VIA Rolls out Mini-ITX 2.0 Platform, Can Handle Crysis
With graphics from NVIDIA and the computing power of a 1.8GHz Nano CPU
By Traian Teglet, Technology News Editor
5th of June 2008, 14:42 GMT
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After having recently announced the release of its Nano processor, VIA has once again taken center stage today at Computex, with the launch of its new standard for Mini-ITX boards. This design, coming from one of the leading manufacturers of power efficient x86 processor platforms, is meant to ensure an optimized multimedia and computing experience in a small form factor desktop PC.
The company's newly announced power efficient x86 Nano processor
is at the core of the new Mini-ITX platforms. The small processor, running on one of these Mini-ITX boards, is said to be capable of delivering all the necessary horsepower for running the latest applications and operating systems, in one small-sized desktop computer. The Mini-ITX 2.0 is a set of specifications designed for the next generation of VIA Mini-ITX boards, which should allow system integrators and end-users alike to freely choose the configuration of their own mini PC or home media centers.
"With the Mini-ITX, VIA set the de facto standard for small form factor x86 platform integration, triggering industry-wide innovation in mini PC systems," said Timothy Chen, Special Assistant to the President, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Through the introduction of Mini-ITX 2.0, we are defining the mini PC platform of the future, paving the way for the emergence of a new generation of high performance systems that deliver an optimized experience in today's increasingly media rich environment." he added.
As part of the release, VIA also announced its collaboration with leading graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA in order to provide users that want acquire a mini desktop PC with support for high quality graphics for the Mini-ITX 2.0 standard.
"VIA has pioneered small form factor PCs, in contrast to competing closed designs. VIA's new solution allows customers to play today's latest PC games and experience new video and photo applications available with NVIDIA's DX10 GPUs," stated Drew Henry, general manager, NVIDIA MCP business.
The technical specifications of the Mini-ITX 2.0 Standard include support for a high-performance, power efficient x86 processor, such as the VIA Nano processor; a minimum of 2GB of DDR2; integrated graphics that has DirectX 9.0 support and comes with a VGA port. Through an add-in card, a Mini-ITX 2.0 system can also provide support for DirectX 10 applications and possibly an HDMI port. The platform comes with a minimum of 4 USB 2.0 ports, two serial ATA II slots and also one IDE slot. It also features support for HD audio and one Gigabit LAN port.
And, just to prove the new platform's capability, VIA put together a demonstration during a press conference held at Computex, where a Mini-ITX platform, running a 1.8GHz Nano processor with a CN896 chipset and discrete graphics from NVIDIA 8600 graphics card, was able to flawlessly run the Crysis PC video game.
Below you can see a YouTube video of the demonstration.
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