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September 05, 2017
Choosing the right DC-DC PSU

August 27, 2015
AMD's Project Quantum

August 13, 2015
The Redstone PC is the ultimate Mini-ITX Minecraft Machine

October 09, 2014
The "Restomod TV"

April 09, 2013
Installing NAS4Free

February 28, 2013
Building an XBMC 12 Home Theatre PC

January 25, 2011
XBMC Guide updated to version 10.0

August 06, 2010
Building a Green PC

February 15, 2010
Building an ION powered HTPC with XBMC

October 10, 2008
The "Cambridge Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 2008"

Mini-ITX Online Store

September 12, 2008
"Florian", the DVD burning robot

September 05, 2008
The "i-EPIA"

May 22, 2008
The "GTA-PC"

April 14, 2007
The "Digg" Case

January 19, 2007
The "ITX-Laptop"

December 07, 2006
The "Tortoise Beetle"

October 02, 2006
The "DOS Head Unit"

August 31, 2006
The "Janus Project"

August 05, 2006
The "Leela PC"

June 26, 2006
Nano-ITX in a Football

May 17, 2006
The "EPIA Alloy Mod"

April 11, 2006
Neatorama's Collection of Case Mods

February 18, 2006
The "Rundfunker"

October 24, 2005
The "ITX TV"

October 06, 2005
The K'nex-ITX

August 05, 2005
The "Waffle Iron PC"

July 21, 2005
The "Supra-Server"

July 18, 2005
The "Mega-ITX"

July 07, 2005
The "Encyclomedia"

May 25, 2005
The "Accordion ITX"

Mini-ITX Online Store

May 16, 2005
The "FileServerRouterSwitch"

May 15, 2005
The "Mini Falcon"

May 13, 2005
The "Bender PC"

May 11, 2005
The "BBC ITX B"

May 10, 2005
The "Frame"

April 20, 2005
The "Jeannie"

March 09, 2005
The "Cool Cube"

January 30, 2005
First Nano-ITX Project?

January 17, 2005
The "iGrill"

January 15, 2005
The "Gumball PC"

December 15, 2004
The "Deco Box"

December 03, 2004
The "TERA-ITX"

October 06, 2004
The "Coealacanth-PC"

September 17, 2004
The "Gramaphone-ITX-HD"

August 26, 2004
The "C1541 Disk Drive ITX"

August 25, 2004
The "SEGA-ITX"

August 13, 2004
The "Quiet Cubid"

August 06, 2004
The "BMWPC"

July 14, 2004
The "Moo Cow Moo"

July 02, 2004
The "Mini Mesh Box"

Full alphabetical archive on right hand side of page...


5 Atom Mini-ITX Boards Reviewed
Posted on Sept 23, 2008 Go to:

Gigabyte GA-GC230D - Overclockable

Gigabyte's GA-GC230D is very similar to the D945GCLF in specification, though it does add an additional USB pin header (allowing 8 instead of 6 USB 2.0 ports in total).

There are three major differences:

1. The GA-GC230D feels better made and uses solid capacitors throughout. In the long term this could mean a lower failure rate.

2. The BIOS used in the GA-GC230D allows simple over (or under) clocking of the Atom 230 CPU. We've had 3 boards running at 2.0GHz and see no reason why all boards won't be capable of this.

3. The chipset heatsink is 'standard' sized meaning the board will fit in most Mini-ITX cases, though the 4mm deep metal bar on the underside of the board that mounts the chipset heatsink may cause problems with a few cases with very low standoff heights. We measured the total height of the board at 44mm.

Click to launch image viewer

The layout of the board is rather different to the D945GCLF, showing this isn't just a rebadge with colourful components. Impressive, considering that (we think) this was the first Atom board after Intel's to reach market.

Click to launch image viewer

Gigabyte GA-GC230D Mini-ITX Motherboard
*Advert* Buy this motherboard at the Mini-ITX Store
Processor1.6GHz Atom 230
Chipset945GC + ICH7
Memory1 x DDR2 400/533 DIMM slot (up to 2 GB)
GraphicsIntel GMA950 Integrated Graphics
AudioRealtek ALC662 5.1 Channel Audio
LANRealtek 8101E 10/100Mbit Ethernet
Back Panel Connectors
1 PS/2 Mouse
1 PS/2 Keyboard
1 Parallel
1 Serial
1 VGA
4 USB 2.0
1 RJ45 LAN (10/100)
3 3.5mm Audio
Onboard I/O Connectors
1 PCI Slot
1 IDE Connector (UDMA 33/66/100)
2 SATA Connectors
2 USB Pin Headers for up to 4 additional USB 2.0 Ports
1 9-pin Audio Connector
1 Front Panel Connector
2 Fan Headers
1 4-pin +12V P4 Power Connector
1 20-pin ATX Power Connector

Jetway JNC91 - Versatile -->

*Advert* World's Smallest 12V DC-DC ATX
Power Supply now at the Mini-ITX store!
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The picoPSU is now available at the Mini-ITX.com Online Store. We serve the UK, Europe, USA and beyond. Order in-stock components before 7.00PM GMT and we'll ship same day!


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