[geeks] Intel Atom MB - Initial Impressions

[nate at portents.com]

> That is also the same reason that they didn't include Gigabit Ethernet or
> an expansion slot faster than plain-old PCI - the power envelope of the
> chips is probably too great. Remember, this is designed to be a low-cost,
> low-power system board intended for developing markets, not neccesarily
> the HTPC market segment...

I don't think it has much to do with power envelope as it does with cost,
because I think they want to both price it low and make a good profit
while keeping it in the mid to low end of the market.

I do appreciate VIA coming out with their so-called "Mini-ITX 2.0" spec
because it has a PCIe x16 slot on there, and I do think it's pathetic
Intel is artificially avoiding putting that slot on their Mini-ITX
motherboards - I just don't think Intel wants to create a highly capable
Mini-ITX platform.

> Also note, Intel provides no Windows Server OS drivers for this MB (or any
> of their desktop boards) - they are pushing this as a desktop, not a
> Windows Home Server platform, network appliance, etc.

I wouldn't even say Intel is "pushing it", more like they're just putting
it out there to have something to compete with VIA in that market segment.
 Intel has been pushing Atom as a chip for companies to integrate into new
products.  The Mini-ITX board and the mini-notebooks like the MSI Wind and
EeePC 901 have the old 945G chipset on them, which is a dated pairing. 
And the Atom-specific chipset Poulsbo isn't even going to have an Intel
GPU, it's a PowerVR SGX graphics core and VXD HD video engine from
Imagination Technologies (you may remember that an older generation of
PowerVR was in the Sega Dreamcast console and arcade boards, and was
available as a competitive AGP discrete graphics part as well).

> Personally, I am always struck by comments about what is missing, not what
> is included - for about $150 + case you can build a nice desktop machine
> with x64 support, a hyperthreading CPU, and a nice SATA II 3.0 Gb/sec HD
> using all new parts and with low power consumption.

I think people might be frustrated at the lack of product choices and the
difficulty in finding places to buy many of them.  I wouldn't say Intel
has a complete lineup, but it's nice to see they have something.

- Nate