Since the introduction of the AM1 platform from AMD, the Bay Trail competition has begun and heated up considerably. Adding fuel to the fire, ASRock has introduced a new Bay Trail board based on the quad-core J1900 processor. The motherboard will be called the Q1900TM-ITX.
The Celeron J1900 chip is a Bay Trail-based chip, operating four cores at a clock speed of 2.0 GHz. The integrated Intel HD graphics runs at 688 MHz, though it can boost up to 854 MHz. All of this has a TDP of just 10 W, allowing ASRock to have the chip passively cooled.
What sets this board apart from other J1900-based boards is its form factor. It's built on the Thin Mini-ITX form factor, which means that it will only fit in thin enclosures, among which are a number of all-in-one solutions. Power is provided via a DC input, rather than with the use of a standard PSU based on the ATX specifications.
Rear I/O connectivity is handled by three USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port, a VGA port, Ethernet port, HDMI, and stereo analog audio. Onboard expansion is provided by a single PCIe 2.0 x 1 slot along with a single Mini-PCIe slot.
A possible use for a board like this is as a simple in-home streaming device, media center, or just a budget-friendly home PC. Performance won't be spectacular, but certainly good enough for most everyday tasks.
No word on US availability or pricing, though the board has been spotted in Europe for a price just shy of €120. We've reached out to ASRock, and we'll let you know when we hear back.
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