VIA’s new EPIA CN series pf Mini-ITX motherboards is hardly what one would use for a gaming rig when aiming to build a WoW or BF2 computer. VIA has as usual gone for low power consumption and heat dissipation instead of extreme performance. When it now has announced the EPIA CN series it is a Mini-ITX motherboard that can be found with a 1.3GHz or a 1.0GHz VIA C7 processor and the motherboard use VIA’s CN700 northbridge which is connected to the processor with the help of the VIA V4 bus. VIA launch the CN series as a digital media platform and it’s the integrated VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics circuit that handles the hardware acceleration of e.g. MPEG-2 video.
The EPIA CN series use the Mini-ITX standard, but despite its format at 17x17cm VIA has managed to fit a considerable amount of features into it.
“Setting new standards for flexibility and feature completeness, the VIA EPIA CN Mini-ITX mainboard supports up to 1GB of 400/533MHz DDR2 memory, native SATA II 0 and 1, and 10/100 Mbps broadband Ethernet. The platform also includes a PCI port, serial, parallel and USB ports for unparalleled connectivity options.”
The trump with the EPIA CN platform is, of course, its extremely low power consumption. We are impressed by Intel and AMD’s new power efficient processors that are specified at between 25-35W but a VIA EPIA CN platform har a total average comsumption of ridiculously low 16W.
| VIA EPIA CN-Series Mini-ITX Mainboard Specifications | |
| Model Name (Processor) | • VIA EPIA CN13000 (1.3GHz VIA C7 nanoBGA2 Processor) • VIA EPIA CN10000E (1.0GHz VIA C7 nanoBGA2 Processor) |
| Chipset | • VIA CN700 North Bridge • VIA VT8237R Plus South Bridge |
| System Memory | • 1 DDR2 400/533 DIMM socket • Up to 1GB memory size |
| VGA | • Integrated VIA UniChrome™ Pro AGP graphics with MPEG-2 decoding acceleration |
| Expansion Slots | • 1 PCI |
| Onboard IDE | • 2 UltraDMA 133/100/66 Connectors |
| Onboard LAN | • VIA VT6103 LAN Controller |
| Onboard Audio | • VIA VT1618 8-channel AC’97 Codec |
| Onboard TV Out | • VIA VT1625M HDTV Encoder |
| Back Panel I/O | • 1 PS2 mouse port • 1 PS2 keyboard port • 1 Serial port • 1 VGA port • 1 RJ45 port • 4 USB 2.0 ports • 1 RCA port (S/PDIF or TV out) • 1 S-Video port • 3 Audio jacks: line-out, line-in and mic-in (Horizontal, Smart 5.1 Support) |
| Onboard I/O Connectors | • 1 USB connector for 4 additional USB 2.0 ports • 2 SATA Connectors • 1 Front-panel audio connector (Mic and Line Out) • 1 CIR connector (Switchable for KB/MS) • 1 LPT connector • 1 CD-in connector • 2 Fan connectors: CPU/Sys FAN • ATX Power connector |
| BIOS | • Award BIOS • LPC 4/8Mbit flash memory |
| Operating System | • Windows 2000/XP, Linux, Win CE/XPe |
| System Monitoring & Management | • CPU temperature reading, CPU voltage monitoring • Wake-on-LAN, Keyboard-Power-on, Timer-Power-on • Watch Dog Timer, FAN control • System power management, AC power failure recovery |
| Operating Temperature | • 0~50°C |
| Operating Humidity | • 0% ~ 95% (relative humidity; non-condensing) |
| Form Factor | • Mini-ITX (4-layer) • 17 cm x 17 cm |
