VIA Nano X2 solutions

It has been more than two years since my post about VIA VB-8001 which was the first 64-bit VIA Nano CPU board. I even had this board but it was quite disappointment (it was very unstable in Windows) and I was forced to sell it eventually. VIA released enhanced single core VIA Nano 3000 series and finally 40nm VIA Nano (and Eden) X2 dual core processor solutions after that. It is only september/october of this year when first boards and mini PCs with dual core CPU finally appeared. By the end of this year VIA released quite a lot of boards and there is at least one third party solution with this CPU. I was looking for the one (still didn't get any) so I will try to describe my findings here.

VIA EPIA-M900

If I am not wrong VIA EPIA-M900 was the first VIA Embedded board released with VIA Nano X2 (E) CPU. It features 1.6 GHz VIA Nano X2 E L4350 CPU and VX900H chipset (this is the newest VIA chipset with improved hardware acceleration for VC1, H.264, MPEG-2 and WMV9 HD formats, unfortunately graphics is DX9 only still). The board has PCI-E 16x (real speed is 8x) and PCI expansion slots. PCI-E slot is on non standard place (if I am not wrong once again) and you will need to use some PCI-E riser (one is included in the box). That means it could be some problems to find a suitable case if you will want to add something (for example an external video card) to that slot. The board has 4xUSB 2.0, VGA, COM, 1Gbit NIC, HDMI ports and 3xaudio jacks on the back panel. You can have 4 additional USB 2.0 ports, 3xCOM, LVDS, front-panel audio and some other embedded things using pins on the board. Finally you can add up to 8GB DDR3 RAM to it (2xSO-DIMM ports). There are 2 SATA 2.0 connectors for internal storage. By the time of this post it costs about 250 USD in USA market and 230-240 EUR on EU market (prices from e-itx.com and techcase.de, mini-itx.de). It is quite pricey in my opinion but it is quite standard price for VIA Embedded solutions. EPIA-M900 board is aimed for embedded market and this is the main reason for higher prices. The bright side is availability. You can easily buy this board in USA or EU right now. What is more it uses solid-state capacitors only that brings more quality feel to it. Heatsink is actively cooled and fan noise is unknown to me. Finally, e-itx.com listed 1.2 GHz version (possibly passively cooled) of this board but availability is unknown currently and the price is higher than 1.6 GHz version (321 USD) (update 2012-01-25: it appeared that EPIA-M900-12LQ version will have a quad core CPU).

VIA EPIA-M900

VIA VE-900

VIA VE-900 is a little bit different board from other ones. It is not intended to be used on embedded market and even has a different category on VIA web site (VIA mainboards). I am afraid this will lead to some unsatisfied customers who won't be able to find this board description (but google should help for all). The main advantage of it is the price. It costs only ~90USD in USA or 90-95EUR in EU. It features a little bit slower VIA Nano X2 L4050 1.4GHz CPU and VX900 chipset. PCI is the only expansion slot so you won't be able to add any decent graphics to it. I/O ports are the same as EPIA-M900 expect that they are placed differently and have PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse. The board has 2xUSB 2.0 pin headers for 4 additional USB ports, 1 pin header for LPT port, front-panel audio and 2xSATA 2.0 ports. You can also add 8 GB of RAM but you need to use full size DDR3 RAM modules (not SO-DIMM). Heat sink is actively cooled too. It rotates 1400 rpm with smart fan enabled (probably on idle) and is quite. So, this board looses PCI-E slot, has 200MHz slower CPU and uses some non solid-state capacitors but it is quite similar to EPIA-M900 and it is much cheaper. If you happy with integrated graphics capabilities this board is very good for HTPC or even low power consumption and low-cost desktop computer. It is available in USA and EU and you should be able to buy it without any problems.

VIA VE-900

VIA VB8004

VIA VB8004 is yet another mini-itx form factor board where you can find VIA Nano X2. VB8004-16XS and VB8004-16X is the ones with dual core CPUs (X prefix indicates that the board has a dual core CPU). This board features VIA Nano 1.6GHz CPU and VX900H chipset (like EPIA-M900). It is compatible with mini-itx cases but the length of I/O coastline of VB8004 mainboard is non-standard. This means that it comes without I/O shield and HDMI port will probably be on expansion slot zone (this board doesn't have any PCI or PCI-E expansion slots). What is more it doesn't have ATX power connector. You need to use external power supply which can be connected to 12V DC-in connector on the back of the board. I/O ports also include COM, DVI, 1 Gbit NIC, 2xUSB 2.0 and 2xPS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse. There are also LVDS, front-panel audio, COM pin headers, digital I/O, 2xUSB 2.0 for 4 additional USB ports pin headers and 2xSATA 2.0 ports. One of those two USB pin headers can be used for VIA WLAN module. The unique feature of this board is 80-pin proprietary I/O connector (it carries 1xPCI-E 4x, 1xPCI-E 1x and USB). This connector can be used to attach VB8004-A graphics module which features DX10.1 S3 5400E GPU. It also has Mini PCIe slot, HDMI and DVI-I port (S prefix indicates that board comes with this module, so you need VB8004-16XS for that). This makes a board somehow similar to VB8003 which had integrated S3 chrome graphics to the board. Unfortunately the price for this module is quite high. If you can buy VB8004-16X for ~225 USD, VB8004-16XS variant will cost you ~330 USD. The module alone add more than 100USD (or ~90EUR in EU market). I don't write EU prices as I didn't find any EU shop which had them on the list (considering the tendency it will cost around 220 EUR for 16X variant and 310 EUR for 16XS). So availability is another downside of this board. Even in USA market there are still not that easy to get. The high price, external supply requirement and non standard I/O costline are the main discouraging elements of this board. Also, it has only one SO-DIMM DDR3 slot so you can use only 4GB of RAM. Nevertheless, it was number one mini-itx board on my list. Both CPU heatsink and GPU module are actively cooled.

VIA VB8004 with VB8004-A module

VIA VB7009

VB7009-12XC is listed on e-itx.com website. It is also a mini-itx board with 1.2GHz VIA Nano X2 CPU. However, there is no more information about it. Even VIA website doesn't list such board currently. I will update this chapter if something will come up soon.

Update 2012-01-03:
VIA announced VB7009 today. It is a board with VX900 chipset and three different CPU options. Only VB7009-12XC model uses dual core VIA Nano X2 1.2GHz CPU, other ones VIA C7 or C7-D CPUs. VB7009-12XC is actively cooled. Other specifications aren't somehow extraordinary. It has 2xSATA II ports, 1xPCI expansion slot, 1xDDR3 socket for up to 4GB of RAM, 5xCOM headers (only in VB7009-12XC), 2xUSB 2.0 headers for 4 additional USB ports, front audio connector and other headers (probably more for embedded use). Back panel I/O coastline includes 1xVGA, 1xCOM, 1xLPT, 2x1 Gbit LAN ports (2xVT-6130 controllers), 4xUSB 2.0, keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports and 3xaudio jacks. It is clearly aimed for embedded market (LPT, lots of COM ports and one DDR3 socket can be as  evidence) but 2xNICs is unique feature between VIA Nano X2 mini-itx solutions and can be appealing for those who need such configuration without additional network card in their home servers. The board also has ATX power connector instead of 12V DC-in connector on VB8004.  Of course, it can be used for normal desktop computing but other solutions (VE-900, EPIA-M900) are more suitable for this in my opinion. It costs ~190 USD in US and ~185 EUR in EU  (cheaper than other VIA solutions except VE-900) and availability is unknown by my writing date. I guess they should appear soon in US (as board was announced officially) and later in EU.

VIA VB7009

VIA EPIA-M910

Update 2012-02-10:

VIA EPIA-M910 is one more mini-itx solution released on February 09, 2012. It features actively cooled VIA Nano X2 1.6GHz or passively cooled VIA Eden X2 1.0GHz CPU and VX900 chipset. Later might be possible 1.2GHz quad core solution. I/O costline has 2xPS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse, 1xVGA, 1xHDMI, 2xCOM, 4xUSB 2.0, 2x1Gbit LAN ports and 3xaudio jacks. You can find headers for 4 additional USB 2.0 ports, 6xCOM ports, front audio, single and dual channel LVDS and some other purposes. Expansion slots includes 1xPCI and 1xPCI-E x1 (reversed). There are  also 2xSATA II ports. One interesting thing about this board that it offers two different versions with ATX power connector or DC-in connector (this version has 2xSATA power connectors). You can add up to 8GB of RAM into 2xDDR3 slots. I don't know any prices currently but I don't think they will be much lower than EPIA-M900. In general I don't think that this board is suitable for desktop usage but it has fanless CPU configuration and 2xLAN ports and DC-in option so it has more flexibility for small server applications. It still uses VX900 MSP (not VX900H) because of this it is not much different from other ones feature wise except some on board headers and I/O differences. There is an option to use some PCI-E x1 graphics with  riser probably but you stuck with DX9 on board graphics here by default (EPIA-M920 will have VX11 chipset with DX11 integrated graphics).

VIA EPIA-M910

Gigabyte M7V90D3

Update 2012-04-21:

Gigabyte M7V90D3 is the only VIA Nano X2 mini-itx motherboard solution from other company than VIA I know as of time of writing (2012-04-21). I forgot to write about it on the release. It appeared on Gigabyte web site on the end of January or early February. If features VIA VX900 chipset and VIA Nano X2 U4300 1.2 GHz CPU. At first glance motherboard specifications are standard to other solutions but this solution has some difference if you look at the motherboard design. Firstly it should conform to thin mini-itx standard (a low profile backplane). VIA doesn't offer such motherboards currently. Secondly it doesn't have any expansion slots except full size Mini-PCIe one. What is more M7V90D3 has 2xSATA 4-pin power connectors on the motherboard (I don't know which cables are needed for them however). So it is clearly intended for low height systems by its design. Finally gigabit network is provided by Realtek RTL8111E NIC instead of VIA VT6130.  There is only 4-pin ATX power connector on motherboard (actually I don't know why it exists at all). You need an external power supply with 12V DC-in connector to power the board. So you will find DC-in, VGA, HDMI, 3xUSB 2.0, 1xLAN, 1xoptical audio, 1xaudio out ports on I/O coastline. There are 2xUSB 2.0  (for 4xports) and 1xfront audio headers, card connector, 2xSATA II and 2xSATA 4-pin power connectors and Mini-PCIe slot, 1xSO-DIMM DDR3 slot (4GB of RAM max) on the board. It uses AMI BIOS. The only and the biggest problem is availability. I don't know any places where you can buy it even after more than 2 months after its release. I am afraid that it may be available only for OEM market. Nevertheless M7V90D3 can be an interesting board for custom applications like NAS, HTPC, wireless access point, terminal or even low profile office or desktop PC. One downside is active cooling unfortunately.

Gigabyte M7V90D3

M7V90D3 I/O coastline

VIA EPIA-P900

VIA EPIA-P900 is pico-itx form factor board (10 cm x 7.2 cm). You need to have a special case for it. VIA offers Artigo 1150 kit which uses this board but I will write about it on separate chapter. The board has a fan too. This is probably the main downside for such compact low power board. It features slower VIA Eden X2 1.0GHz CPU but still uses the newest VIA VX900H chipset. You can find 2xSATA 2.0 ports and various I/O headers for 5xUSB 2.0 ports, PS/2, audio jacks, LVDS and other embedded ports on one side and 2xUSB 2.0, VGA, 1Gbit NIC and HDMI on the other. You can add up to 4GB of RAM to one SO-DIMM DDR3 slot. I can't write about it much because I wasn't interested in pico-itx form factor much. I tried to compare it to earlier boards and probably you can use it one your older pico-itx cases. The new users probably will have some problems to find a pico-itx case (in case you plan to do it yourself). The solution is to buy Artigo 1150 as I mentioned earlier. Though the very small size is really an impressive however it comes at price. The processing power is even lower than mini-itx solutions, still an active cooling, no options to expand, dx9 graphics, special case requirements and high price keeps me away from pico-itx right now. It costs ~270.00 USD in USA and ~270EUR in EU. Availability is unknown too.

VIA EPIA-P900

VIA EITX-3002

VIA EITX-3002 is em-itx (17cm x 12cm) form factor board and requires a special case too. This form factor was interesting to me at introduction however earlier boards with single core VIA Nano CPUs were extremely pricey and they were available mostly for OEM market. EITX-3002 isn't exactly what I was dreaming about too and it continues a tradition for high prices and low availability. It can be interesting for some users nonetheless. It has VIA Eden X2 1.0GHz or Nano X2 1.2GHz CPU and uses the same VX900H chipset. Em-itx form factor has I/O coastline on both sides which includes HDMI port, VGA port, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, 2xCOM ports, 4xUSB 2.0 ports, 2xUSB 3.0(!) ports (optional), audio jacks and power and HDD activity LEDs. It also has proprietary EM-IO expansion bus, however this board supports only EMIO-3210 and EMIO-3450 I/O cards (at least officially). I expected to use EMIO-3110. The main advantage of this solution is passive cooling system and very compact size with lots of I/O ports in both sides. It also has CFast slot on the back of the board. VIA currently offers industrial VIA AMOS-5002 system featuring this board. It completely fanless design but requires external power supply. You can up to 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM (one slot). The price is from ~390-420 USD depending on configuration and for board only. Availability will never be very good for home users IMHO.

VIA EITX-3002

VIA Artigo A1150

VIA Artigo A1150 is do it yourself kit which features VIA EPIA-P900 pico-itx form factor board (read about it above if you still didn't). The case design is made by VIA Embedded and it is visually very appealing (for me).  Because of pico-itx form factor it fits on your hand. It has audio jack, power button, 2xUSB 2.0 ports, 1xUSB 2.0 device port to connect it to other computer, power and hdd LEDs on the front and 2xUSB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, 1Gbit LAN ports and DC-in 12V  connector on the rear side. You need to add only hard drive or SSD and RAM to it and install some OS. As far as I know external supply should be in the package too. However, I still think that it fits only for media pc or some specialized tasks. It is underpowered, actively cooled and price/performance ratio is not at very good level. VGA instead of DVI is one more downside for me too. However, compact size, low power and good position in your computers infrastructure may be appealing for some of you. The price is ~265 USD and ~280EUR in EU. I think availability will be good in the near future (as is with Artigo A1100 at present time). Currently it just comes to the market so it might be some problems to get it, in Europe especially.

VIA Artigo A1150

VIA Artigo A1200

Update 2012-04-21:
Update 2013-03-02:
VIA announced one more Artigo system with dual core 1.0GHz VIA Eden X2 CPU. It is a fanless solution. System still use VX900 chipset (DX9 integrated graphics) but has one modern USB 3.0 port, HDMI, VGA, 2xgigabit LAN ports and CFast socket. On the other side you will find 4xUSB 2.0, 2xCOM ports, audio mic-in, line-out jacks and DC-in connector. Optionally wireless and 3G can be included through onboard MiniPCIe slot. It is possible to add one 2.5'' size SATA hard drive. Low profile system chassis use aluminium alloy. VX900 chipset should have been replaced by VX11 but it hadn't been released at the announcement day. The price is high too (more than 300 USD) because the system is quite under-powered. Nevertheless I think it must be appealing to some users. The chassis design looks great too.

VIA Artigo 1200

Zotac ZBOX nano VD01 (Plus)

Zotac ZBOX nano VD01 and Zotac ZBOX nano VD01 PLUS are the only third party system solutions I know. However, they are very interesting ones despite some shortcomings. Both computers are the same exception some configuration (plus variant includes 2GB DDR3 RAM and 320GB hard drive, other one comes without any RAM and hard drive). It features VIA Nano X2 U4025 1.2GHz CPU and VX900H chipset. It is a custom computer so I don't know which form factor was used (maybe any) but the size is similar to nano-itx (12 cm x 12cm). The computer dimensions are 12.7cm x 12.7cm x 5 cm. The front side has a power button, WiFi and HDD activity LEDs, infrared receiver, memory card reader (MMC/SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro/xD), audio out and microphone jacks. Rare side has external power supply connector, 2xUSB 3.0 (!), 2xUSB 2.0, 1Gbit LAN ports, eSATA connector, WiFi antenna connector, HDMI and DisplayPort. It integrates 802.11n/g/b (300Mbps) module and Bluetooth 3.0 receiver. As far as I know it is actively cooled but I guess this custom computer should be silent. The only downside is integrated graphics, especially then Zotac has AD10 variant with AMD E-350 APU which has much better and DX11 capable GPU. However, if you look at all VIA Nano (Eden) X2 solutions then this one has the richest and the most modern I/O connectors like USB 3.0, eSATA and DisplayPort . The price is ~180 USD for non plus variant in ZOTAC page and ~180-220 EUR in EU. Availability is good and it should not be a problem to acquire one.

Zotac ZBOX VD01

Summary

VIA (or Centaur exactly) finally managed to introduce dual core CPUs to the market and VIA Embedded introduced quite a lot of boards and you can get easily some of them at the end of the year except several embedded solutions or the ones which only comes to the market. That is a good thing. Intel Atom and AMD APUs makes a lot of pressure now for VIA. Some earlier manufacturers don't offer VIA solutions anymore or they come at much slower pace. Earlier advantages becomes less visible now. However, I think they still able to offer not ordinary and interesting products to the market (form factors, board designs, better performance than Atom CPUs and so on). Price/performance ratio is is not that good for home users  in my opinion but I still like to support smaller companies which tries to innovate even with much smaller resources. The only problem that VIA boards doesn't have the most modern ports and their VX900(H) video is still DX9 and very weak. So I need to find the best solution between expandability, feature set and price. All boards has some advantages and disadvantages but they aren't perfect in all aspects. My favourites are VB8004, EPIA-M900 and Zotac ZBOX solution currently. Probably I will wait for one month or two to make a final decision. I hope that this article will help for somebody who is looking for VIA dual core solutions too.

Updates

Update 2012-01-03:
Updated information about VIA VB7009.
Update 2012-01-25:
Clarified information about EPIA-M900-12LQ.
Update 2012-02-10:
Added VIA EPIA-M910.
Update 2012-02-11:
Updated all links to new viaembedded web site and fixed EPIA-M900 link which was redirecting to general blogger web site.
Update 2012-04-21:
Added Gigabyte M7V90D3, VIA Artigo A1200. Some clean up and fixes.
Update 2013-03-02:
Updated information about VIA Artigo A1200.
Update 2018-05-28:
Updated links to products (most of them are EOL by now), except Gigabyte M7V90D3 which doesn't seem to be listed anymore. This list is not complete. Few more solutions were released (including different CPU options for described products) since article was created but I am not planning to add them or update this article except cosmetic changes or typos.