Gigabyte is preparing to release two motherboards based on Intel's Thin Mini-ITX platform later this month, the GA-H77TN and the GA-B75TN. If you aren't familiar, this platform is essentially a low profile Micro-ITX design built for affordable DIY and all-in-one systems that includes a standardized cooling system for compatibility with a number of different applications.

The pair of boards are pretty similar in that they both support the LGA1155 socket, have four USB 3.0 ports, four SATA ports, two SO-DIMM slots, a single PCI Express x4 slot and dual Mini PCI Express slots perfect for a Wi-Fi controller or solid state drive. Furthermore, both boards include DisplayPort and HDMI outputs as well.

The differences appear to be subtle in nature, like the fact that the GA-H77TN has two SATA 6Gbps ports while the GA-BT75TN is limited to SATA 3Gbps. As the Tech Report points out, this decision appears to have been made based on product segmentation instead of platform limitation. A quick look at the specifications sheet for the B75 reveals that it is capable of SATA 6Gbps connectivity.

The publication notes that Gigabyte seems set on marketing these boards towards the embedded PC market - places like point-of-sale systems and automotive PCs where things like add-on riser cards with COM ports and support for 12V and 19V DC input voltages would make sense. That of course isn't to say that enthusiasts couldn't use these boards for their own projects, however.

As of writing, we have no word on pricing or an exact release date outside of "later this month."