News - BIOSTAR fanless mini-ITX format A68N-5000 Kabini motherboard

[HEXUS]

Includes a 1.5GHz quad-core AMD A4-5000 with integrated Radeon HD8330 graphics.

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[sirtrouserpress]

Frankly I'm stunned at how little heat that CPU must produce, I think the heat sink on my motherboard is roughly the same size and its a reasonably low end motherboard

[DDY]

Biostar omits the mini PCIe socket, but retains the PS2 ports, parallel and serial headers?

A mini PCIe or mSATA socket would have been nice

[Myss_tree]

Biostar omits the mini PCIe socket, but retains the PS2 ports, parallel and serial headers?

A mini PCIe or mSATA socket would have been nice

As this is likely to be used in a SFF or HTPC case and thus likely to be used with a television then legacy ports are a waste of space. Does anyone still use PS2 keyboard and mouse?
Only 2 sata ports is really paring the board down and only four usb ports on the back panel when there is clearly enough room for at least another six.
Like to see this baord go head to head with this from Gigabyte ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J0P042U/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1RBLI8BU7UB9Y

[Zimano]

I always look for motherboards with 2 x PS2 ports so I can use with my old KVM switch. DVI/HDMI/USB KVM's are a fortune and USB to PS2 adaptors never seem to work with PS2 based KVM.

[crossy]

Hmm, wondering if this would be a good board to use as the basis of a home NAS. Yes, it's only got two SATA ports - but that's enough for hosting the OS if I use that 4x PCI-E slot for a decent SATA (RAID?) card.

[3dcandy]

Not enough SATA ports, no point in PS2 ports. Otherwise would be great as a NAS/Server box as above

[scaryjim]

How long will it take for people to realise that the majority of these mITX boards aren't designed for home users? This is clearly a repurposed industrial board design, and it's not even vaguely aimed at enthusiasts -it's aimed at developing market, smaller system integrators, home builders looking for a second PC, and possibly smaller enterprise IT departments that build their own standard-spec desktops rather than having an enterprise account with a large OEM. So, optical drive + large storage drive = 2 SATA. Ability to use exisiting peripheral = 2 PS/2 ports + serial port + parallel port. Connects to existing monitor = VGA port. Seriously, if I have a mouse, keyboard, monitor and printer that all still work perfectly, I don't want to have to replace all of those because a mobo manufacturer has decided that my technology is too old to bother supporting anymore (incidentally, I have all of the above except the parallel printer, and I know a couple of mates who still have those).

However, this mobo also covers modern interfaces by hosting HDMI, SATA 3, USB 3. So if you're a system integrator you can sel it with USB or PS/2 mouse + keyboard, and stick a medium size SSD in there, and sell it with an HDMI or DVI monitor, and all those parts are going to be used to best effect. This really is a board that can target a variety of markets effectively. It's not like BIOSTAR (who are a budget board manufacturer anyway, remember) don't make boards that appeal to the enthusiast market. Don't slate them just because they choose to make a product that targets a market you're not part of....

EDIT:
Of course the real question is what the point of this is in the face of the AM1 platform. You can get almost exactly the same SOC (Athlon 5150) with a choice of motherboards to meet your needs. The AM1 platform doesn't currently have any passive coolers available, but if the only benefit of this BIOSTAR board is that it doesn't have a fan then you've got be to pretty desperate for a quiet system to opt for it over the more flexible AM1 option...

[3dcandy]

How long will it take for people to realise that the majority of these mITX boards aren't designed for home users? This is clearly a repurposed industrial board design, and it's not even vaguely aimed at enthusiasts -it's aimed at developing market, smaller system integrators, home builders looking for a second PC, and possibly smaller enterprise IT departments that build their own standard-spec desktops rather than having an enterprise account with a large OEM. So, optical drive + large storage drive = 2 SATA. Ability to use exisiting peripheral = 2 PS/2 ports + serial port + parallel port. Connects to existing monitor = VGA port. Seriously, if I have a mouse, keyboard, monitor and printer that all still work perfectly, I don't want to have to replace all of those because a mobo manufacturer has decided that my technology is too old to bother supporting anymore (incidentally, I have all of the above except the parallel printer, and I know a couple of mates who still have those).

However, this mobo also covers modern interfaces by hosting HDMI, SATA 3, USB 3. So if you're a system integrator you can sel it with USB or PS/2 mouse + keyboard, and stick a medium size SSD in there, and sell it with an HDMI or DVI monitor, and all those parts are going to be used to best effect. This really is a board that can target a variety of markets effectively. It's not like BIOSTAR (who are a budget board manufacturer anyway, remember) don't make boards that appeal to the enthusiast market. Don't slate them just because they choose to make a product that targets a market you're not part of....

EDIT:
Of course the real question is what the point of this is in the face of the AM1 platform. You can get almost exactly the same SOC (Athlon 5150) with a choice of motherboards to meet your needs. The AM1 platform doesn't currently have any passive coolers available, but if the only benefit of this BIOSTAR board is that it doesn't have a fan then you've got be to pretty desperate for a quiet system to opt for it over the more flexible AM1 option...

I think we realise it but are saying it's not for us...
However, it's aimed at Atom boards isn't it, they still have all of the above - however I've got an Atom based board with 4xSATA etc. and it's in my NAS box... horses for courses, thus my comments!

[scaryjim]

I think we realise it but are saying it's not for us...

If that's how they're meant, it's not how they come across. *shrug* And it happens every time we get a press release about a board that doesn't have the exact spec that someone wants: "I don't see the point in this" is a very common statement. Specifically, saying there's "no point in PS2 ports" when someone's already said they specifically look for boards with 2 PS2 ports seems ... well, I can only assume that you either didn't read the earlier comment, or decided to ignore it.

However, it's aimed at Atom boards isn't it, they still have all of the above - however I've got an Atom based board with 4xSATA etc. and it's in my NAS box... horses for courses, thus my comments!

I seriously doubt anyone makes a product because they are specifically aiming at someone else's product (cheap copies/knock-offs aside), and if you do you're pretty much doomed to fail. You aim a product at a market, and if a competitor is also aiming at that market so be it. This board only has 2 SATA ports, so clearly it's not aimed at the home storage appliance market. It clearly is aimed at a cost sensitive market, hence the decision not to add another SATA controller. But if sacrificing 2 SATA ports means your board is cheaper than the competitor's, that could be all the difference you need to win in that market.

I strongly suspect that this is actually a run-off from a major OEM custom board - after all, if you're already running a production line creating these things why not chuck a couple of extra boards through and release them to the channel? So the spec will actually have been picked by someone like Lenovo/Dell/HP for one of their SFF PCs. The pre-built PC market is massively more valuable in terms of total revenue than the self build and enthusiast market.

[Neostar]

I think this is a really good board with an excellent set of features, I'm actually thinking this could be a good buy for customising my old Soltek EQ3401M with a new motherboard. All I need is to create the right standoffs.

[3dcandy]

Jim - perhaps you're thinking too hard about this. In this day and age, to the vast majority of people PS2 ports are redundant, as are COM ports. And yup, this is a site for enthusiasts that (the vast majority at least) will have long forgotten and stopped using most of these ports.
Comments are very rarely aimed at everybody else and are usually what you personally think - so people will doubtless say not enough SATA USB or whatever - it doesn't mean that they're particularly bothered because the choices will be out there, but to them it's not right. For me, I don't need those ports, thus my comments. Mileage varies - we get the idea, and I'm guessing you're near to the mark saying it's probably a run-off from a contract that is designed to sit in use 24/7 with a decent power draw. What I meant is that older Atom boards were very similar in spec, so it could be seen as a drop in replacement. No fans is obviously good, you wouldn't want many moving parts in an industrial setting. I know someone who uses embedded XP in computer controls for friction welding and this board will be perfect for him...
But the crunch is, it's a news item on a tech site, and most people won't be in the market for one of these - thus some of the less than kind comments

[scaryjim]

*shrug* there's a difference between saying "I don't need PS2 ports.", "who uses PS2 ports?" and "there's no point in PS2 ports.". And since people on the internet can't infer subtle meaning from your tone of voice and body language, the words pretty much have to be taken at face value. So when someone types that there's "no point in PS2 ports" (or that "legacy ports are a waste of space"), it comes across as an absolute - a refusal to believe that anyone could possibly use those ports in 2014.

As I said earlier, it may not be what's intended, but it's what comes across.

And yes, the fanless design would be particularly good in industrial settings - at which point the legacy port support makes implicit sense (indeed, you should mock any "industrial" board that doesn't have com and parallel ports... ). Large open-plan offices would benefit too - once you put a lot of CPU fans together it can get very distracting...

[3dcandy]

And indeed we're there...
It's no slight on you, but it's just as big a bug bear of mine - I just prefer people to have to work at what I mean

[scaryjim]

... I just prefer people to have to work at what I mean

You'd rather be misunderstood and have to have a lengthy conversation about things than communicate clearly in the first place? You don't have pointy hair, do you?

[3dcandy]

I enjoy debate - it's healthy!
And what's wrong with pointy hair?

Pfffttttt!!!!!!