MSI Also Brings Out Mainboard for Embedded Systems

Though its lines of gaming-oriented and mainstream products are what make it famous, Micro-Star International has shifted its focus towards the industrial market for today, now releasing a pair of motherboards intended for the embedded market.

MSI's Pine Trail-based platform for Virtual Private Networks, NAS devices and VoIP has already been revealed in an announcement dedicated exclusively to it.

Now, the same outfit has issued a pair of announcements in which it details the IA-Q45 and the IM-GS45-M, two platforms aimed at the embedded market.

The IM-GS45-M is optimized for 3D graphics performance and can even support three 1,080p videos, as well as DirectX 10 and shader model 4.0.

For those interested in actual specifications, the board is built around the GD45 chip (obviously) and uses an Intel Core 2 Duo central processing unit, supports MXM graphics cards and has a CompactFLash slot.

“This is the latest fanless ultra-low power board with MXM card for the most powerful 3D graphic ability which can support three 1080P high definition videos,” states the press release.

The platform also features a pair of DDR2 667 / 800 MHz So-DIMM slots, as well as a pair of SATA ports, two mini-PCI Express slots and dual-Ethernet.

The other motherboard now unraveled is the IA-Q45, a micro-ATX model that also supports Core 2 Duo (or Core 2 Quad) chips thanks to its LGA 775 socket.

This platform has four SATA 3.0 Gbps ports of its own, as well as a pair of Ethernet adapters and just as many D-Sub connectors.

Furthermore, it features a pair of PCI ports and four DDR3 memory slots, making it, overall, suited for ATM and Gaming applications.

This mainboard is powered by the Q45+ Intel ICH10DO chipset and supports one RS-232/RS-422/RS-485, nine RS-232 COM ports and 10 USB 2.0 ports.

The newcomers should begin to be used in TM, IPC and gaming applications.