Category: Wearables

Mini-ITX-based systems are attractive because they generally combine low-power operation and decent performance in a small package. But you need a good case to accommodate the restrictions of compact hardware. Today we try five different Mini-ITX cases.

The small dimensions of most Mini-ITX cases don’t always make it hard to fit standard size PC components. In many cases, plenty of standard hardware pieces fit just fine. Almost all of our test candidates simultaneously accommodate a 3.5” hard drive and a standard 5.25” optical drive. More likely is that some CPU coolers and graphics cards will be too large or too long to fit. And things might still be extremely cramped, even if the case is supposedly ready for the installation of discrete graphics cards and components like that.

Mini-ITX systems are much more compact than standard desktop computers. The format revolves around motherboards that measure just 170×170 mm and the standard is now well-adapted. Mini-ITX 2.0 was actually set and defined by VIA back in 2008, but initially created in 2001, and it is perfectly suitable for creating some of the smallest PC platforms thinkable today. Mini-ITX is about 61 percent smaller than full-size ATX, takes less than half the area consumed by microATX, and it is even a third smaller than FlexATX.

We’ve already seen Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture offer compelling performance gains on the desktop. But can the fastest second-gen Core i7 beat Intel’s 130 W desktop-oriented six-core Core i7-980X in games? We set up a couple systems to find out.

Industry analysts have predicted the demise of the desktop PC almost every year since notebooks first started shipping with color screens. But extra room for power and cooling continues to push desktop performance at least two steps ahead of notebook counterparts. That performance disparity keeps a slowly-shrinking enthusiast PC market alive, even as improved notebooks all but consume other segments.

Enthusiasts alone can’t sustain the large manufacturing infrastructure left over from the desktop’s heyday, and we watch in despair as component firms either die or change targets. As we continue pushing new blood into the desktop market’s veins, Intel is driving nails into its coffin with an architecture that delivers very compelling speed on a power budget.

FOX Business reports that AMD is benefiting from Intel’s current Sandy Bridge platform design “woes” thanks to OEMs and retailers approaching the company for additional supply. The news arrives just after Intel announced that it would resume shipments of the faulty Cougar Point chipsets for use in specific hardware configurations.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Leslie Sobon, AMD vice president of product and platform marketing, said the company has received hardware requests as a direct result of Intel’s issues. “We have some customers and retailers who have come to us specifically as a result of Intel’s chip problem,” Sobon said. “Some retailers have had to take things off their shelves, so they call us to ask what they could get from our OEMs that’s similar. And OEMs are asking us for product, as well.”

Sobon admitted that most of the requests are for mainstream setups, typically notebooks costing more than $500. Some are also requesting the company’s lower-end Fusion chips given that the mainstream version isn’t expected to ship until mid-2011. Of course, there are also requests for AMD’s older mainstream computer processors. As Sobon indicated, retailers have contacted AMD about PC’s with similar price points or screen sizes.

Naturally Sobon wouldn’t reveal the identities of the OEMs and retailers. She also couldn’t provide any projections about the financial impact the sudden boost in requests have provided. “We can’t quantify it because we’re smack in the middle of it,” Sobon said. “It’s hard to find a pattern because it’s different by market and retailer, but it’s all over the place in terms of opportunity.”