[geeks] Two new Intel mini-ITX boards (DQ45EK and DG45FC)

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: nate at portents.com
>Date: 2008/05/14 Wed PM 01:37:47 CDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] Two new Intel mini-ITX boards (DQ45EK and DG45FC)

>> This looks like a great little board, and would neatly solve some
>> issues I had with the D201GLY board, mainly the lack of gigabit
>> ethernet.
>
>There have been a number of other boards out there for some time that are
>more capable than the D201GLY, though they tend to cost about $300:
>
>Commell LV-678, LV-677
>Portwell WADE-8656, WADE-8156
>iBASE MI935, MI900
>Liantec ITX-6910, TBM-1610
>Advansus iQ965-CI
>BCM MX965GME
>KINO-9654G4
>Arbor ITX-i9453
>Albatron KI690-AM2, PI965
>
>To name a few.
>
>I don't expect Intel's new offerings to be much below $200, but they could
>surprise me I suppose.

I would expect them to cost the same as a similar-spec'd MB in a larger size, so $100-$150 seems reasonable, $150-200 more likely.

Remember, the D201GLY2 MB addressed a certain market segment - it sold with a low-power CPU included (the cheapest retail Celeron CPU they currently offer is about $35, the D201GLY2 lists for twice that price, or about $70, which means the MB "costs" you about $35 - MUCH LESS than anything else in that market segment).

The D201GLY2 is "gee-whiz" product, and has use for embedded-type applications, not really a desktop system for the "mainstream market" in the developed nations... It is neat that you can build a 64-bit desktop with a $70 MB, $25 for a 2 Gig memory DIMM, $50 for a 160 Gig SATA HD and a $45 case/PS, but that gets you close to a Dell barn-burner deal at $299 for a much more capable machine (*with* an OS).

Lionel