May 20, 2013
Good reviews on mini-ITX hardware are hard to come by. Not only is the format always the last on the list for the ‘big’ sites to review, but when they do get around to reviewing, the first thing they do is compare the mini-ITX offering to larger formats and find the mini-ITX model lacking in some way. It’s rare to find a review on a ‘big’ site that actually compares apples to … [Read more...]
Due to an unforeseen circumstance, namely a 7-day free trial of RIFT (hey, it's a gaming site too. Right?), I am a bit late in posting the latest news regarding the appearance of the very first Z68 mini-ITX motherboard, which popped up for pre-order in Japan a few days ago. It looks like Zotac has another, or rather two, new high-end mini-ITX motherboards based on the highly anticipated Intel Z68 … [Read more...]
Rumors of a P67-based mini-ITX motherboard from Gigabyte have been floating around the forums since CES2011 back in January. The plan was that Gigabyte was first set to release and H67 version and then follow it up with an overclockable P67 model later in the year. They got the first part. We had a chance to play with the H67-based model and although we found it to be a solid product, on par … [Read more...]
While most of the ITX enthusiast crowd (myself included) have settled on an H67-based motherboard for our gaming system, we are all still eagerly awaiting the day when we are offered a true enthusiasts motherboard that will allow us to overclock our K-series Sandy Bridge processors. It was disappointing that none of the manufacturers took a chance on a P67-based mini-ITX motherboard, but now with … [Read more...]
I’ve finally got my hands on the Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 mini-ITX motherboard after many months of waiting (thanks Aurora) and I know a lot of ITX enthusiasts have high expectations for this board. I know I do, especially given the success of its predecessor, the GA-H55N-USB3, which proved to be a stable platform and provided excellent overclocking abilities. We all know that Intel has … [Read more...]
It's been a few months since there's been a new mini-ITX motherboard to review. We had just gotten a taste of what Sandy Bridge motherboards had to offer mini-ITX gaming when the supply suddenly dried up. The wait is over. The first of the new mini-ITX boards is now available in the form of an ASRock H67M-ITX and I've picked one up for a review. It won't be the only choice for long. By … [Read more...]
While mini-ITX enthusiast are eagerly awaiting the re-release of motherboards with the revised H67 chipset, many readers have pointed out that a new mini-ITX board has been spotted in the Intel stable. It is not, however, a revised DH67CF as expected, or even a much anticipated P67-based motherboard. Instead, it’s an entirely new mini-ITX motherboard based on the new Q67 chipset. It's called the … [Read more...]
Reports are abound that Intel has halted shipments of its Cougar Point chipset for the Sandy Bridge platform and will be issuing recalls of the affected chips. Apparently, Intel has discovered a design flaw in the Series 6 chipset the affects the SATA II 3Gbps controller. Intel says that temperature and voltage will cause the link to degrade over time. They are expecting a 5% failure rate over … [Read more...]
It's no secret that Intel's decision to hamstring the overclocking abilities of the H67 chipset has proved to be a big disappointment to enthusiasts. For most system builders, it means choosing between having on board video support with the H67 chipset or foregoing video for overclocking support with the P67-based boards. For ITX system builders, we have no choice. We are limited to boards with … [Read more...]
I received the first of what I hope will be many 1155 mini-ITX motherboards today in the form of an Intel DH67CF. We've had a lot of discussion on the site concerning this board and it's apparently limited Sandy Bridge processor support. It seems that Intel is concerned about heat issues when using 95w processors in mini-ITX cases, so the official specs indicate support for only 65w Core i3 and i5 … [Read more...]
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