My Windows Home Server machine uses an Atom...
The Intel D945GCLF2 board to be precise.

It also does a lot more than just serving files too.
And even an Atom is an overkill!
(Except for extracting archives.)

The i5 is definitely a waste of money and energy in this case.

The MSI board would still have dual channel showing 3.25GB, but the Aopen board will lose it and show 2.99GB if you use 2x2GB.

I personally use 2x2GB, as they are so cheap nowadays anyway. Speed of memory doesn't matter to me but amount of memory is, because I run a lot of virtual machines. Win7 runs fine on my 1GB tablet (Fujitsu P1610) by the way. Saying that, I think it is about time I get rid of these 945GM/945GT boards...

Hi.

1.07 didn't make a difference. It is a hardware limitation like with many 945 boards/laptops. We are stuck with 3GB

It's hard to tell, though, if this procedure is possible or not. User manual for MSI features a "Boot display device" item but it's not clear whether it allows to disable GMA or just to select among built-in HDMI, DVI and VGA ports. Intel doesn't present a model-specific BIOS Setup reference at all...

For those in Europe, CarTFT have got them in already!

ntavlas wrote:Nice, it comes with a p4 connector too, at last!

Yea... at last! I had to solder one by myself last time

In my experience, the difference of calculation speed between having VT and not having it, is negligible. But, the graphics and disk access performance improve when having VT... for some strange reasons.

And as Redzo says, the cache memory makes quite a big difference when running virtual machines.

Hi all, Just noticed that MiniBox has released two new products. The first one is a 150W version of the PicoPSU, which should be pretty good for those of us that use standard minimalistic desktop components. http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-150-XT The second one I found really interesting. It basical...

Thanks. Never knew ADD2 was a standard across vendors. I always thought it was a common term that basically means "DVI add-on cards" regardless of how or what they interface with.

Thinking about it, I think I have a spare ADD2 somewhere, from the 945GMm-HL...

Actually I just found that I have a copy of the 1.07 BIOS stored somewhere from ages ago! Let me try that first...

Has anyone found a good UK retailer for this yet?

I don't see any Asus ADD2 there, I thought the ADD2 must be of the manufacturer as the motherboard???
(This is a genuine question.)

Yea sure, if one can be found and is compatible with the board... but the problem is I've never seen anywhere selling the ADD2 (not even the bay), except being bundled with certain retail boards

Thanks for the info! Didn't know it doesn't have DVI! This could be a deal breaker... :( The cooler issue is a pretty annoying one too... And yes, the 3GB problem is actually Aopen's fault. In order for a 64-bit OS to recognise more than 3GB, the BIOS must support "memory hole remapping" first, othe...

Because, I think, it is supposed to be used in some of Asus' desktop machines (probably one of those entertainment PCs), and not meant to be sold separately.

Compact Flash can be fast, if you get one that supports UDMA (i.e. the 300x-plus cards) and an adapter that supports it.
But then it wouldn't be so cheap.

Sorry! :D They have many more for sale now and I'd recommend it. Mine has been running 24/7 as a full time Windows 2008 Hyper-V Server with AD/Exchange etc. I haven't had a single hiccup, CPU sits at 8 degrees celcius and go up to about 20/25 under load. (Its in the attic, ambient 8 degrees c) The ...

Thanks for posting the details. So the differences are mostly down to the gfx card, and the different way of measuring (I include the PSU inefficiency as well) then. But it seems like my T5600 runs a lot hotter than yours. I really need to double check to make sure the heatsink is sitting correctly....

You can run T5600 fanless? :O My T5600 with a Swiftech MCX478 and a 1800rpm 80mm fan tops 60C idle! (On Aopen 945GM too by the way) And yes please post details. I am very interested in how you achieve 28w and fanless. So would you please post details on case, case fans, PSU, etc. Because I would obv...

Hi wywywywy, I'm also in a similar situation as you, thinking about to build a low power PC, and I wonder is it worth to go with motherboard with mobile processor and mobile chipset..... What was your final choice? We can discuss it in this thread: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php...

Also AOpen 945GMm-HL, which is easier to find than 945GTm-VHL.
There are some ITX ones from Jetway and Commell too.

The board I have is a resold custom OEM job, from eBay UK, seller 'SpireDream'. There are none listed at present but they will probably relist. It was called something like 965 Ecoquiet. It was super cheap, £65 inc HS+Fan and two 1Gb sticks of ram. It is marked ASUS IMISR-VM, has a one PCIe x16, o...

Thanks guys, this puts a new perspective on things. My HTPC and secondary desktop do use low profile cases with minimal cooling, so they will stay MoDT with 945 for the time being. But my main desktop has a full size case and water cooling, so going back to "normal processors" seems a logical choice...

Wow didn't look in the "server" section, thanks for the link!
Very strangely it doesn't support 800MHz FSB processors?

Are you sure desktop processors use 20-25W at most? I thought they were supposed to be 65W nominal?

Hi all, I am struggling a bit here... has anyone seen ANY mATX socket-P motherboard at all? At the moment I have a socket-M board (MSI 945GT Speedster-A4R), and I would like to upgrade to Penryn because even the fastest Merom isn't quite fast enough. But I have more than one PCI device, so I can't u...

There is no need to use the Zalman fanmate. The speed can be controlled through the BIOS and/or Speedfan. So that might save you a bit of space. But yea I agree, it is a fantastic board. I use it to run my Windows Home Server and it is simply brilliant. Oh another thing, it might not be compatible w...

If you are going to get a Mini Kaze and if your case allows, get the 20mm tall one rather than the 10mm tall one by the way, lots more cooling with the same noise level.

Hi, Yes the original chipset fan is very loud, even at 50%. I replaced it with a Scythe Mini Kaze (40mm), but it doesn't spin up at 50%. So now I set it to a constant 90%, which is still much quieter than the original fan at 50%. With the case closed, it is pretty much silent. And the temp is very s...

Freesat works correctly with Vista Media Center + TV Pack 2008.
With a hacked DLL you can also get BBC HD.
ITV HD doesn't work yet.

If you plan to use Media Center, I wouldn't get anything other than Hauppauge.