New Mini-ITX Mainboard Specification White Paper: Ultra Compact Motherboard Form Factor With a New Level of Integration for the New Generation of Small Footprint Value PCs, Information Stations, & Digital PC Appliances

Mini-iTX is the IT industry's smallest form factor mainboard developed by VIA Technologies. This is an ultra compact yet highly integrated platform that has been used by motherboard makers, system integrators and original equipment manufacturers across multiple Value PC, Information Station, Information Server, and Broadband Gateway product lines. The small size of 17cm X 17cm of the form factor makes it possible for PC appliance designers to design PCs with smaller motherboard and the chassis, thus reducing the cost in the process. This versatile and cost-effective device is further made powerful with a low power consuming VIA C3 E-Series EBGA processor known for its cool, quiet operation. The low power consumption is due to the small x86 processor die size, which allows the use of passive cooling. This further helps in making form factor motherboards smaller, quieter and more environmentally friendly. Along with this it has an onboard VIA C3 E-Series EBGA processor. The device also features advanced Ethernet networking, SPDIF 5.1 audio channels and TV Out features, which are not available on other small form factor motherboards. These features and benefits of Mini-iTX and its applications is the subject matter of this paper. The paper also gives information about the low power, fan less VIA C3 E-Series EBGA processor. This provides developers with an opportunity to fully evaluate the benefits of adopting this innovative new form factor.