The system

For the heart of the system we chose a VIA Epia EN 12000EG. The VIA Epia ITX boards may not be blazing fast but have very (very!) low power consumption characteristics and everything is integrated. The specifications of the VIA Epia EN board are:

Model Name	• VIA EPIA EN12000EG
Processor	• 1.2GHz VIA C7 nanoBGA2 Processor
Chipset	• VIA CN700 North Bridge • VIA VT8237R Series South Bridge
System Memory	• 1 DDR2 400/533 DIMM Socket • Up to 1GB Memory Size
VGA	• Integrated VIA UniChrome™ Pro AGP Graphics with MPEG-2 Decoding Acceleration
Expansion Slots	• 1 PCI
Onboard IDE	• 2 UltraDMA 133/100/66 Connectors
Onboard LAN	• VIA VT6122 GLAN Controller
Onboard Audio	• VIA VT1618 AC'97 Codec with 6-channel Support
Onboard TV Out	• VIA VT1625M HDTV Encoder
Onboard 1394	• VIA VT6307S IEEE 1394 Firewi
Back Panel I/O	• 1 PS2 mouse port • 1 PS2 keyboard port • 1 Serial port • 1 VGA port • 1 RJ45 port • 4 USB 2.0 ports • 1 RCA port (S/PDIF or TV out) • 1 S-Video port • 3 Audio jacks: line-out, line-in and mic-in (Horizontal, Smart 5.1 Support)
Onboard I/O Connectors	• 1 USB connector for 2 additional USB 2.0 ports • 1 1394 connector for 1 1394 port • 2 SATA Connectors • 1 LPC connector • 1 Front-panel audio connector (Mic and Line Out) • 1 Serial port connector for a second com port • 1 CIR connector (Switchable for KB/MS) • 1 SIR pin header (IrDA 1.0) • 2 Fan connectors: CPU/Sys FAN • 1 SMBUS connector • 1 S/PDIF in connector • 1 S/PDIF out connector • 1 LVDS/TTL/DVI module connector (an add-on card is required) • 1 Component (YPbPr) video pin header • ATX Power connector
BIOS	• Award BIOS • LPC 4/8Mbit flash memory
Operating System	• Windows 2000/XP, Linux, Win CE/XPe
Software Application	• VIA FliteDeck™ Utility - MissionControl-H/W Monitoring, Remote SNMP Management - FlashPort-Live BIOS Flash - SysProbe-Live DMI Browser
System Monitoring & Management	• CPU temperature reading, CPU voltage monitoring • Wake-on-LAN, Keyboard-Power-on, Timer-Power-on • Watch Dog Timer, FAN control • System power management, AC power failure recovery
Operating Temperature	• 0~50°C
Operating Humidity	• 0% ~ 95% (relative humidity; non-condensing)
Form Factor	• Mini-ITX (6 layers) • 17 cm x 17 cm

 

The Epia box looks very much like a normal motherboard box, except that it is much smaller. It is a very simple, green box, which does not offer any data concerning the system and/or its features. The bundle inside the box is frugal, there is only a single IDE cable, an I/O panel shield, a very basic manual and a drivers CD.

Inside the package you will also find a tiny, blue motherboard. Yes, the small PCB that you see covered mostly by an aluminum heatsink is a motherboard! Many enthusiasts have video cards which are larger than that and consume triple the power. This small PCB is not only the motherboard but also the processor, video and sound card. Quite amazing when you see it in the flesh.

The rear of the motherboard is dominated by the connection ports. There are two PS/2 ports, a legacy RS232 serial port, a VGA port, four USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100 LAN port, an S-Video port, three audio ports (speakers, line-in, microphone) and finally a coaxial port which can serve either as an digital sound port or a video out port (adjustable via jumper).

The Epia EN is pretty small and hence it is more than a little crowded. Because of the size of the heatsink there is not much room left for connectors and tall components. The two IDE connectors are placed across the right side of the motherboard, leaving room only for the beeper at the top right corner. Right next to them the single DDR-2 RAM bank is present.

There was just a little room left at the lower right side of the motherboard for the basic switch and LED connectors and the SATA ports. The connectors for the case LEDs and switches are present at the far lower right side of the board, right next to a single SATA port. The second SATA port is almost hidden placed between the large heatsink and two tall capacitors. The rest of the on-board jumpers and connectors, such as the front USB and audio ports are all hosted at the lower left side of the motherboard.