VIA Launches Vista-Ready EPIA Motherboard

Chipmaker VIA Technologies announced the VIA EPIA SN-series motherboard, the first Mini-ITX to be based on the Vista-certified VIA CN896 IGP chipset.

Powered by the 1.8GHz VIA C7 processor, the VIA EPIA SN provides a performance boost of up to 30 percent over previous VIA EPIA mainboards, while a fanless 1GHz sku is ideal for Network Attached Storage and other applications requiring passive cooling. The VIA EPIA SN is also the first to provide the added flexibility of a 16-lane PCI-Express port for bandwidth-intensive graphics cards.

With four Serial ATA II ports, an Ultra DMA port, a Compact Flash connector, dual-LAN ports and wireless support, the VIA EPIA SN has the storage and network versatility to suit developers of NAS, digital signage and POS units alike.

Capable of supporting an unprecedented 4GB of energy-efficient DDR2 667 system memory, the VIA EPIA SN takes compact computing to new levels of system performance. Digital signage and POS developers can take advantage of expansion cards supporting DVI and LVDS displays, while the option of an additional four COM ports and a native LPC bus is important to POS vendors.

Multiple native RAID configurations through 4 S-ATA channels and VIA V-RAID within the VIA VT8251 south bridge, and the inclusion of a Gigabit Ethernet port as standard make the EPIA SN series a strong contender in NAS system development