1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Hardware J&W Minix 890GX-USB3 Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Claave, 30 Nov 2010.

  1. Claave

    Claave You Rebel scum

    Joined:
    29 Nov 2008
    Posts:
    691
    Likes Received:
    12
  2. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 May 2009
    Posts:
    1,574
    Likes Received:
    8
    Since when were UK prices in Euros???
     
  3. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

    Joined:
    17 Feb 2006
    Posts:
    3,483
    Likes Received:
    103
    Useless board with those SO-DIMMs. Most people prefer normal DIMMs, even on miniITX-boards.
     
  4. Evildead666

    Evildead666 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    27 May 2004
    Posts:
    340
    Likes Received:
    4
    I wish they would generalise 6 sata ports on mini itx soon.
    boot disk and SlimDVD take two, and that would leave a nice 4 for Nas (and Raid5 if the right chipset).
    I've only found one board (available) where this is possible:
    http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/ICH9/X7SPA.cfm?typ=H&IPMI=Y

    But its Atom based.
    This type of board with a Intel or AMD 'real' cpu would be a godsend to many people.

    I prefer So-Dimms on a mini itx board, if they are for giving the space for something else. extra slots or connectors or something.
     
  5. Mork

    Mork What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    9 Nov 2009
    Posts:
    72
    Likes Received:
    1
    I'm really disappointed with this board.

    Also, I don't see why more manufacturers don't start utilizing the underside of those boards more efficiently.. It seems like a rational way to make more space on the "top side" of the board.
     
  6. schmidtbag

    schmidtbag What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Jul 2010
    Posts:
    1,082
    Likes Received:
    10
    it really annoys me when bit-tech degrades the rating of a product just because it poorly does something it CLEARLY is not meant to do. with 95w max tdp, why the hell would you try overclocking a triple or quad core? just because it has the option, it doesn't mean its meant for it. maybe its meant to UNDERCLOCK, so it runs cooler and therefore quieter. when you get mini itx, you're not going for performance, you're going for something that gets the job done in a very small form factor. if anyone noticed, this board doesn't even use a 24 pin power connector. also i wouldn't complain about the core unlocking. if you buy a triple core cpu, thats what you get. if you want a quad core, get a quad. if the board has the option but it doesn't work, it might work in a bios update. this too might be intended for opposite use - maybe you want to shut off cores to make it less power consuming.

    mini itx isn't meant for performance, and that seems to be all bit tech is focusing on. the fact that it has usb 3 and sata 3 just means they're trying to make something that isn't obsolete, because we all know the rating would drop even more if it didn't have those

    anyways, did anyone else know that minix is actually an operating system?
     
  7. simonw

    simonw What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    24 Jun 2009
    Posts:
    146
    Likes Received:
    4
    Zotac H55-ITX has 6 sata ports (no raid though).
     
  8. Farting Bob

    Farting Bob What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    21 Jan 2009
    Posts:
    469
    Likes Received:
    13
    I got very excited when i saw this MiniITX board with 2 ethernet ports and a full 16x PCIe lane, finally maybe be able to build my dream gaming/multimedia streaming PC in a tiny case. But alas, this is way overpriced and disapointing. Needs a second version for me to jump just yet. But getting closer.
     
  9. M7ck

    M7ck Ⓜod Ⓜaster

    Joined:
    28 Mar 2009
    Posts:
    3,600
    Likes Received:
    167
    erm........it kinda does :rock:
     
  10. schmidtbag

    schmidtbag What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Jul 2010
    Posts:
    1,082
    Likes Received:
    10
    so you're saying that just because you buy an exotic car capable of reaching 200mph you're supposed to do that on the street? or maybe the car has a 6-disc CD changer, so you're required to use all 6 slots? maybe it has a cigarette lighter, so you're supposed to take up smoking?

    overclocking is optional. having a low-power motherboard with the option to overclock probably has the option so you can underclock. i know someone who deliberately underclocks so he can do passive cooling. if you have a really tiny computer for something like a media center, its best if you make it as quiet as possible. if you want to overclock something, get a board and case designed for it.
     
  11. mars-bar-man

    mars-bar-man Side bewb.

    Joined:
    17 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    7,356
    Likes Received:
    276
    MiniITX isn't designed for performace? And when I bought mine I didn't buy it for performance?

    Shut up.

    My board is awesome, simple as. I can overclock fine. Going to push my chip further over xmas. If someone wants a low power ITX board, buy an Atom (that may create a **** storm as how poor Atom sometimes is), but seriously, making a sweeping generalisation about ITX is just wrong. Also, you say about the core unlocking, and that if people want a quad, buy a quad, but then you go on and mention locking cores? If you wanted a dual, buy one. Your argument has no weight.

    They're also obviously aiming to get a bit of the performance market, who would buy a 6-core CPU unless they wanted some serious grunt? It also uses a more 'performance bases' chipset. Why? If not to compete with the higher end kit.

    Going back to OCing briefly, you're using that 200mph car example, it's a poor one. If the board was not designed to OC, why did they put it there? To OC stuff.
     
  12. schmidtbag

    schmidtbag What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Jul 2010
    Posts:
    1,082
    Likes Received:
    10
    since when does anyone buy the smallest size possible to get the most performance out of it? you don't buy a smart car an expect it to tow a trailer. i'm not saying itx can't compete with performance. what i'm saying is considering its a low power form factor with very limited resources, its not intended for heavy duty stuff. if you managed to overclock yours, then great. but considering this board has a 95w max tdp, its obviously not intended for overclocking.

    when i was talking about locking cores, maybe you just want to lock the cores temporarily. for example, you might want a quad core to render a hd movie, but you might want to shut off a couple cores if you just want to download something overnight (assuming you have power bill problems).

    keep in mind theres a difference between buying extra performance and pushing for extra performance. if you can buy something at its intended speed with its intended amount of cores, then you deserve what you pay for. besides, you void your warentee once you overclock or unlock cores. why? because amd doesn't want to deal with your problems for something that they didn't tell you to do. like i said before, the designers of the board want the board to be compatible and up to date. preventing a 6 core cpu is pointless if the chipset comes with the ability to support it. i'm all for overclocking, i do it myself, but i just find it really shitty to degrade the rating of something that doesn't need to overclock in the first place.

    i'm trying to defend something that i see as a good product while you're acting like it deserves a bad rating for something that the board isn't electrically capable of and something amd doesn't want you to do. i'm surprised you told me not to generalize something that makes perfect sense while you were generalizing my comments on strictly your opinion and experience.
     
  13. HourBeforeDawn

    HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz

    Joined:
    26 Oct 2006
    Posts:
    2,637
    Likes Received:
    6
    I think mITX HTPC will really shine and be worth wild when AMD releases Zacate (I think I spelled that right lol)
     
  14. Bakes

    Bakes What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    4 Jun 2010
    Posts:
    886
    Likes Received:
    17
    To the writer - check in CPUz when overclocked what the pcie bandwidth is. If it's 1x, try boosting the voltage on whatever controls the PCIe slots (it used to be the southbridge on my Core 2 rig).
     
  15. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    In everything I checked it's 16x and always 16x. Nice idea on boosting the voltage though :thumb:

    Because you're still buying it from a European store, which means pound to euro fluctuations.
     
  16. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    19 Dec 2008
    Posts:
    5,780
    Likes Received:
    174
    think your mixing up minis with a laptop schmidtbag.. some people buy minis to put into lan boxes so they don't have to lug around a full or mid tower.. it's just cooler to show up with a small box and it's a lot more powerful than a gaming laptop

    or htpc that also does a bit of gaming is another use
     
  17. Bakes

    Bakes What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    4 Jun 2010
    Posts:
    886
    Likes Received:
    17
    Ah k - I was just remembering my P5B Deluxe which would run at 1x bandwidth only between FSB 367 and 400 (pain in the ass) until I worked out that cranking up the voltages helped a lot.
     
  18. stupido

    stupido What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Nov 2009
    Posts:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    +1 to that one... Actually my next build (probably later than sooner... ;)) most probably will be mini-ITX based. I really liked H55 based mini-ITX board from Zotac & Gigabyte... Todays i5 has enough power to drive powerful GPU and there are very nice cases from LianLi and Silverston. so it is that close to be able to build very small yet very powerful rig that can serve dual purpose - gaming and HTPC rig. This would be my dream machine...
    But I think incoming processors from both Intel & AMD will be even closer to the the ideal because they will pack lower power consumption and increased performance - low power so you can use that PC as a HTPC while when needed it should be able to provide enough power to drive latest & greatest GPU for a nice HD (or even 3D) gaming...
    The only thing that I do not like completely is the expansion limit (for example no dedicated sound card or TV tuner) but than, for those case one should look @ mATX...
     
  19. xaser04

    xaser04 Ba Ba Ba BANANA!

    Joined:
    27 Jun 2008
    Posts:
    2,542
    Likes Received:
    465
    You atre quite correct. With the likes of the Silverstone SG07 you can mix a H55 MITX motherboard with a HD5970 / GTX580 and have a monster Mini PC.

    mITX doesn't have to mean slow and underpowered.

    This AMD motherboard is extremely overpriced though. The Gigabtye mITX H55 based board can be had for under £90.
     
  20. frontline

    frontline Punish Your Machine

    Joined:
    24 Jun 2007
    Posts:
    825
    Likes Received:
    12
    I like the look of the Asus M4A88T-I Deluxe to pair with a spare Athlon II X3 440 that i have. The SG07 suggested above looks like a decent case option as well, for a spare Radeon 4850.
     
Tags: Add Tags

Share This Page