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        Mini-ITX board has five video outputs

        Jonathan Angel | Date: Aug 24, 2010 | Comments: 1


        Ibase announced a Mini-ITX motherboard that supports Intel's 2.53GHz Core i7-610E or 2.13GHz Core i3-330E processors. Offering PCI Express x1, PCI, and Mini PCI Express expansion slots, the MI957 also delivers five different video outputs, the company says.

        Targeting digital signage, gaming, POS, kiosk, and multimedia applications, the MI957 is the latest of many Ibase boards to feature the 6.7 by 6.7-inch Mini-ITX format. (Other recent examples include the Intel Core 2 Duo-based MI941 and MI940, the AMD-based MI952, and the Intel Atom-powered MI889.)

        Ibase's MI957
        (Click to enlarge)

        The new device includes Intel's QM57 Express chipset and features several of the embedded-specific "Arrandale" Core CPUs Intel introduced in January. Specifically, the MI957 operates with:

        • the Core i7-610E, with base clock speed of 2.54GHz, TurboBoost speed of 3.2GHz, dual cores, four threads, and a 35-Watt TDP
        • the Core i3-330LE, with a 2.13GHz clock speed, dual cores, four threads, and a 35-Watt TDP
        According to Ibase, the board can accept up to 8GB of ECC memory via two DIMM slots. Mass storage, meanwhile, is catered for by four SATA II ports, allowing drives to be installed in RAID 0 or RAID 1 configurations.

        The major selling point of the MI957 would appear to be its multiple video outputs. According to Ibase, the board includes DVI-D, VGA, USB, and DisplayPort connectors on its coastline (below left), while headers on top of the board (below right) support single or dual LVDS displays. (The company does not state, however, how many displays may be active simultaneously.)


        The Ibase MI957, coastline (left) and top (right)
        (Click either to enlarge)

        Ibase says the MI957 also has 12 USB 2.0 ports (four on its edge, eight via headers), a gigabit Ethernet port, four serial ports (three RS232, 1 RS232/422/485), and digital I/O (four in, four out). Three audio jacks provide 5:1 surround sound output, the company adds.

        Regarding expansion, it's said the MI957 includes a 32-bit PCI Expansion slot, a PCI Express x1 slot, and a Mini PCI Express socket.

        Further information

        Ibase did not cite pricing, availability, or operating system support for the MI957, but the device should run pretty much any x86 OS. More information on the board may be found on the company's website, here, and a datasheet in PDF format may be downloaded directly here.

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