Via packs PC power into minute, efficient motherboard

Company claims VIA EPIA PX, “world’s smallest full-featured x86 mainboard,” can run standard apps at under 13W

Spurring that movie memory: Via’s new EPIA PX x86 mainboard, built around the company’s recently unveiled Pico-ITX form factor, which measures a mere 10cm x 7.2cm. (The translates to around 4 inches by 2.8 inches, for the metric-systemically challenged.)

According to the company, the board is designed to enable x86 to be built into embedded systems where it was previously impractical for space reasons. It’s powered by a 1GHz VIA C7 processor and supports up to 1GB of DDR2 533 SO-DIMM system memory. Its single-chip media processor features VIA’s UniChrome Pro II IGP 3D/2D graphics core, MPEG-2/-4, and WMV9 hardware decoding acceleration.

There’s also display flexibility, including support for higher-display resolutions of up to HDTV for HD DVD playback.

In addition to a Fast Ethernet controller and a LAN port for networking, the board has the following onboard connectors and I/O:

• Four USB connectors for four ports
• One COM port connector
• One PS2 mouse/keyboard connector
• One LVDS/DVI connector
• One multimedia connector to support external TV-out, video capture port interface and LPC interface
• One audio connector for line-out, line-in, mic-in, S/PDIF in and 7.1 channel audio output
• One CPU fan connector

Not enough? You can tack on the VIA PX-O, a dedicated daughterboard with multiple digital media I/O ports.

Power efficiency is integral to the platform, according to Via. The processor runs at a maximum of 9W and the chipset at 3.5, which the company says “enables the VIA EPIA PX to run standard productivity and multimedia applications at under 13W.”

Not only are the low-energy requirements impressive; it’s ROHS compliant.

“The VIA EPIA PX mainboard sets a new world standard for ultra compact embedded system platforms, providing a full complement of multimedia and connectivity options on a platform smaller than any standard PC mainboard or x86 system-on-module,” said Daniel Wu, assistant vice president for Via’s platform solutions division.

For more information, go here.