Intel unveils ultra-tiny, fully upgradable ‘5×5’ mini-PC motherboards - murphyussighboult1999

Very much of exciting technology was on display at Intel's IDF conference last week, but time-honoured PC computer hardware on the face of it took a backseat to smart devices and the Internet of things. So much indeed, in fact, that one exciting PC-related tidbit that could've made more than noise than button-sized chips and Wake on Voice was lost in the shambling: The introduction of new compact motherboard that sits between the mini-ITX and Intel NUC in terms of size. The addition now offers a wide range of possibilities for compact PCs, from the Intel Figure Stick all the way up to the same mini-ITX variant factor.

Dubbed the 5×5, the new motherboard doesn't quite dwell up to its name, measuring 5.5 inches by 5.8.

Nevertheless, it's soundless smaller than the 6.69-by-6.69 mini-ITX and a moment larger than the 4-by-4 NUC board. Unlike the NUC, which ships with chips soldered to the motherboard, the 5×5 includes an LGA socket to theater an Intel Congress of Racial Equality processor of your choice, with support for 35W or 65W thermal designs. The board also works with both M.2 surgery traditional 2.5-inch SATA user interface SSDs.

The 5×5 offers cardinal channels for SODIMM memory, like the smaller NUC, just it lacks a PCIe one-armed bandit, meaning distinct graphics card game are out. For that, you'd accept to look to a mini-ITX build.

The basic idea with the 5×5 is to provide a motherboard with an upgradeable LGA socket that stays subordinate the ultra-wad mass benchmark of one liter. That may not exist the case if it's loaded with a 65W processor and a 2.5-inch SATA drive, but a 5×5-based PC is quiet sledding to be far smaller than a miniskirt-ITX system—with potentially more than many pungency than a NUC.

The impact on you at home: Anyone looking to physical body a home theater PC that's still squeeze, yet more powerful than the NUC should be able to cast the 5×5 to goodness use. With the decent processor—aver, the bran-new 65W Broadwell Core i7-5775C chip with incorporate graphics that outshine even AMD's vaunted APUs—even basic 3D play should be possible with less-strenuous titles. Information or so pricing or a loose date for 5×5 boards are not available.

[via Ars Technica]

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Ian is an independent writer based in Israel who has never met a technical school field of study he didn't care. He primarily covers Windows, PC and play hardware, television and music cyclosis services, social networks, and browsers. When atomic number 2's not covering the news he's functioning on how-to tips for PC users, Oregon tuning his eGPU apparatus.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/423229/intel-unveils-ultra-tiny-fully-upgradable-5x5-mini-pc-motherboards.html

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