ASRock has announced a new Mini-ITX form facotr motherboard for Intel’s latest Haswell processors (LGA 1150). It utilizes the H87 chipset and should be a good board for enthusiasts looking to build a SFF machine.
The H87E-ITX/ac features a LGA 1150 socket powered by a 4-phase DrMOS VRM, two DDR3 DIMM slots (maximum of 32GB), and a single PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot. Storage is handled by six SATA III 6Gbps ports located between the CPU socket and PCI-E slot. The board uses an Intel i217V chipset for the 802.11ac WLAN and an Intel Gigabit Ethernet NIC. A Realtek ALC1150 chipset handles the audio duties.
Rear IO on the H87E-ITX/ac includes:
- 1 x PS/2
- 2 x USB 2.0
- 1 x DVI
- 1 x DisplayPort
- 1 x HDMI
- 4 x USB 3.0
- 1 x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 jack
- 1 x eSATA III
- 1 x S/PDIF
- 5 x Analog audio jacks
The rear IO also has two antenna connectors for the 802.11ac Wi-Fi card. ASRock includes an antenna but users should be able to use any third party antennas as it uses standard connectors.
ASRock has not yet released pricing or availability information, but you can find additional specifications and photos on this product page. I would wait for reviews, but it looks to be a decent board, and if the price is right it should be a popular option for SFF desktops and HTPC builds.
I’ve had good experience with
I’ve had good experience with Asrock motherboard, and this would be a pick if i needed a Haswell ITX motherboard. I just wish new motherboards had more USB ports on them.
The article says it supports
The article says it supports 32GB, but ASRocks homepage says it only supports 16GB. 🙁
I assume it’s 16GB, but does anyone know why only 16GB?
Crucial has a kit with 2x16GB (CT2K16G3ERSLD4160B) for 8-10 months now – I also think Kingston has a 2x16GB kit.
I know the kit is expensive and ECC, but for some (like me) small size matters more than Price 😉
Anyone tried 32GB in a Haswell based ITX board?
I believe the spec for
I believe the spec for Mini-ITX is 2 Memory Modules, space concerns and all that.
What I’m not sure of is, if there is any limitation in the pathways or I/O’s to the CPU.
It could be that two 16GB modules would work fine, would need someone to try and let us know.
Not really a issue for most, as in a few years when 16GB are the norm, it will be supported on the new MB’s, and it will be a few years before it’s really needed outside of rare cases like yours, and my dreams of a 20GB RAM drive, with several vitural OS’s just to play around in.