With Intel pushing the new mini-STX form factor hard, we are seeing new motherboards and cases from OEMs to support the standard. For its entry into this new market, Gigabyte has partnered with Silverstone to create a new barebones PC. The company also showed off an even smaller motherboard with an Apollo Lake SoC.
The motherboard, like all other currently announced mini-STX boards, will use the H110 chipset and support dual-channel DDR4 SO-DIMM memory. Gigabyte opted to include just a wired Internet connection on the motherboard, but there is an mPCI-E slot that can be used to install a Wi-Fi module. For storage connectivity there is an M.2 Key M slot and two SATA-III ports.
The case is still under development, so we can’t be sure how close this is to the finished product, but we managed to get a glimpse at the chassis being developed by Silverstone, as well. Gigabyte wasn’t able to give us any specs on the case, however, so we can’t compare it to other mini-STX chassis.
Another project Gigabyte is working on is its GA-SBC motherboard. This device will likely not surface on the market for several months, as it uses Intel’s unreleased Apollo Lake Atom processor. The key feature on this device is a cellular antenna. This may be highly advantageous in areas where a cellular data plan offers more practical service than a wired connection into your home.
All of these devices are still under development; Gigabyte was not able to tell us when we would see any of them on the market.
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