14 DAY TRIAL // Most motherboards, especially those that ship with integrated processors, have at least one fan on them, but there are some exceptions, and Biostar has just introduced such an exception, one called A68N-5000.
The new mainboard is in many ways exactly what you would expect from such a platform, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't also boast certain perks.
Hardware makers have to differentiate their inventions from those of their rivals after all, and Biostar is no different in that regard.
So, while the A68N-5000 motherboard does seem to be just another mini-ITX motherboard, it has an advantage in that it doesn't use active cooling.
More specifically, the AMD A4-5000 APU (accelerated processing unit) can get by without active cooling.
It's mostly thanks to the golden cooler (which isn't really made out of gold, obviously enough, but fits well with the yellow PCI Express and memory slots).
There is one PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot to be totally specific, as well as a pair of DDR3 DIMM Memory Slots, which supports up to 16 GB of RAM.
Not that there are many, if any, DIMM modules of 16 GB, definitely none that are likely to be used on this kind of mainboard.
After all, it's not like a mini-ITX platform can be used for any heavy lifting, especially with the low-end A4-5000 APU there.
Sure, it's a quad-core, but when you consider the fanlessness of it all, and the 1.5 GHz clock, it's obvious that low power draw is more important than anything. The Biostar A68N-5000 will probably do best in mini business PCs and HTPCs (home theater personal computers).
On that note, the APU boasts the Radeon HD8210 Graphics (although the press release cites HD 8330 instead).
Six USB ports are available as well (four USB 2.0, two USB 3.0), plus a bunch of internal and rear panel I/O connectors (HDMI, VGA, LAN, PS/2 mouse and keyboard).
As for storage, there are two SATA III 6Gb/s connectors, meaning that you can actually implement hybrid storage, with an SSD for caching and holding the OS, and an HDD to store the actual data. Windows XP, 7, 8, and 8.1 are supported.
Everything is run by a UEFI BIOS (BIOS with a 3D-ish graphical interface and mouse support) and, for HTPC lovers, BIO-Remote 2 (you can use a remote control on it, like you would on a TV). Sadly, Biostar has not provided a price.