Apart from motherboards, the only big product segment ASRock made a name for itself is with pre-built mini-PCs. The company wants to put its experience to good use by cashing in for the market's newfound love for compact (mini-ITX) gaming PCs, the ones that save precious real-estate on congested living room TV racks and dorm rooms. Pictured below is the company's first such effort, timed with the launch of Intel's next-generation Core "Haswell" processor, and supporting socket LGA1150 platform based on Z87 Express chipset.

There are three components to ASRock's creation: a unique SFF case, co-designed by BMW Design; the ASRock Z87E-ITX motherboard, and a GeForce GTX 680 graphics card. The case looks pretty slick, coming from BMW. It stays slim by using a PCI-Express riser, allowing you to install graphics cards along the plane of the motherboard. The Z87-E ITX, like most efforts by ASRock in the past, is extremely feature-rich for its size. It uses a 6-phase VRM to power the LGA1150 CPU, features two DDR3 DIMM slots, PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and mini-PCIe 2.0, for the WLAN+Bluetooth card.

ASUS is working on the GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini, a high-end graphics card that's size-optimized for mini-ITX gaming PC builds. NVIDIA's reference-design PCB for the GTX 670 already established that compact (<20 cm long) PCBs are very much possible for the chip. ASUS designed its own short (17 cm long) PCB with a 5-phase VRM, which draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, instead of two 6-pin. This allows you to make do with compact PSUs that only feature one PCIe connector, and avoid wasting Molex cables on the second 6-pin.

What's more interesting about the GTX 670 DirectCU Mini is its cooler, which appears to use a combination of a thick metal plate that draws heat from VRM and memory on the obverse side; and a round aluminum fin-stack, which could be cooled by a single ~80 mm fan. ASUS did not release pricing or availability information, and is still gauging community interest in such a product.

ECS today proudly announces the exclusive touch based All-In-One PC - G24, with a elegant and versatile design. In order to support the latest interface of Windows 8, ECS G24 has considered all the design and components to meet the Windows 8 requirements, including edge-to-edge 23.6" touch panel, 10-finger touch capability, realistic audio display and full HDMI capability. The unique of sleek and neat design is perfect for business productivity and also home entertainment platform.

ECS G24 is an ideal central station for medical sector and health center with its larger display, high resolution and friendly touch screen. The slim and elegant design makes G24 a perfect digital signage platform for public information, advertising and promotion in shopping malls and chain stores, which can take full advantage of your business. The delicate touch screen can swipe the programs freely and also become an intelligent platform for information sharing and entertainment.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the debut of its latest motherboards series based on the Thin Mini-ITX form factor. The new GIGABYTE H77TN and B75TN motherboards enable the creation of slim and compact All-In-One (AIO) PC designs that adhere to Intel's AIO PC specification.

Featuring a low profile design that is 43% thinner than traditional Mini-ITX motherboards, GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards offer a full featured PC experience with performance and specification options that you'd expect from a traditional desktop PC setup. In addition, GIGABYTE's Thin Mini-ITX motherboards also offer flexible power input and IO expansion specifications that make them suitable for a broad range of commercial and industrial PC designs that also conform to Intel's Thin Mini-ITX specification.

Gigabyte rolled out a new mini-ITX motherboard based on the AMD E350 "Zacate" APU, for entry-level PC and home-server builds, the E350N-WIN8. As the name might suggest, the board is designed to run Windows 8 with its entire feature set, including Fast Boot. It does that by replacing legacy AwardBIOS on older variants, with modern AMI UEFI, backed by Gigabyte's Dual-UEFI redundant BIOS technology that protects against failed BIOS updates. The E350N WIN8 uses a fairly big (SFF-safe) fan-heatsink to cool the APU, while a tiny heatsink cools its companion A45 FCH chipset.

The AMD E350 packs two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, with a maximum memory support of 16 GB, and AMD Radeon HD 6310D DirectX 11 graphics that rides on 80 stream processors. The APU is wired to two standard-size 240-pin DIMM slots. The lone expansion slot, sadly, is a legacy PCI. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors. Connectivity includes four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers), serial RS232 (COM) and parallel (LPT) ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, and display outputs that include D-Sub (VGA) and HDMI (with 7.1-channel digital HD audio). Expect a sub-$100 price point.

Axiomtek announces MANO831, its first Mini ITX motherboard designed to supports the newest Intel Atom dual core processor D2550 1.86 GHz with the Intel NM10 Express chipset. The MANO831 is a great choice for customers who need a typical embedded solution delivering high efficiency with better cost. Two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots on board implement up to 4 GB of system memory.

The industrial-grade mini ITX motherboard is integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3650 engine featuring DX9 and OGL 3.0 to support HD-rich content and provide DVI-D, VGA, and LVDS with dual-view supported. Considering to the various demands, it comes with both PCI slot and PCI Express Mini Card slot. This typical embedded motherboard is a good choice for medical healthcare, in-vehicle infotainment, mobile kiosk, mobile gaming, digital entertainment, digital signage, portable POS and much more.

Jetway Computer Corp., a leader in computer electronics and motherboard design and manufacturing, announced availability of the NF82 mini-ITX motherboard for AMD R-Series APU embedded processors, codenamed eTrinity. The eTrinity platform delivers a high-performance platform to SMB and embedded system integrators developing low-power small form factor mini-PC solutions with exceptional graphics performance.

Jetway is the first manufacturer to ship a mini-ITX motherboard supporting the new FS1r2 socket AMD R-Series APU. By using the FS1r2 socket, a system integrator can choose the price or performance they want, rather than be limited by a specific BGA processor soldered onto a motherboard. AMD is currently shipping four R-Series APU models through their AMD Authorized Embedded Distributors; Arrow, ASI, AVNET, Symmetry and Synnex. Below is a list of the available R-Series APU.

Axiomtek's MANO861 industrial-grade Mini ITX motherboard based on the Intel H61 Express chipset is designed for the 3rd Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 processors in LGA1155 socket. The high performance MANO861 comes with two DDR3 1333/1600 MHz SO-DIMM slots with up to 16 GB memory capacity. This cost-effective motherboard supports dual-view capability through DVI-D, VGA, and LVDS interface. It also reserved one PCI Express Mini Card slot and one PCIe x4 slot to provide for flexible applications. With a small footprint of only 170 x 170 mm, the embedded board offers a full feature set of I/O which allows system integrators to deploy their solution with this platform easily. The MANO861 is designed for customers in the industrial automation, gaming, kiosk, POS and signage markets, who are looking for advanced performance in both computing and graphics and cost optimized solution.

Aluminum case specialist Lian-Li's mini-ITX motherboard lineup for CES included the PC-Q27, PC-Q28, and PC-Q30 (pictured in that order). The PC-Q27, the smallest of the lot, measures 200 x 321 x 240 mm (WxHxD), and packs just enough room for two 3.5-inch drive bays that can hold 2.5-inch drives, in addition to a 5.25-inch bay. The lone cooling fan is a 120 mm front intake.

Moving on, the PC-Q28, which measures 225 x 305 x 345 mm, is a little more generous to the storage-conscious, with room for six 3.5-inch bays which each convert to 2.5-inch, in addition to a 5.25-inch bay. Ventilation includes a 120 mm front intake, and a 140 mm top exhaust. Lastly, there's the PC-Q30, in which Lian-Li's designers's took off on their usual fungal trip. It features a large front acrylic window, through which you get a God's-eye view of the motherboard tray, and whatever you have running on it. The Q30 measures 200 x 327 x 248 mm, lacks 5.25-inch bays, but features three 2.5-inch bays, and a 120 mm rear fan.

ASUS did a back-room unveiling of its E2KM1I-Deluxe feature-packed mini-ITX motherboard for HTPCs. The board leverages AMD's recently-launched E2-2000 dual-core APU, combining it with a desktop-grade FCH chipset that lends it six SATA 6 Gb/s ports (of which one is eSATA). The board features two standard DDR3 DIMM slots, expansion area includes a PCI-Express 2.0 x16, and an mPCIe (which is populated with an 802.11 b/g/n WLAN card). Boosting its HTPC credentials are the HDMI display output (with an in-built 7.1-channel HD audio stream), and a TOSLINK digital audio output. Other connectivity includes DVI, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports.

Cooltek adds with the "Coolcube" a particularly compact aluminum HTPC cases to its product range. The minimalistic cube is completely made of 1.5 mm thick, black anodized aluminum. The Coolcube offers a classical, timeless design that blends in perfectly with any environment. The case is designed for Mini-ITX systems and can be equipped with a standard ATX power supply.

You can mount either a 3.5 inch and a 2.5 inch hard disk or two 2.5 inch HDD/SSD inside the case. Two PCI expansion slots are available for the installation of graphics cards with a maximum length of about 180 mm. If you use a standard ATX power supply, you can mount HTPC coolers with a maximum height of about 80 mm.

This little gem by Chinese company Jonsbo, which can be easily mistaken for a sub-woofer, is the V6S mini-ITX case. Measuring 250 x 240 x 210 mm (WxDxH), the case features a silver plastic perforated front, frame and panels made of aluminum, and a space-efficient arrangement of the PC's most important components. To begin with, its PSU bay is positioned forward (with a relay cable running rear), next to space for three 60 mm intake fans. The motherboard tray supports CPU coolers up to 60 mm tall, and graphics cards up to 200 mm long. Space for up to four 3.5-inch drives found on the sides of the frame. Its rear features a surprising amount of room for a 120 mm exhaust fan. The lack of 5.25" drive bays could dent its HTPC credentials, nevertheless, its front-panel features USB 3.0, USB 2.0/1.1, and HD audio ports. Pricing and availability information isn't revealed.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) will be showcasing its new line products at the 2013 International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas at the Mirage Hotel from January 8 to January 11. ECS invites all interested parties to get hands-on experience with its latest product offerings, including two next generation All-in-one (AIO) touch based PCs, notebooks, a tablet, and the latest in ATX and Thin Mini-ITX motherboards.

With 10-finger touch capability, the G24 and G18 Series are a new line of AIO PCs using ECS' own Thin Mini-ITX motherboards. The G24 series in particular fully supports the touch interface of Windows 8. These two edge-to-edge 23.6"/18.5" AIOs featuring full HDMI capability, a TV tuner card and a remote not only act as your personal computer but also your 2nd TV.

Japanese premium PC case maker Abee introduced the Acubic C10R line of cubical mini-ITX cases. Available in five metallic color options - black (piano), white (glossy), silver, blue, and red; the cases measure 239 x 229 x 229 mm (LxWxH). Its interiors pack enough room for add-on cards as long as 190 mm (a compact GeForce GTX 660 Ti should make it), and CPU coolers as tall as 55 mm (most C-type coolers should make it). It features one each of 5.25-inch, 3.5-inch, and 2.5-inch drive bays. Ventilation includes a 120 mm front intake fan, and provision for two 60 mm rear exhaust fans. Made with aluminum panels and an opaque acrylic front, the cases weigh about 3.2 kg. They're priced at 27,980¥ (US $320).

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient computing platforms, today announced tit enables medical OEMs to take advantage of the exciting growth opportunities in the medical market by offering the widest selection of low-power x86 and ARM based solutions on the market. VIA provides fully customizable application ready platforms together with extended software and firmware services which medical OEMs can leverage for a wide range of medical usage models and applications including ultrasound, diagnostics, POC (Point of Care) terminals, patient monitoring, therapeutic, as well as exercise and fitness equipment.

With a long history as a full-service medical OEM solutions provider to many of the top industry players, VIA provides a robust medical roadmap which includes a full range of COM Express, ETX and QSeven system on modules, embedded mainboards in Mini-ITX and Pico-ITX form factors, and embedded systems based on VIA AMOS and VIA ARTiGO designs, as well as a full line of medical-grade touch displays with the VIA ALMA-3000 series. VIA also offers unparalleled longevity support for increased lifecycle management, support for a wide range of software and board operating systems and support for critical medical standards including UL-60601, EN-60601 and medical QMS (Quality Management System) ISO-13485. This enables customers to deliver products with unique feature-set advantages and a faster time-to-market.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today reveals a full product line of Thin Mini-ITX motherboards, in three segments where low power consumption and a small footprint are desirable: enterprise, multimedia and consumer - to fulfill the different demands for AIO (All-in-one) and SFF (small form factor) applications.


Enterprise/Corporate Solutions: Q77H2-TI & B75H2-TI
For corporate and industrial use, the all solid capacitor ECS Q77H2-TI & B75H2-TI motherboards are based on the Intel 7-Series Chipset, which support 3rd generation Intel Core i7, Intel Core i5 and other Intel processors. Both of these platforms feature 2 x Mini PCIe x1 expansion slot, SATA 3.0/2.0/mSATA, 4x USB 3.0, 5x USB 2.0 along with support for digital signage.

Gigabyte Technology is currently putting the finishing touches on two new mini-ITX motherboards powered by the Intel NM70 chipset, the GA-C807N (equipped with a 1.5 GHz Celeron 807 single-core processor) and the GA-C847N (coming with a 1.1 GHz Celeron 847 dual-core CPU). The boards have an Ultra Durable 4 Classic design and feature two DDR3-1333 memory slots, three (GA-C847N) or four (GA-C807N) SATA ports (one is SATA 6.0 Gbps), one PCI slot, Gigabit Ethernet (dual Gigabit for the GA-C847N), UEFI DualBIOS, and 5.1-channel audio.

The GA-C807N also packs a D-Sub output, while the GA-C847N has D-Sub and HDMI connectors, and an eSATA port. The boards' prices have not been revealed.

Thermaltake, being the industry pioneer brand in PC chassis, power supply and thermal solution, introduces the Mini-ITX Chassis SD101, a case designed exclusively for Mini-ITX motherboards. Unlike any other recent PC chassis Thermaltake has introduced, the Mini Case is reaching new combinations of stylish design with maximum functionality which is ideally for space saving. From petite desktop option to home theatre enjoyment, the minimalistic proportions, yet sleek front panel creates an exquisite lifestyle.

Mini Case, Maximum Performance
Thermaltake SD101 embodies revolutionary materials of personal and entertainment computing emerged blazing performance with trendy appearance into one small size. The compact design has a dimension of 261 (D) x 119 (W) x 264 (H) mm helps users with space saving. The duo SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports on the front panel are provided for fast file transfers with ease. Moreover, built-in 180 W PSU along with 80 PLUS Bronze certified power saves energy through its high energy efficiency of 82-88%. The air cooling system of SD101 is compact embedded in the chassis by utilizing an 80 mm turbo fan and meshed side panel to maximize the ventilation system for Mini-ITX motherboard.

Announced back in September, EVGA's Z77 Stinger motherboard has now (finally) become available, in the US (Europe will get it very soon). This mini-ITX offers support for Intel LGA1155 processors and features a 7+1 power design, two DDR3-2133 memory slots, two SATA 6.0 Gbps and two SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCIex 16 and one Mini PCIe slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, four USB 3.0 ports, two eSATA connectors, and both HDMI and mini DisplayPort outputs.

The Z77 Stinger costs $199.99 and can be found here.

Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, announced today that the British e-commerce retailer Ebuyer.com exclusively sell the new version of Antec's popular Gaming chassis, the Three Hundred Two AB. The case is available at Ebuyer.com for £59.30 incl. VAT.

The Three Hundred Two AB is the ideal mid-tower chassis for enthusiasts on a budget. At a very competitive price, the case features eight expansion slots, eleven drive bays (3 x tool-less 5.25in, 6 x tool-less 3.5in, and 2 x 2.5 inch), 170mm of clearance for the CPU cooler, and 318mm for up to three large graphics cards. The all-black chassis comes with a perforated front bezel and two cooling fans, one at the rear and one at the top, with space for a further four. The Three Hundred Two AB also supports ATX, microATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards. It has two USB 3.0 ports on the front and features four cable management holes, three down the right side of the motherboard tray and one for the main PSU cable. The case includes two easily accessed dust filters, one accessed from the side for the PSU and the other behind the front panel.

ECS unveiled the NM70-TI, a slim Mini-ITX variant of the NM70-I, which was launched in October. The board is designed for extremely compact chassis, perhaps even those meant for nettops that latch onto monitors using VESA wall mounts. The board stays low profile thanks to a dense aluminum fin fan-heatsink, half-height connectors, and SO-DIMM memory slots that are arranged almost along the plane of the motherboard.

The NM70-TI integrates an Intel Celeron 807 single-core 1.50 GHz processor (Celeron 847 dual-core option available), wired to its low board-footprint NM70 PCH. In addition to two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, the board features a SATA 3 Gb/s, and an mSATA 3 Gb/s slot. The lone bus expansion slot is an mPCIe. D-Sub and HDMI make up display outputs. Gigabit Ethernet, and a few USB 2.0/1.1 ports on the rear panel, and by headers, make for the rest of it. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS. More details are awaited.

Abee unveiled a pair of mini-ITX cases characterized by rounded edges and glossy colors on the side panels. These include the E20, available in piano black, red, and silver; and E40, available in black and silver. The E20 is a tight squeeze , leaving no room for expansion slots, or even a PSU for that matter. It includes an external power brick, with standard ATX distribution inside. There is just enough room for CPU coolers that are up to 50 mm tall, and a 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive. Measuring 104 x 219 x 209 mm (WxDxH), it weighs about 1.5 kg, and is made of aluminum. The E40, on the other hand, is slightly bigger, at 109 x 219 x 209 mm, although that doesn't change its holding capacity for drives. The E20 and E40 are priced at 21,980¥ (US $270) and 24,980¥ ($307), respectively.

Antec unveiled the ISK-110 VESA, a compact mini-ITX which features VESA display mounts, which can let you latch it onto your monitors to tuck it away, saving space. Measuring 78 x 212 x 222 mm (WxDxH), and weighing 990 g, the case packs just enough room for a standard mini-ITX motherboard, two 2.5-inch SATA drives (HDDs or SSDs), and basic front-panel connectivity that includes four USB 2.0 ports. A 90W power brick is included, leaving you with very limited choices when it comes to the motherboard. You can either opt for Intel Atom, AMD E-Series, VIA Nano/Quad-Core, or socketed motherboards paired with extremely low-TDP processors. The case is made of 0.8 mm-thick steel sheets. Backed by 3-year warranty, the case is expected to be priced around US $125.

Streacom is working on its most compact case yet, the FC2. Pictured below, the case will be available in graphite black and silver, and is designed for mini-ITX platforms with CPU TDP below 45W. The aluminum body of the case doubles up as a fanless CPU heatsink. The case measures about 185 x 200 x 45 mm. In addition to the motherboard, there's room for a couple of 2.5-inch drives.

Gigabyte is currently preparing the release of a new mini-ITX motherboard, a model called GA-B75N which is powered by Intel's B75 Express chipset and supports LGA1155 socket processors. Seen below, the board has a black PCB, two DDR3-1600 memory slots, one SATA 6.0 Gbps and three 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express x16 slot, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, UEFI DualBIOS, two USB 3.0 ports, and one DVI and two HDMI outputs.

The GA-B75N can be found on pre-order priced as low as € 79.58.