Notes

Through Nano Processor
We have fallen in adore with Intel's Atom 230 processor, a tiny powerhouse delivering 1.6GHz of electrical power on a motherboard the size of an open DVD case. It demonstrates a lot of promise for the potential of home computing: at final a media centre-capable Pc in a little enough type factor that will not appear and sound like you've got an electrical power substation sitting subsequent to your Tv.

But the Atom-powered board isn't without a crucial issue - in that it only has help for the positively Neanderthal PCI graphics slot, as opposed to the far much more present day PCI-E. It is a serious, deliberate hobbling of the platform by Intel that does affect its performance as a media centre Pc: it could not manage latest video games, and could only run 1080p video with a firm overclocking boot up the processor's behind.

Enter Via's Nano processor and Epia mini-ITX board. It truly is the same dimension as Intel's, but the chip runs at one.8GHz, and - crucially - includes a PCI-E slot. It puts Intel's board to shame but there is a catch in that it really is not actually obtainable but, and By means of have nevertheless to finalize the kind it really is going to come in. However, we would in no way let that cease us putting the pre-manufacturing model by way of its paces.

Admittedly, we were slightly skeptical about Via's most current venture: the organization has a spotted history, to say the least. From serious technical problems employing their prior processors with AGP graphics cards, to an practically-business-destroying patent wrangle with Intel suffice to say Through is at the infamous end of chip companies.

Thankfully, the Nano looks set to put all that animosity in the past, and demonstrates the company is obtaining its feet once more. The Nano uses the very same C7 architecture as Via's prior mini-CPUs, and consequently is backward compatible with older mini-ITX motherboards. The Epia motherboard itself includes Via's latest CN896 Northbridge, which is where the PCI-Express assistance lies, as properly as an onboard VGA port. https://mirror.xyz/0xFa5Eb1dAF388A7E1AAE6C933B6713A1a4d856B37/aAN_F8S-CW9VVD0EFKZ7uMI2v6BFkeHD4sqDBlDq56M Alas, there is no developed-in DVI port as of nevertheless - a chief complaint of a colleague is that he would be unable to plug in a Television tuner card and output large definition broadcasts at the same time.

As with the Atom motherboard, the Epia consists of passive cooling on the processor itself, and has one particular tiny reduced-energy fan on the Northbridge. The Nano achieves this by immediately scaling the performance and voltage states primarily based on the temperature of the die, which causes optimum cooling with no affecting efficiency. Not only does this cease your pc melting but it also optimizes the electrical power consumption of the processor - the Nano will draw a minimum of 5W, and optimum of 25W. So regardless of not very equaling the Atom from a straight overall performance angle, it stands head and shoulders over on the electrical power/efficiency ratio.

A drama out of a Crysis

But there is one particular factor we've neglected to mention: the Nano will run Crysis. We coupled the board with an ATI 4850 and a gig of ram then ran Crysis in DX9 with all settings on ‘high'. It attained an astonishing regular of 20 frames per second - which admittedly isn't that smooth, but is at least playable. There was some slightly odd blurring about the HUD, but for the most component the South China Sea looked as great as we'd expect from a entirely fledged bargain Pc. Substantial definition 720p video playback was acceptable, but the processor's touted capability to perform back 1080p fell a little quick, with video clips playing slowly. An overclocked processor may possibly have handled the full 24 frames per 2nd, but our test model did not give tweaking the BIOS as an choice. Even now, with a low cost graphics card occupying the PCI-E slot the GPU will be capable to get the strain of HD playback with no a dilemma.

Via certainly has the technical clout to knock Intel's Atom out of the ring, but it lacks Intel's canny marketing and advertising and brand recognition. If Via can smooth out the niggles we experienced on the processor and card, it'll definitely be a winner the Nano could be the item that launches By means of into the stratosphere.
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