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Gigabyte launches first fanless quad-core Bay Trail motherboard

by Mark Tyson on 19 February 2014, 12:25

Tags: Gigabyte (TPE:2376), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacax5

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Gigabyte has launched a new motherboard with a built-in quad-core Bay Trail SoC. This fanless foundation for a Mini-ITX system is called the GA-J1900N-D3V and employs an Intel Celeron J1900 (2M Cache, up to 2.42 GHz).

The Celeron J1900 boasts a CPU Mark of around 2000 which is roughly in line with an Intel Core i3 M 370 @ 2.40GHz. Compared to older chips it sits +/- 10 per cent between the Intel Core2 Duo E7500 @ 2.93GHz and Intel Core2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz. However this quad core Celeron Bay Trail processor with a clock speed of 2GHz (Turbo to 2.42GHz) and 2MB cache has a maximum TDP of 10W.

Gigabyte's GA-J1900N-D3V is a Mini-ITX form factor motherboard/CPU combo with the following specifications:

  • Built-in Intel Celeron J1900 (2.0 GHz) quad-core processor
  • DX11 gaming on Intel HD Graphics 4000, plus a dedicated H.264 encoder
  • 2 x 1.5V(1.35V) DDR3/-L SO-DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory
  • 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
  • DVI-D (supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1080), D-SUB (supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600) ports on rear panel
  • Dual LAN with high ESD Protection
  • 4x USB 3.0 ports with GIGABYTE 3x USB power, 2x USB 2.0 ports
  • Realtek ALC887 codec, 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel HD Audio, S/PDIF Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In
  • Mini PCI-E expansion slot supports wireless networking cards
  • PCI expansion slot supports legacy interface cards
  • PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, 2 x serial ports, 2 x RJ-45 ports
  • 17cm x 17cm board size
  • Support for Windows 8.X 64 bit
  • Plus - GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 4 Plus Technology, all Solid Capacitors with Humidity Protection New Glass Fabric PCB design, GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS, GIGABYTE On/Off Charge for USB devices

Gigabyte says that its J1900N Mini-ITX motherboard is "Designed for compact, small form factor PC systems and devices, the GIGABYTE J1900N is entirely fanless, making it ideal for always-on, mission critical systems, as well as noise-sensitive digital entertainment systems." However this passively cooled motherboard and CPU combo lacks either a HDMI or DisplayPort which would have made it much more HTPC friendly.

FanlessTech reports that this product is pre-orderable now for around $120/90€/£75. Similar models employing a dual-core Celeron J1800 were launched just over a fortnight ago, by both Gigabyte and Biostar, for about half this price.



HEXUS Forums :: 30 Comments

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Why do motherboard makers insist on putting a DSUB connector for VGA on their boards? Use a DVI-I connector and let the user decide if he/she wants to use it for analog or digital video. The space freed up by ditching the DSUB connector can be used for DisplayPort (or HDMI if need be). And what's up with the serial ports?!?

Apart from that this board looks snazzy. Performance seems decent considering I've been using a Core2 Duo E8400 up until about a year ago and wasn't really too performance-starved. I could see this making a nice router/firewall or something along those lines.
Two sata ports is a bit annoying, was thinking this would be great for NAS but 4 would be needed
I never thought I would see the day when Celeron became a Quad core processor!
Clearly aimed at business/integrated system applications (serial ports, d-sub, only 2x SATA etc.). Would be interesting to see what a board partner could do if they approached it more from a SFF enthusiast perspective…
OilSheikh
I never thought I would see the day when Celeron became a Quad core processor!

…and it'd actually be worth buying!