EPIA

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Computer
form factors		 PCB Size
(mm)
WTX 356×425
AT 350×305
BTX 325×266
ATX 305×244
LPX
NLX 254×228
DTX 244×203
FlexATX 229×191
Mini-DTX 203×170
microATX 171×171
Mini-ITX 170×170
EPIC (Express)
Nano-ITX 120×120
COM Express 125×95
EBX
ETX / XTX 114×95
Pico-ITX 100×72
PC/104(-Plus) 96×90
microETXexpress
nanoETXexpress
mobile-ITX 75×45

VIA EPIA (VIA Embedded Platform Innovative Architecture) is a series of mini-ITX, nano-ITX and pico-ITX motherboards with integrated VIA processors. They feature a small size and low power consumption, so are particularly popular in the embedded market.[citation needed]

VIA EPIA motherboards come in several flavours: Nano-ITX versions, based on the VIA CoreFusion processor series, and Mini-ITX form factor featuring VIA CPUs and Northbridges in separate packaging. They were originally built for industrial applications but now have a wide range of applications in the consumer market such as carputers, firewalls, HTPCs, and Small File servers to name a few.[citation needed].

[edit] Criticism

Although VIA EPIA motherboards are very efficient in terms of space, they are sometimes criticized for being too expensive for the processing power that they provide. It has been commented that other manufacturers, such PCChips and ASUS, provide more affordable solutions based on the same technologies, namely VIA's low-power processors.[1]

Via has failed to provide support for some features it sells EPIA boards based on. For example, although the chipsets support hardware H.264 decoding, no driver for Windows is available. In fact, only an outdated version of mplayer on Linux supports this feature.

[edit] External links

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Centaur Technology • Products of VIA Technologies • S3 Graphics
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