Gigabyte TA3

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Basic Specifications;

  • VIA C3 800MHz - 1.2Ghz
  • 512mb ram
  • Gigabyte VIA CLE266 / 8235 chipset
  • 40W Power supply
  • Support DOM (Disk on Module) (optional)
  • Supports internal laptop optical drives
  • Front USB 2.0 port, Earphone. MIC IN
  • Dimension: 64(D) x 213 (W) x 234(H) mm

We have been testing the TA3 from gigabyte since May 2006. The TA3 comes in various configurations with some fanless models now becoming available with 1Ghz processors. Although the fan noise is not high by mainstream desktop standards it is still noticeable in a quiet room so the fanless models are definitely work getting.

Now that the Unichrome drivers are present in 40 the TA3 (and other motherboards based on the cle266 graphics chip) performs really nicely as a MD. Video playback performance of mpeg2 is excellent in fact for such a low cost device and is certainly comparable to other hardware costing 2-3 times as much. The Orbiter UI (UI1 that is) response is good too and desktop apps (Mozilla etc) perform very nicely.

So the Via chipset based motherboards are very strong contenders for MD's - good performance, good I/O and they are low energy and quiet.

The TA3 does not suffer the reboot problem that some other Via mother boards suffer (ie EPIA M10000G which does have this problem but in all other ways is fine) - PXE boot fails on re-boot (solution = remove power and RJ45 for a few secs then reconnect and boot up is fine again). We have used the MS Media Center IR transceiver and remote successfully with the TA3 and the M10000.

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