In Win unveiled the H-Frame Mini, an adaptation of the original for mini-ITX motherboards. The 263 x 122 x 273 mm case is little more than a stack of metal plates held together by bolts, which make room for the motherboard tray, and other components. Little is known about the H-Frame Mini, other than its included 120W power supply, color options, and USB 3.0-equipped front-panel.

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.

Responding to the market's newfound love for gaming-grade micro-ATX cases, SilverStone rolled out the Sugo SG10. Don't be fooled by its looks - a HTPC-esque front panel, with a slot-in slimline optical drive bay, this case packs a punch. Its SECC steel frame can hold on to a micro-ATX motherboard, a double-slot graphics card that's 33.7 cm long (a GTX 680 should fit just fine), a forward-located PSU bay (a large 1200W PSU should fit), CPU coolers over 160 mm tall, and a combination of 180 mm top and 120 mm rear exhausts, and a 120 mm front intake.

SilverStone unveiled the Milo ML05 mini-ITX case for HTPCs. Slightly smaller, and more polished than the ML03, the new case features a crafted ABS front-fascia, with SECC steel frame. Most of its ports and jacks are relocated to its sides, while leaving room for a slimline optical drive in the front. The case seats mini-ITX motherboards with room for half-height add-on cards. In addition to the slimline bay, it features four internal 2.5-inch drive bays. Measuring 350 x 99 x 204 mm (WxDxH), it packs a total volume of 7 liters.

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.

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).

Axiomtek introduced two new x86 motherboards in the nano-ITX form-factor (half the board area as mini-ITX), which include the NANO830 and NANO831. The NANO830 is driven by Intel Atom D2550 dual-core processors clocked at 1.86 GHz, with 1 MB L2 cache and 10W TDP, while the NANO831 runs Atom N2600 single-core chip clocked at 1.60 GHz, and 3.5W TDP. Both boards use Intel NM10 chipset, which gives out two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Both boards feature DDR3 SO-DIMM and mPCIe slots on the reverse side of the PCB. An mSATA slot decks up its obverse side. Connectivity includes stereo audio, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, D-Sub, and HDMI (NANO830 only).

Thermalright is working on a limited-edition variant of the recently-launched AXP-100 CPU cooler featuring pitch-black aluminum fins, copper base, and heat pipes, in combination with the usual gold+black TY-140 fan. The AX-100 Black Stealth Edition retains all other specifications of the original, except its matte-black (possibly ceramic-coated?) aluminum fins, matte-black heat pipes, and black copper base. The C-type heatsink uses six 8 mm-thick heat pipes to convey heat to an aluminum fin stack that's arranged along the plane of the motherboard, which is ventilated by a 140 mm fan. The cooler supports all current CPU socket types, and is particularly recommended for mini-ITX builds. For a chance to win one of three of these, partake in Thermalright's new giveaway.

Cubitek introduced the Mini Cube B004, a mini-ITX case that's a variation of the ICE series. Its cubical design involves turning the stacked drive cage into a tray that's on the other side of the motherboard tray, creating room for graphics cards that are as long as 280 mm, PSUs as long as 150 mm, and CPU coolers that are as tall as 150 mm.

The drive tray packs room for two 3.5-inch, and one 2.5-inch drive. It does away with 5.25-inch. Ventilation includes a bottom 120 mm fan, and a 90 mm rear fan. The case is mostly made of aluminum. It measures 200 x 300 x 320 mm (WxDxH). Pricing and availability details are not out, yet.

HDPLEX unveiled the H5.TODD and H3.TODD fanless cases. The two are outfitted with Blu-ray ROM drives with a custom drive tray fascia that gels with their brushed aluminum finish. The H3.TODD is designed for mini-ITX motherboards, while the H5.TOOD can house micro-ATX. Neither are tall enough for expansion cards. The two cases come with external solid-state power bricks, and heat-pipe based CPU blocks that convey heat to the bodies, which double up as heatsinks. More details are awaited.

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.

On Monday, gaming PC builder CyberPowerPC blurted out pictures of a fascinating new cubical case from Cooler Master. The case turns out to be the HAF-XB. Measuring 442(W) x 330(H) x 423(D)mm, the case supports ATX, micro-ATX, and mini-ITX motherboards, and features a compartmentalized design. The motherboard tray is arranged on the top compartment, along the plane of the base. The top compartment is spacious enough for CPU coolers that are 180 mm tall, and graphics cards that are 334 mm long. Two 120 mm front intake fans and a 120 mm rear spinner maintain positive air pressure within the compartment.

The bottom half of the case is dedicated to storage and PSU bays. These include two 3.5-inch hotswap SATA caddies, which can be internally converted to six 2.5-inch bays, and two 5.25-inch drive bays. In addition to the push-pull fans of the top compartment, the case features a 200 mm top exhaust, and provision for two 80 mm rear exhaust fans. The case is expected to be priced at US $100. Find a complete review at the source.

MSI unveiled a new all-integrated mini-ITX motherboard that steps above the Intel Atom and AMD E-Series crowd, being based on Intel Celeron 847 dual-core processor (1.10 GHz, 32 nm "Westmere" micro-architecture, 2 MB L3 cache, SSE4.2, EM64T). MSI used a small fan-heatsink to cool the chip, which has 17W TDP. The processor is backed by Intel NM70 chipset. It is based on the compact 1023-pin BGA package, and is hardwired to the motherboard. One of the features that give the processor its edge over Atom and E-Series is its dual-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller with maximum memory support of up to 16 GB. The chip is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots.

The only expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x1. Storage connectivity includes one each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s. Display outputs include DVI and D-Sub. A missed opportunity here is the lack of HDMI. 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, legacy PS/2, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 connectors make for the rest of it. Surprisingly, MSI designed the board with modern UEFI BIOS, which lets you take advantage of Windows 8 Secure Boot feature. There is no word on availability and pricing of the C847IS-P33.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient computing platforms, today announced the world's smallest x86 quad core system, the VIA ARTiGO A1250 slim system, featuring a 1.0 GHz VIA QuadCore processor and the latest VIA VX11H media system processor (MSP), in chassis the size of a paperback novel. The ultra-compact VIA ARTiGO A1250, is suitable for a myriad of applications in the home or office, including home server, home automation, hotel management, media streaming, digital signage and surveillance as well as medical and healthcare applications.

The VIA ARTiGO A1250 leverages the VIA VX11H MSP to deliver an immersive multimedia experience complete with 3D stereoscopic and HD display support in a low power envelope, which a typical power consumption of a mere 32W TDP. The VIA ARTiGO A1200 can fit easily into any environment, whether it is behind a monitor or on the wall with a 10 x 10 cm VESA mount or placed alongside other home media devices. For system developers, VIA provides third party software security through a unique hardware/software design.

Several high-end mini-ITX cases these days ship with two expansion slot bays. To take advantage of that, ECS introduced the H61H2-MV. The company was careful enough to label it a micro-ATX motherboard, although its PCB length and mounting screw layout is suggestive that you could install in on one of those high-end mini-ITX cases, and end up with two expansion slots to play with. Sadly for ECS, this socket LGA1155 motherboard is based on entry-level Intel H61 Express chipset, with extremely basic connectivity.

The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 3+1+1 phase VRM, it is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. The second expansion slot on the board is a PCI-Express 2.0 x1, wired to the PCH. There's enough room on the board to wire out all four SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the PCH as internal ports. Connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and D-Sub display output. Some variants are said to come with DVI and HDMI display outputs. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS. Expect its price to be well under $100.

ECS rolled out the HDC-I2/E-350D2, a mini-ITX motherboard running AMD E-350D APU, and AMD A45 FCH chipset. Designed for nettops and HTPCs (supports 1080p video playback), the HDC-I2/E-350D supports up to 8 GB of DDR3-1066 MHz memory, and features a legacy PCI slot. It draws power from a single 24-pin ATX connector. Because it uses the cheaper A45 FCH, it features just two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Display connectivity includes DVI and HDMI. 6-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of it. ECS is including coupons to Cyberlink MediaExpresso 5.1 LE and MediaShow 5.1 LE. Expect it to go for under $100.

Noctua today presented its new NH-L9i and NH-L9a low profile CPU coolers for Intel and AMD. At a super-low profile of only 37mm, the NH-L9 coolers are ideal for extremely slim cases and with footprints tailored to the respective socket keep-out zones, they provide full compatibility with tall RAM modules and VGA cards on mini-ITX mainboards. Topped off with the new NF-A9x14 PWM premium fan, the NH-L9 coolers fuse everything users have come to expect from Noctua's larger coolers into a super-compact package for slim HTPC systems.

"The response on our first low profile cooler, the NH-L12, has been overwhelming", says Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "However, users asked for even smaller, lower height models that also provide better compatibility for extra slim, ITX based HTPCs. We're thrilled that we can now meet this demand with the new NH-L9 coolers."

In an effort to please customers craving for compact computing solutions Biostar has released a new mini ITX motherboard, a model called NM70I-847 which is powered by Intel's NM70 chipset and comes equipped with a 1.1 GHz Celeron 847 CPU.

Biostar's board includes two DDR3-1333 slots (supporting up to 16 GB of memory), one SATA 6.0 Gbps and three SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express x16 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel audio, four USB 2.0 ports, and D-Sub and HDMI outputs. The NM70I-847 is selling for about €75.

Silverstone released an entry-level micro-ATX case, the Precision Series PS08B. Built primarily of SECC-steel and ABS plastic, the case measures 168mm (W) x 355mm (H) x 400mm (D), weighing about 3.5 kg. The PS08B includes a handy innovation - the 3.5-inch drive cage is shifted towards the left-hand side facing front, which allows graphics cards to pass right through. As a result, cards as long as 14.1-inch (35.8 cm) can be installed, provided they're less than 5.7-inch (14.47 cm) tall. The case features a total of two 5.25-inch, four 3.5-inch, and two 2.5-inch drive bays.

The motherboard tray of the PS08B supports micro-ATX and mini-ITX form-factors. A large cutout decks the CPU socket area, for easy access to CPU coolers with back-plates. Ventilation includes one 120 mm front intake, and one 80 mm rear exhaust. The utility panel includes USB 3.0 (standard header) and audio jack (HD audio header). Slated for market release in late-October, the PS08B is priced at 3,980¥ (US $50).

Liantec announce ITX-QM77 industrial Mini-ITX Intel QM77 Ivy Bridge Mobile motherboard solution. The ITX-QM77 is based on Mini-ITX form factor and Intel Ivy Bridge (IVB) computing platform, supports Intel 3rd generation Ivy Bridge and 2nd generation Sandy Bridge Core i3 / i5 / i7 mobile processors, 16 GB of memory capacity, onboard dual Intel Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, DVI, HD audio, SATA-III 6Gbit/s, and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports. The ITX-QM77 also offers x16 PCI Express slot and onboard MiniCard socket with x1 PCI Express and HiSpeed USB 2.0 interface for additional expansion.

With Intel latest Ivy Bridge platform, the ITX-QM77 provides advanced graphics computing capacity with Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU, supports Microsoft DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1, and OpenCL 1.1. Besides, the ITX-QM77 also supports x16 PCI Express 3.0 bus interface with 8 GT/s of data transfer rate on the expansion slot, suitable for add-on graphics or I/O card that need more data transfer bandwidth.

ASUS released the P8Z77-I Deluxe/WD, a variant of the P8Z77-I Deluxe socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, in the mini-ITX form-factor. Essentially identical to the original, its WLAN controller features Intel Wireless Display Technology (WiDi), which lets you stream high-definition video to displays and projectors wirelessly. The P8Z77-I Deluxe/WD features a 10-phase Digi+ CPU VRM, two DDR3 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, two each of SATA 6 Gb/s and 3 Gb/s ports, and connectivity that includes 6-channel analog and 8-channel digital audio, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort display outputs, and a number of USB 3.0 ports. ASUS could charge a small premium over the original's US $199 price-tag.

ASRock unveiled a new line of motherboards for socket FM2 AMD A-Series "Trinity" accelerated processors. Spread across three chipsets - AMD A55, AMD A75, and AMD A85X; and three form-factors - ATX, micro-ATX, and mini-ITX; ASRock's lineup includes a total of six models. Leading the pack is the FM2A85X Extreme6 (ATX, A85X), followed by the FM2A75 Pro4 (ATX, A75), FM2A75 Pro4-M (micro-ATX, A75), FM2A75M-DGS (micro-ATX, A75), FM2A55M-DGS (micro-ATX, A55), and FM2A75M-ITX (mini-ITX, A75).

The FM2A85X Extreme6 comes fully-loaded with a 10-phase CPU VRM, 3-way multi-GPU support (x16/NC/NC; x8/x8/NC; x8/x4/x4), DDR3-2600+ memory support, seven SATA 6 Gb/s + one eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, and a suite of ASRock XFast technologies. The board eyes a price tag around US $149. The only other ATX socket FM2 model in ASRock's lineup, the FM2A75 Pro4, features a simpler 6-phase CPU VRM, single PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (the other long slot being electrical x4), with just about all the features accommodated by the AMD A75 chipset. The FM2A75 Pro4-M is a slightly miniaturized version of this board, which retains most of its features, with fewer PCI-Express x1 and legacy PCI slots.