If you already have a low-end computer at home then leaving it on for the whole day is not going to be that bad. But what if you have a gaming rig? Imagine the power it's going to consume if you leave it on for an entire day or worse a number of days!
The Asus EeeBox and NovaLite are perfect solutions for this, but they don't come cheap. In our guide to building your own Nettop, we mentioned about Intel's 945 chipset Atom solution, which is a mini-ITX motherboard with an Atom processor.
Today we have the very same motherboard, only that this one is a Gigabyte GA-GC230D that features its UltraDurable technology and solid state capacitors for longer life. VIA also has a similar solution, but unfortunately we haven't had a chance to test it, so we'll be comparing it with the Asus NovaLite and more importantly explore the areas where one may find use for such a motherboard.
Bundle
The bundle includes the essentials like,
Instruction manual
Driver CD
Driver CD (Individual ones for XP and Vista)
IDE cable
I/O shield
1x SATA cable
The bundle is very basic and includes all the connectors you would need, as there are very few expansion ports.
Design
When this product came in, looking at the size of the box, I wondered when Gigabyte started selling cell phones in India! The box is really small with just a sticker at the bottom about the specifications and features.
The motherboard is based on the Intel 945GC chipset and comes with the Atom 230 (or N270 as its known) running at 1.6GHz. The Atom processor uses the same 45nm fabrication process but sadly this first batch is locked to the 945 chipset, so it cannot be used on any other motherboard, thus limiting an upgrade.
The rear ports are the same ones found on the Intel motherboard, as Gigabyte hasn't changed anything much. They've still kept the serial and parallel ports. Along with that we have the VGA port, four USB ports, 10/100 LAN jack and a Realtek ALC662 audio chip for sound.
The RAM slot can accommodate up to 2GB of RAM with a maximum speed of 533MHz. For testing we used a 1GB memory stick. There are two more USB headers on the motherboard for an additional four USB ports. There's just a single PCI slot for a sound card or a TV tuner card. You can also use a graphics card, as you do get some of the low-end cards for the PCI slot like a 9500GT, but you'll have to search a lot for these.
The die is cooled by a rather measly looking heat sink since it does not heat up much. Let's see how the Gigabyte GA-GC230D performs in our tests.
Testbench
CPU: Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-GC230D
Memory: Trancend 1GB (800MHz)
HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 250GB SATA (Barracuda 7200.10)
Case: CoolerMaster Mystique with CoolerMaster 1000W PSU
Monitor: Philips 109E5 Monitor (19", Max Resolution 1920x1440 pixels)
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Note: There was no point installing Vista on this motherboard, as we all saw what happened to the Sony Vaio P which struggled with basic tasks. Also, we had to stick with 1GB of RAM instead of 2GB, since it was the only one available at the time of testing.
PCMark 05
SiSOFT SANDRA 2009
Processor Multimedia
Memory Bandwidth
Cache and Memory
Processor Arithmetic
Processor Multimedia
Memory Bandwidth
Cache and Memory
Performance Analysis
No surprises here; we tried to match the Gigabyte motherboard closely to the Asus NovaLite and the results were in favor of the Gigabyte GA-GC230D. This was mostly because we used a standard desktop hard disk and memory as compared to the Notebook drive and memory used in the NovaLite.
Bundled Software
Gigabytes Easytune5 allows you to monitor your system and adjust the speed of the fan. It will also alert you if the system gets too hot by showing you the temperature in real time.
Power Consumption
With just a single optical drive and a hard drive the entire system idled at 42W, which is more compared to the NovaLite. However, the NovaLite used a much smaller hard disk and plus is limited to the power adapter, so it can't go beyond 25W. When we put some stress on it, it goes all the way up to 46W, which is good and is still lower than a regular computer.
We had some issues with the Northbridge fan though, as sometimes it refused to spin on start up and needed a little push. We decided to unplug the fan to see if it really made any difference since the heat sink is large. We fired up Everest and monitored the temperature of the motherboard. With the fan spinning, the idle temperature was 32 degrees Celsius and on load went up to 37 degrees.
However, with the fan unplugged it idled at 35 degrees and went a little higher to 42 degrees on load, which is still ok. In short, even if the fan stops spinning you shouldn't have a problem once the motherboard is inside the case.
Windows 7 and 720p
Many have commented about how well Windows 7 runs on a Netbook. So, since we have the Atom motherboard and Windows 7 with us, we decided to give it a try. I kept my fingers crossed not knowing what to expect as the Windows 7 loaded on my desktop. Once it finished loading, I quickly move the mouse around and find no lag, I open a couple of Windows- again no lag, I try Flip 3D- no lag. And now for the ultimate test, playing a 720p movie on Windows 7 with an Atom and 1GB RAM, and viola- no lag!
I was ecstatic. Just the idea of doing this seemed crazy, but it all worked perfectly fine. All you HTPC and Media Center junkies may rejoice.
Pricing
The Gigabyte GA-GC230D is priced very close to Intel's offering at Rs.3500 excluding taxes. You also get Gigabytes three-year warranty with it. The motherboard is definitely priced well, especially if you're looking for a low powered CPU solution. To complete the PC, you'll just need a cabinet, memory and a keyboard and mouse, all of which should come to around 9-10K. It gets even better if you already have an existing LCD with dual inputs, in that case you won't even need a monitor.
Verdict
The Gigabyte GA-GC230D will certainly interest all those looking for a low cost, small footprint, low power PC. The Atom processor can easily handle Windows XP as well as Windows7 on 1GB RAM. Do not attempt to install Vista, as it will severely slow down your system.
Those looking to build a download rig may rejoice as you won't be haunted with a fat electric bill every month. This is even great for offices where you need computers for accounting (Tally) or just Word and Excel. Schools and colleges that teach programming courses like C++ and Java will benefit from this, as they don't require a powerful PC. At the same time you can have more computers in one room since it does not require any fancy cooling or require a lot of space.
Using this for a HTPC may not be the best idea, since you will ideally require some more muscle to play those 1080p movies (720p will do). If you have original BluRays at home then adding a PCI graphics card like a 9500GT will help, as PowerDVD and Nero Showtime support hardware acceleration. If you only have HD rips then you need a stronger processor since you won't be able to offload the processing to the graphics card.
Overall if you're looking to build a low powered computer from scratch, then the Gigabyte GA-GC230D motherboard would be the right thing to go for.
source : http://www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/Gigabyte_GA-GC230D_Review/551-100653-636-9.html
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar