News ASRock H91M-XT PLUS - Mini-DTX H91 motherboard

Still waiting for a Z97 or Z170 in Mini-DTX with dual x16 but this is a step in the right direction

http://www.gdm.or.jp/pressrelease/2015/0622/120722

 

[Vittra]

It seems like with what Asus has learned from using daughterboards on ITX to free up space on the main PCB and pack in as much as possible, this would be the next logical step. It will probably be up to Asrock to show the viability of an H97/Z97 DTX board first though.

 

[Phuncz]

A high-end mini-DTX board would be very interesting for Ncase M1 owners, it puts the GPU on the bottom, allowing less air to be recycled. But it seems to be budget crap that gets the special treatment.

 

[Vittra]

I am actually curious what the usage case for these budget-oriented boards are. To be honest, I really don't know what people use such low chipset variants for. Would a board like this be used for a specific OEM design? I can't really thing of anything on the market that is a small, custom solution that would make use of potentially two pci(-e) slots.

 

[jeshikat]

I suspect it's for system integrators so they can list their el cheapo low-end build as having a microATX motherboard.

 

[veryrarium]

ASRock's H61M-VG3 and ECS's H81H3-M4 are both similar to this (low end, 190x170, 2 PCIe slots) and have been quite popular at least in my country (as far as I can tell from internet discussions and what the salespersons for some PC parts shops in Akihabara say) for building a TV recorder in an ITX case, many find a single tuner card (quad or octa tuners) to be not enough. Different demands in different markets.

 

[jeshikat]

Ah, that makes sense. Over here I rarely run into anyone who build recording boxes because if they're tech-savvy they usually go for Hulu, Netflix, torrents, etc. and everyone else just gets a Tivo or something.

 

[confusis]

I can see a use - not everyone needs the high end chipset. What do the higher chipsets add? Cost, overclocking and faster SATA. Not much else really. I've built numerous gaming rigs on low end chipsets, they ran fine

 

[iFreilicht]

I can see a use - not everyone needs the high end chipset. What do the higher chipsets add? Cost, overclocking and faster SATA. Not much else really. I've built numerous gaming rigs on low end chipsets, they ran fine

More USB3.0 ports as well. Not sure about PCIe lanes, though. It would be nice if we could get a 8x/8x mDTX board at some point in the future.

 

[confusis]

More USB3.0 ports as well. Not sure about PCIe lanes, though. It would be nice if we could get a 8x/8x mDTX board at some point in the future.

Ah yes, the USB3.0 ports. Could be added with a standalone chip though.

Yes, I'd love to see x8/x8 mDTX I'll make do with my x16/x1 for now :/

 

[iFreilicht]

Ah yes, the USB3.0 ports. Could be added with a standalone chip though.

Yes, I'd love to see x8/x8 mDTX I'll make do with my x16/x1 for now :/

True, would be slower though. And is not feasible for USB3.1, especially when considering secondary modes.

 

[confusis]

That's true. I believe the B*5 series chipsets may offer a better option on such boards. Twice the USb3.0 ports as well as x16 v3 /x8 v2