VIA takes upper hand in Mini HTPC board

[saikatbiswas82]

Low-power specialist VIA launched its high performance pico-ITX board named VAB-800. It measures only 3.9 x 2.8-inch.

Under the hood:
1 GB RAM
ARM Cortex-A8 1.5 Ghz
64GB eMMC on-board storage
Dual-core GPU
Mini HDMI
VGA Out
Dual independent displays through mini-HDMI and VGA
10/100 Ethernet port
Single SATA port
Two RS232 connections
2 USB ports (expandable to 4 USB ports)
Upto 1080p support
Power consumption - 35w

It's missing a audio jack - I guess I could live without that as long as I am getting HDMI out.

What more could we expect out of this tiny soul?

Keeping the form factor in mind, I guess, this could make the smallest but powerful HTPC.
This board could be the heart of future tablets/media players as well.

Here is the source.

 

[koushik]

no ePCI I guess, right?

 

[haisaikat]

I think the only way to stream full hd content would be over usb either from a directly hooked drive or using a usb network adapter which would cost additional. I wonder whether the on board APU (I hope it is APU like) will have enough juice to run FHD Video.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

no ePCI I guess, right?

@koushik... I guess, VIA won't be supporting any PCIe slot. No expandable memory slots as well. The main reason could be space constraint.

I think the only way to stream full hd content would be over usb either from a directly hooked drive or using a usb network adapter which would cost additional. I wonder whether the on board APU (I hope it is APU like) will have enough juice to run FHD Video.

@haisaikat... this board is having a mini HDMI, which is I guess, Type C HDMI 1.3 compliant. So, my derivation would be... this would be able to play FHD contents with DTS-HD/DTS-Master/bitstream without any external device. Please find the HDMI compliance chart here.
But this board won't be able to play 3d contents. :sad:
I am afraid ARM Cortex A-8 is not like APU. I think VIA is integrating dual GUP support separately. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Rupam]

Saikat,
Any word on pricing and warranty?

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Saikat,
Any word on pricing and warranty?

@Rupam... I am also looking for the same . Will update as soon as I receive it.

My guess is...it would be within 6-8k (don't have any reference though - just a wild guess).

 

[haisaikat]

@haisaikat... this board is having a mini HDMI, which is I guess, Type C HDMI 1.3 compliant. So, my derivation would be... this would be able to play FHD contents with DTS-HD/DTS-Master/bitstream without any external device. Please find the HDMI compliance chart here.
But this board won't be able to play 3d contents. :sad:
I am afraid ARM Cortex A-8 is not like APU. I think VIA is integrating dual GUP support separately. Correct me if I am wrong.

That was not my concern, rather if I give you a FHD content how will it be fed to the HTPC, either USB or if people have networked storage then they would need to buy a gigabit USB 2.0 network adapter which would anyway operate at lesser USB 2.0 speed.

Again if the cost is 6 to 8K (and no 3D) then why would I not buy a Fusion based mobo for lesser? That will not consume leaps and bounds more than 35W I guess.

I think this will be a very good board for embebdded system design if required or like a Car PC that you may integrate inside the Music System DIN slots.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

That was not my concern, rather if I give you a FHD content how will it be fed to the HTPC, either USB or if people have networked storage then they would need to buy a gigabit USB 2.0 network adapter which would anyway operate at lesser USB 2.0 speed.

Again if the cost is 6 to 8K (and no 3D) then why would I not buy a Fusion based mobo for lesser? That will not consume leaps and bounds more than 35W I guess.

I think this will be a very good board for embebdded system design if required or like a Car PC that you may integrate inside the Music System DIN slots.

@haisaikat... remember, this board comes with a SATA header. Which means you can connect a SATA HDD for high speed data transfer and data feed.

There are so many variations in Mini-ITX family which could beat it's performance any day. And I do consider that those Mini-ITX boards can play 3D contents as well and might run with lesser power.

But please do consider the form factor as well. It's not a rival for those Mini-ITX boards. This could be rival for Raspberry Pi or similar products instead.

Moreover, apart from performance... I think this could be a flagship model to show the world how small your pc is going to be in 5 years down the line.

I am not comparing this with any performance PCs. This just for DIY fun.

And in the product description I found this is targeted for car PCs. But if I get it, I'd like to make a tiny HTPC.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

One more update.
Just found that this board supports 1080p HD video playback and 3D graphics acceleration.
Not sure really whether this means - it will support 3D playback or not.

 

[baijuxavior]

3D graphics support and 3D media support are different. 3D Graphics support is used to render 3D images like that in games. For 3D movies, HDMI 1.4a is needed. But one can play 3D movies in SBS format through hdmi 1.3 out.