The Q1900-ITX Asrock uses the latest Intel Celeron J1900 platform Bay Trail-T, which is a quad core energy-efficient processor for desktop and nettop computers.
Clocked between 2.0 and 2.42 GHz (Turbo Mode), it does not have HyperThreading but is compatible VT-x (for a small ESXi server).
22mm fine engraving forces, the consumption is reduced to consume 10W maximum. This low power consumption allows manufacturers to offer a fanless design (no fan so quietly).
For pc salon is very significant.
It has an integrated graphics chip, not very tasty but less efficient than the HD4000. It helps not to play the latest games, but is sufficient for decoding bluray.
It is mounted in a CoolerMaster Elite 130, 4GB of ram (Crucial DDR3L So-DIMM format), a SSD OCZ Agilty 3 64gb and a 300W Corsair power supply, all under Windows 64bit 8.1 PRO.
Food remains fanless fashion given the low consumption, only the box fan spins, but it is turned down in the bios. It is a very silent platform, perfect for HTPC use.
For the hardware part:
The card has four SATA ports: 2 SATA 2 and SATA 3 2 others (for example ssd) and 3 video outputs (DIV, VGA and HDMI).
The ITX format allows the motherboard to store in small compact packages. Editing is always difficult in this kind of platform, in the small space. Prefer a modular power to earn up.
The UEFI BIOS is nice and relatively complete. It is possible to navigate the mouse. Highlight: Updating BIOS setting can be performed in seconds from the BIOS if the DHCP mode network is activated.
For the software part:
Windows 8.1 works without worries, the card being certified compliant. I install XBMC, PowerDVD (for bluray) with no problem.
Combined with an SSD boot is very fast (configure the BIOS boot in or UltraFast Fast mode), performance for normal use or satisfactory office.
I find the software Asrock unhelpful and not very ergonomic: I uninstalled XFastRAM, XFastUsb, XFastCeQueVousVoulez, I prefer a position with minimal applications.
1080p video playback via XBMC or MediaPlayer Classic not a problem. Ditto for bluray via PowerDVD and HDMI output, it's fluid, it works well and quietly.
Only downside, the BSOD! I solved the problem by browsing the forums, many users have the problem using the DDR3L that consumes less energy than conventional DDR3 (1.35V instead of 1.5V).
The problem arises when voltage of the ram is to "Auto" in the BIOS, by forcing it to 1.35V, I have no problems.
The pros:
- Fanless design, low power consumption and small footprint
- 3 integrated video outputs
- Update the bios fast and efficient
- The price
The -:
- The Asrock bunch of applications not necessarily helpful
- BSOD when none of the solution (0.5)
- A PCI-E port is 1x, so no graphics card for gaming, for example (-0.5)
