Mini ATX

Mini-ATX is a 15 x 15 cm (or 5.9 x 5.9 inches) motherboard form factor developed by AOpen Inc. Mini-ATX is slightly smaller than Mini-ITX. Mini-ATX motherboards were designed with MoDT (Mobile on Desktop Technology) which adapt mobile CPU for lower power requirement and less heat generation, which makes them ideal for home theater PC (HTPC) and car PC for consumer and application PC for industrial.

Name Confusion

There is another form-factor, that is also commonly named Mini-ATX: 284x208mm.^[1][2][3]

Features

Compact

With dimensions of 15 x 15 cm (or 5.9 x 5.9 inches), a Mini-ATX motherboard can be placed into a 1 DIN space for standardized application conditions such as a car, rack mount, tower case, wall mount, etc. which is impossible for a Mini-ITX form factor. The smaller form factor Nano-ITX motherboard lacks a CPU socket module which limits its flexibility for different applications.

Silent

Due to the mobile CPU having lower power requirements, there is less heat generated by the CPU and internal components, and the thermal design is more efficient. With its passive cooling design, it is typically noiseless and the manufacturing costs and overall operating power requirements are lower relative to active cooling designs

Stable

Mini-ATX motherboard adapts with SMT, solid state capacitors and 8 layers PCB design to maximize MTBF. The SMT can reduce internal transmit interruption; and 8 layers PCB enable best signal Return-Path.

Flexibility

The DC to DC solution design removes the power supply unit from Mini-ATX case. This will reduce the interference between power supply unit and internal device, reduce the system size and the external power supply unit bring more possibilities when deploying system.

History

With the MoDT concept, AOpen research the way to combine desktop motherboard with mobile CPU to realize a compact and low power requirement desktop PC and this concept gain Intel’s support and help. For two years of development, the first product with Mini-ATX motherboard was introduced, the AOpen XC mini MP915 series. This series was original named mini PC since 2005, but renamed to XC mini in 2007 since “mini PC” could not be registered as a trademark. With the Mini-ATX motherboard, the size of the XC mini series PC - 165(W) x 50(H) x 165(D) mm - makes it the smallest desktop PC systems (1.3L volume) in the world.

In 2006, AOpen release the world’s first application Mini-ATX PC the Digital Engine (DE-945FX) series. With 1 DIN size and powerful Intel CPU, the Digital Engine became the popular application PC in various industries including Car PC (Mitsubishi Motors Taiwan), Flight Information Display Systems pc (SFO, U.S.A.). Today, Digital Engines with Mini-ATX motherboard are widely adopt by KIOSK, digital signage solutions, POS, medical and security PCs.

References

1. ^ http://en.kioskea.net/contents/pc/carte-mere.php3
2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atxscale.svg
3. ^ http://www.pcguide.com/ref/case/formATX-c.html

External links

• AOpen XC mini products:http://global.aopen.com/Products.aspx?id=74
• AOpen application platform official site http://vip.aopen.com
• AOpen's latest Product shown in Computex Taipei 2010 https://www.logicsupply.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/aopen_i57qmx_01.jpg