an Atom based HTPC is the best choice if low power usage and low build cost are driving requirements. There are no other reasons to put an Atom in a HTPC anymore.

A larger build budget and a few bucks more on your power bill gives you 3D blueray playback and HD bitstreaming audio support from your HTPC. Good receivers will decode the TrueHD/DTS HD bitstreamed audio through a HDMI 1.4 connection. HDMI 1.4 is also the first HDMI standard to define 3D playback if you want to watch 3D bluerays on your home theater. If you are comparing an Atom based HTPC to a Sandy Bridge HTPC you also would be be slaughtered with HD video encoding (days vs hours) which I do all the time for 4 or 5 different reasons. Encoding also comes into play with most HD webcams which rely on the CPU to encode the outgoing HD video stream. An Atom would be hammered pretty hard just trying to keep up with video calls in your living room.

The Zotac board I linked is still a mini-ITX board and can be made to look great next to your TV. There are significantly more 'home theater' capabilities in a HTPC built with that Zotac board and Sandy Bridge than in an Atom based HTPC. Low cost and low power just don't make the list.

 

[Nintendork]

Fusion Zacate consumes less than Atom, and since in single core Atom gets destroyed where Atom runs at full load Zacate stays at near idle, also Zacate mobos cost a bit less than a Atom+ION with better cpu+better gpu (only surpassed by ION2 wich the system even more expensive). There's no reason for an Atom, it's dead.

 

[i_am_aronman]

[citation][nom]fatkid35[/nom]has pci-e 2.0 expansin slot but at X4 speed? hmm, if this is such a great all in one unit, why the pci-e slot? are tv tuner cards and wireless cards going to pci-e as a standard? i guess im missing something.[/citation]
I think some sound cards are pci-e 2.0 but i'm not sure. I would have preferred if they would have had an old fashioned pci slot because i would add a sound card to this before a graphics card if i was wanting a home theater. I guess this is good for a compact gaming pc if you want for towing over to lan parties.

 

[digiex]

Can they remove the fan and put bigger heatsink.

 

[cyrusfox]

[citation][nom]K2N hater[/nom]A better heatsink wouldn't do harm I guess...[/citation]

From what I have read, it is $150

 

[cyrusfox]

[citation][nom]mayankleoboy1[/nom]looks too cramped for my liking.[/citation]

It's mini ITX, what did you expect?

 

[Nintendork]

[citation][nom]mayankleoboy1[/nom]looks too cramped for my liking.[/citation]

Asus also offerts Fusion MiniATX mobos if you want a less craped paltform.

 

[rwpritchett]

The new Zotac for Sandy Bridge has this beat HANDS DOWN. This one is missing both HD bitstreaming and likely 3D blueray support (only HDMI 1.3!) which make it a HUGE fail if they intend for it to compete in mid to high end HTPC builds.

Everything I've been reading about AMD fusion says the HD6310 will bitstream HD audio over HDMI. 3D support... meh. I understand some would want it, but not a dealbreaker at all for many. Considering these AMD fusion boards will cost around $150, it's a good deal in comparison to Sandy Bridge, which will set you back about $250 for a CPU and H67 motherboard.

 

[firemachine69]

FOr the record, I have a D-Link Xtreme PCI-E 4x card.


Still wondering what to do with that PCI-X slot though.

 

[mowston]

I've read elsewhere that another Fusion MB supports HDMI 1.4. So it sounds like a limitation of the Gigabyte MB, not Fusion. Didn't they add 3D to the PS3 later? Couldn't the Gigabyte people do that too?