GIGABYTE GA-GC230D Intel 945GC+ ICH7 chipset Mini-ITX
GIGABYTE GA-GC230D is a Mini-ITX motherboard with the Intel 45nm Atom 230 processor inside. The Atom 230 is a very low power consumption cpu and it's perfect for small form factor pc. This board build with solid capacitors, which bring you a stable platform.
GIGABYTE GA-GC230D Specification
Form factor : Mini-ITX (170mm x 170mm size)
Processor : Build in Intel Atom 230 CPU (1.6GHz), 512K L2 cache
Front Side Bus : 533 MHz FSB
Memory :
1 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM socket, up to 2 GB
Support for DDR2 533/400 MHz memory module
Chipset :
North Bridge: Intel 945GC Express Chipset
South Bridge: Intel ICH7
Audio :
Realtek ALC662 codec
High Definition Audio
2/4/5.1-channel
Video : Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
LAN : Realtek 8101E chip (10/100 Mbit)
Peripheral interfaces :
1 x IDE connector, up to 2 IDE devices
2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
Up to 8 USB ports (4 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)
Internal I/O Connectors
1 x 20-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x IDE connector
2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
1 x CPU fan header
1 x system fan header
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
1 x chassis intrusion header
1 x power LED header
Back Panel Connectors
1 x PS/2 keyboard port
1 x PS/2 mouse port
1 x parallel port
1 x serial port
1 x D-Sub port
4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
1 x RJ-45 port
3 x audio jacks (Line In/Line Out/Microphone)
PCI slots: 1 x PCI slot
Gigabyte GA-GC230D Review
Pros:
very low power consumption
the size of the pc can be very small, depends on your case
Build in cpu, you don't need to spend extra money on buying cpu
Cons:
not good enough for playing HD video
RAM cannot be dual channel
There is no gigabit lan
There is no PCI-E slot, can't add more display card.
If you look at the spec carefully, you will find the configuration of Gigabyte GA-GC230D is very similar to Gigabyte GA-GC220 Mini-ITX. The main differences between that two is the processor. Gigabyte GA-GC230D is using the Atom processor with very low power consumption. If you want to know the performance differences between Atom and Celeron 220 processor, I got some data from a Japanese site which compare Atom and Celeron 220 processor. Hope you will have a better picture between that two.
As far as I can tell, Atom can play 720p video just fine (80-90% cpu usage). As for Celeron 220, you can't even play 720p video smoothly. It's better to use Atom mini-itx for fundamental use, such as internet surfing, file server or personal web server. If you are looking for video and game playing Mini-ITX, it's better to look for those motherboard with PCI-E slot.
US $104.75
