New form factor shrinks embedded mainboard

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team May 29, 2007

The EPIA PX is the first commercial mainboard based on VIA's recently unveiled Pico-ITX form factor measuring just 100 x 72mm.

The VIA EPIA PX is the first commercial mainboard based on VIA's recently unveiled Pico-ITX form factor measuring just 100 x 72mm.

Powered by the 1GHz VIA C7 processor and supporting up to 1Gbyte of DDR2 533 SO-DIMM system memory, the tiny 10-layer VIA EPIA PX mainboard is based around the single-chip VIA VX700 system media processor, which features the VIA UniChrome Pro II IGP 3D/2D graphics core, MPEG-2/-4 and WMV9 hardware decoding acceleration and display flexibility, including support for higher display resolutions of up to HDTV for HD DVD playback.

Onboard connectors and I/O enable developers to harness the full power of the mainboard, though the VIA PX-O, a dedicated daughterboard with multiple digital media I/O ports, is available on request to assist project developers in early system testing.

Power efficiency is integral to the platform, with the maximum power (TDP) of the processor and chipset at 9 and 3.5W, respectively, combined with low power DDR2 memory enabling the VIA EPIA PX to run standard productivity and multimedia applications at under 13W.

"The VIA EPIA PX mainboard sets a new world standard for ultracompact embedded system platforms, providing a full complement of multimedia and connectivity options on a platform smaller than any standard PC mainboard or x86 system-on-module", says Daniel Wu, Assistant Vice President, VIA Platform Solutions Division, VIA Technologies.

"We are very excited about our new 'baby' mainboard, and are working closely with chassis and other infrastructure partners to expedite adoption of the form factor".

This scale of platform miniaturisation has been made possible only by the reduction in size of the core silicon; the 21mm square nanoBGA2 package of the VIA C7 processor and 35mm square VIA VX700 system media processor have a combined area of just 1670m2, a board real estate saving of over 50% from previous generation EBGA processors plus twin-chip core logic solutions, and more than that over competing solutions.

The VIA EPIA PX mainboard is available now for developers, and will be available in limited quantities through authorised distributors in late May.