Still no AM3 mITX boards available?

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:38 am

Hi,

Can it be true?
Are there (still) no AM3 mITX boards available at this moment?
I can't find any.
Are they coming soon?

Any info will be appreciated.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:13 am

None that I know of, and I haven't heard of any future products, but it's not something I've been paying very close attention to either. Jetway produces a lot of mini ITX boards for end-users, I'd imagine they'll introduce one eventually.

If you just want something that can accept AM3 CPUs, I think the AM2+ mini ITX boards from Jetway and Zotac support them with a BIOS update.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:44 pm

Yes, Jetway will probably make one eventually but when?
I'll email them.

Using a AM2+ board and not a AM3 board with a AM3 CPU means I loose some functionality right?

EDIT: Why did I put this thread in "cases and damping"?
Someone please move it. Thanks

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:15 pm

One gripe, if going Mini-ITX, it seems price of Intel vs AMD starts to level off (not counting the Zino HD). You can get a Zotac GF9300-G-E board for $125 and the Intel DG45FC for $115. For those who don't need the media capabilities, there's also the DG41MJ for $80. Rumoured MSRP for the Zotac H55-ITX is just $130. The lowest price I've seen for the Jetway 780G board is $140 and it was hovering over $200 back when it was first released. It would be nice if we can get a 785G Mini-ITX motherboard for around the same price as comparable LGA-775/LGA-1156 boards. The Zotac GF8200-C-E is the least expensive AMD Mini-ITX board I've seen. It's a bit lacking for HTPC use, though (no full VC-1 decode).

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:41 pm

J&W MINIX 785G-SP128MB

785g+sb710, i've seen them online for about 150aud, which is only 50% more than similar matx boards. the only downsides i can see are the use of ddr2 sodimms and perhaps a limited bios.

edit: seems they only take lower powered cpus.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:35 pm

AuraAllan wrote:Yes, Jetway will probably make one eventually but when?
I'll email them.

Using a AM2+ board and not a AM3 board with a AM3 CPU means I loose some functionality right?

EDIT: Why did I put this thread in "cases and damping"?
Someone please move it. Thanks

I think the only "feature" you'd lose is DDR3 support. An AM2+ board would also limit your upgrade path if that's a concern. It doesn't sound like future architectures (Bulldozer, for example) will have an onboard DDR2 controller for backward compatibility.

ilovejedd: That's a good point. IIRC DFI has an H55 board available right now for about $130 as well, although I don't know how good it is. I'm sure the Zotac will be good, though, they make some pretty solid products.

porkchop: That's an AM2+ board, you can tell because it uses DDR2. Does look like it supports AM3 CPUs, though. I think max 65w TDP support is common to all these mini ITX boards, it's not just a limitation of the J&W.

edit: Actually the DFI board is P55, not H55. Sorry.

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:14 pm

yeah, it is am2+.

but it does use the newest chips so has the newest stuff, ht3 and uvd2 for example. ram probably won't make a big difference performance wise, so it's really a matter of future upgrading.

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:45 am

frostedflakes wrote:
AuraAllan wrote:Yes, Jetway will probably make one eventually but when?
I'll email them.

Using a AM2+ board and not a AM3 board with a AM3 CPU means I loose some functionality right?

EDIT: Why did I put this thread in "cases and damping"?
Someone please move it. Thanks
I think the only "feature" you'd lose is DDR3 support. An AM2+ board would also limit your upgrade path if that's a concern. It doesn't sound like future architectures (Bulldozer, for example) will have an onboard DDR2 controller for backward compatibility.

ilovejedd: That's a good point. IIRC DFI has an H55 board available right now for about $130 as well, although I don't know how good it is. I'm sure the Zotac will be good, though, they make some pretty solid products.

porkchop: That's an AM2+ board, you can tell because it uses DDR2. Does look like it supports AM3 CPUs, though. I think max 65w TDP support is common to all these mini ITX boards, it's not just a limitation of the J&W.

edit: Actually the DFI board is P55, not H55. Sorry.

Are you interested in 6-cores processor in the not so distant future, AuraAllan? That said, I serious doubt whether or not you can drop 6-cores cpu onto the mini-itx board due to TDP constraint. Future-proofing isn't so tempting under this circumstance, hence lack of AM3 solution. Right now, dual/triple/quad cores all works well on AM2+/AM3 boards.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:23 am

The reason for me asking about AM3 itx boards in the first place is because I want an upgrade from my current Jetway NC81-LF + 4850e and I would really like another AMD system.
I'd like a 785G + 235e system but I might go for the Zotac H55-ITX + i5 661 or a i3 5x1 when they become available.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:01 am

I'm in the same boat. I've found that J&W board, but the 785G version doesn't seem to be sold in the US. I thought I was happy with mATX, but next time I revise my system, I might have to go mITX, and that Silverstone SG07 case looks mighty nice.

datapappan · Post by **datapappan** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:13 pm

Sapphire now has one.

Sapphire IPC-AM3DD785G

Namheul · Post by **Namheul** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:04 pm

I was looking for an AMD solution too.

I ended up with a i3 530 and an Intel DH57JG.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 6:30 am

datapappan wrote:Sapphire now has one.

Sapphire IPC-AM3DD785G

The only issue with it is that it's not available, and the webpage for it mentions it only supports 65W cpus. Plus it seems it's going to be marketed for industrial use, and not home users, at least based on the product description. Still, it's an option.

yaxattax · Post by **yaxattax** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:06 pm

Hi all,

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I was looking for some information regarding the NC81-LF from Jetway, and stumbled across this thread. A couple of things I would like to know about it from those who have experience, I noted from the manual that the board supports overclocking, does it support downclocking? Additionally, will an AM3 CPU, such as Atlon X4 605e function in this motherboard? I am not concerned about loss of DDR3 functionality...

Failing that, could anybody recommend a small form factor motherboard suitable for low power CPUs that
1) Supports CPU frequency adjustment (downclocking)
2) Has 2 onboard LAN ports

I am not particularly concerned whether Intel or AMD - I however do not want a motherboard with an embedded CPU.

Comments and feedback appreciated.

Regards

Still no AM3 mITX boards available?

Still no AM3 mITX boards available?

Re: Still no AM3 mITX boards available?