One of the most recent examples of PCs leaving its image of the big beige box is the HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer), which is essentially a computer dedicated to manage living room entertainment.

The form factor for a HTPC is somewhat of a concern, as a standard ATX system is obviously going to be too large. For those building an affordable HTPC, the microATX format makes the most sense, but there are however even smaller, less conventional motherboard formats available. Enter the Mini-ITX form-factor, measuring just 17x17cm (versus microATX's 24x24). This format was created by VIA Technologies in 2001, and was designed to be passively cooled using low power consumption chipset architectures.

Almost 6 years later however, the Mini-ITX has failed to crack the mainstream market for a few reasons... but my dream of owning a powerful Mini-ITX computer are still alive thanks to motherboard maker Albatron. They have taken a 17cm x 17cm piece of PCB board and slapped a Socket 754 connector onto it, four SATA300 ports, support for eight USB 2.0 ports, dual LAN controllers including a Gigabit LAN port along with many other essential features. Utilizing the Nvidia GeForce 6150 chipset allows the Albatron KI51PV-754 to support VGA and DVI out. Unfortunately, there are some obvious limitations to the KI51PV-754 such as its processor, memory and add-in graphics card support. Furthermore, the KI51PV-754 is also very expensive, retailing for an incredible $310. We will find out if the KI51PV-754 can overcome these issues.

http://www.techspot.com/review/22-albatron_ki51pv-754/

Please leave your feedback here. Thanks!

Personaly I wouldnt buy it because of the specs and price of it

Personally I agree with you mate

But a nifty little invention nonetheless!

Sorry to dig up such an old thread, but I do realise that its been awhile since techspot had a review on ITX motherboards.

Just wondering if Julio still has that dream (or has it come true?) of owning a powerful Mini-ITX computer...

That was my dream and no it has not happened yet but I think it is going to soon

I must confess I have the same dream, and I've been looking really intently on ITX-related articles these days. Maybe you should take a look at the new DFI LGA1156 mini-ITX board with a PCIe x16....

Or better still, a lineup of CPU heatsinks that will fit into a Silverstone SG05. Personally I think the biggest thing you can get in there would be a Thermalright AXP-140, with a (if you can find one) 8mm thick fan

I am working on getting the DFI P55 mini-ITX board as we speak I have the SG05 so I just need a board with PCIe x16.

Dang, you ARE really interested in a powerful mini-ITX build aren't ya

(Sorry for posting all this on this old thread, but here goes...)

Another possibility for your powerful mini-ITX build (that you can review so I can figure out if I should use it ) is the soon-to-be-released Silverstone SG07 case.

I'm sure you've probably heard about it, but if not, its kinda similar to their sg05/6, but with a monster 600W custom PSU + monster 180mm top fan.

If you do get one for review, knowing that it has >78mm for the CPU heatsink would be pretty nice