Intel DG45FC: Loaded LGA775 Mini-ITX Board

Intel branded motherboard is the safe pick for a stable, reliable system. Intel motherboards have been traditionally designed for business and forego the flashy colors and heatsinks, ridiculous feature-sets, and gimmicky software bundles so popular with retail DIY-oriented products. If it's going into a PC at a corporate cubicle, it just needs to work, work well, and preferably work forever.

The Intel DG35EC is a micro-ATX motherboard based on Intel's G35 chipset and features support for all current Intel processors. Though the G35 chipset is a year old, it has been poorly represented in the market. It's hard to say why this is the case — though if the Asus P5E-VM HDMI's price-tag is any indicator, high cost may be a factor. Whatever the reasons, G35's GMA X3500 graphics processor was (until recently) the most advanced IGP money could buy for the LGA775 platform, and until Intel's new X4500 GMA is proven to be superior, it should not be ignored.

Intel DG35EC: Specifications
Form factor	MicroATX (9.60 inches by 9.60 inches [243.84 millimeters by 243.84 millimeters])
Processor	At product launch, this desktop board supports: * Support for an Intel® Core™2 Quad processor (95 W TDP) in an LGA775 socket with an 1333 or 1066 MHz system bus * Support for an Intel® Core™2 Duo processor in an LGA775 socket with an 1333 or 1066 or 800 MHz system bus * Support for an Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor in an LGA775 socket with 800 MHz system bus * Support for an Intel® Celeron® Dual-Core or Intel® Celeron® 400 sequence processor in an LGA775 socket with 800 MHz system bus
Memory	Four 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets Support for DDR2 800 or DDR2 667 MHz DIMMs Support for up to 8 GB? of system memory
Chipset	Intel® G35 Express Chipset
Audio	Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem in the following configuration: 6-channel (5.1) audio subsystem using the Realtek* ALC888S audio codec
Video	Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3500 on board graphics subsystem
LAN support	Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN subsystem using the Intel® 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Peripheral interfaces	* Ten USB 2.0 ports * Two IEEE-1394a interfaces (1 external port, 1 internal header) * One serial port header * Four Serial ATA IDE interfaces * One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support * One diskette drive interface * PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports
Expansion capabilities	* One PCI Express* x16 bus add-in card connector * Two PCI Express* x1 bus add-in card connector * One PCI Conventional* bus connector
Microsoft Vista* Premium Ready	With a PC built with Intel® Core™2 Duo or Intel® Core™2 Quad processors, and the Intel® Desktop Board, you can experience a more responsive and manageable environment of Microsoft Windows Vista* including a new visual sophistication of the Windows Aero* interface.

Our criteria for judging mATX boards are quite different than other sites. As mATX boards typically have integrated graphics, video playback ability is key when you take into account ever increasing multimedia and high definition content. We also consider low power consumption to be vital, not only to lessen the toll on the environment, but also to reduce heat in the system to ease cooling a system quietly. Finally, fan control by the board is also taken into account. While it's not hard slow down and mod fans to reduce noise, being able to do it with board-integrated controls makes life that much easier.