Hardware.fr - The Atom goes ATX and with PCI-E x16

The Atom goes ATX and with PCI-E x16
>> Motherboards

Written by Nicolas Gridelet
Published on August 26, 2008

URL: http://www.behardware.com/news/lire/26-08-2008/#9904

While AMD and Ibase are striving to reduce the size of motherboards which integrate the Sempron 2x0U, the motherboard manufacturer Galaxy is working on a model in ATX format with…an Atom N230 processor (1.6 GHz/1 core) combined with the more ancient 945GC/ICH7 duo.

Note that the motherboard has a physical PCI-E x16 port (we do not yet know how many lanes are connected) and five classic PCI ports. Up until now, Intel tolerated at best a single PCI port while some such as Foxconn and ECS "risked" sometimes offering a PCI-E x1 port. Its price should be roughly $100 (tax not included) while it will be reserved for the OEM market. Otherwise, its interest is yet to be seen and there is the fear that it may be found in ersatz desktops...