mini-iTX ... limited options?

[theFrenchMan]

Hi,

I notice the buying guide for mini-iTX machines has featured the same motherboard (GA-H87N-WIFI) for quite some time. Has there been any testing on alternative legacy free boards with a single slot GPU or do you know if Gigabyte are replacing the GA-H87N-WIFI in the near future?

Thanks,

theFrenchMan.

 

[Going Bald]

Hi,

I notice the buying guide for mini-iTX machines has featured the same motherboard (GA-H87N-WIFI) for quite some time. Has there been any testing on alternative legacy free boards with a single slot GPU or do you know if Gigabyte are replacing the GA-H87N-WIFI in the near future?

Thanks,

theFrenchMan.

The Asus socket 1150 boards are legacy free if by that you mean they are UEFI. They are closest in that you have to boot with Clover or put your Chimera boot loader in the EFI partition and make it active so you can boot EFI. Asus says they have no plans for modifying their BIOS to boot legacy mode.

MSI and AsRock boards also work but require a BIOS patch to unlock MSR for power management.

 

[theFrenchMan]

Hi Going Bald,

By "legacy free" I meant the back panel connectors/ports ... USB only is all we need nowadays. So no PS/2 keyboard/mouse or serial ports. Also I prefer not to patch the BIOS if possible to keep things simple and easy to duplicate.

Cheers,

theFrenchMan

 

[theFrenchMan]

To give this thread some background, I'm always investigating reducing the physical size of the OSX86 build, ideally a short form 1U box with a powerful GPU. This is obviously a challenge due to the limited choice of mini-ITX boards recommended by tonymacx86. In the past I have successes with 1U builds using mATX and multiple outputs for projection work but would like to go smaller if possible.

theFrenchMan

 

[Going Bald]

Hi Going Bald,

By "legacy free" I meant the back panel connectors/ports ... USB only is all we need nowadays. So no PS/2 keyboard/mouse or serial ports. Also I prefer not to patch the BIOS if possible to keep things simple and easy to duplicate.

Cheers,

theFrenchMan

No BIOS patch:
Asus Z87I-Pro
MaximusVI Impact

Possible need BIOS patch
Zotac H87itx-WiFI A series (site does not specify audio and NIC chips)
EVGA Z87 Stinger (creative audio chip)
ECS also has a couple, but ALC662 or VIA audio

 

[theFrenchMan]

No BIOS patch:
Asus Z87I-Pro
MaximusVI Impact

Possible need BIOS patch
Zotac H87itx-WiFI A series (site does not specify audio and NIC chips)
EVGA Z87 Stinger (creative audio chip)
ECS also has a couple, but ALC662 or VIA audio

Hi Going Bald,

I was hoping to find a low cost alternative to the GA-H87N-WIFI motherboard, the Asus Z87I-Pro and MaximusVI Impact are quite expensive items.

My basic requirements are onboard graphics, discreet GPU (something like HD 7950), min 8Gb RAM and 2 x SDD so I don't need a highly specified motherboard. Solid are reliable are the keywords.

Regards,

theFrenchMan

 

[theFrenchMan]

Why is the Gigabyte GA-H87N not listed in the Mini Mac component list next to the GA-H87N-WIFI?

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4735#ov

Is there something different about this board or is it just hard to source?

Regards,

theFrenchMan

 

[Going Bald]

Why is the Gigabyte GA-H87N not listed in the Mini Mac component list next to the GA-H87N-WIFI?

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4735#ov

Is there something different about this board or is it just hard to source?

Regards,

theFrenchMan

Probably because it is assumed most people want Wifi and this board, while it has a halfheight mPCIE slot, doesn't come with a card or the antenna connections. Not sure what the "optional" WiFi card/antenna solution is.