With more mini-ITX options than ever it’s a great time for small form factor
(SFF) PCs. Enthusiasts are finding more ways to get the most out of these tiny
boxes both in the A/V stack and backing it. Take a look with us at the soon to
be released Intel DH57JG motherboard paired with a Core i3-530 to find out if
the tiniest member of Intel’s Clarkdale offering can bring a full featured HTPC
to the SFF world.
Having earned most of my “cred” building full-ATX PC (yes, even the HT kind)
every time I see one of these boards it amazes me how much functionality gets
crammed into such a small package. Mini-ITX motherboards are intended to be
compact and it is understandable that there will be layout trade-offs made for
the possibilities the form factor enables and the DH57JG is no exception.
Despite this caveat I do need to question the placement of some of the headers,
most notably the front panel (circled in orange below) near the back I/O panel.
Read the rest of the review at MissingRemote.com