Verdict: A fine base for a powerful, tiny PC.
Ever since we laid eyes on the Compubeaver - a computer stuffed inside a taxidermied beaver - we've been wondering if many other modders have contemplated an animal case for their computer, only to be put off by the lack of suitably sized components. Intel's new DG45FC remedies this, as it's absolutely tiny. Given that it also has a standard LGA775 CPU socket, two DDR2 memory slots and the Intel G45 chipset, it could give you a stuffed cheetah that's faster than when it was alive too.
If you're more conventional when it comes to choosing your PC's case then the fact it has an HDMI output and four S-ATA II ports means this board could also make for a very discreet media PC.
Measuring the standard mini-ITX dimensions of 170mm x 170mm, and with the tallest component (the Northbridge heatsink) only 38mm tall, you could easily fit this board inside a small case, although this might cause trouble with the DG45FC's many I/O ports. The G45 chipset features Intel GMA X4500HD graphics, with both HDMI and DVI outputs.
There are six USB 2 ports and an eSATA connection for an external hard disk. Unless you're a fan of cables, you'll probably also want to use either the audio output over HDMI or the S/PDIF output, since connecting your 7.1 speakers through the 3.5mm jacks will result in lots of wiring.
Unless you use a monster quad-core LGA775 CPU, you'll be able to use a small low-wattage PSU too. The board's main power connector is of the 24-pin ATX variety, while a 4-pin ATX12V connector supplies the CPU with extra power, so you won't need a particularly contemporary power supply.
The board is fairly logically arranged with plenty of space around the CPU socket, and two DDR2 slots towards the front of the PCB. The ICH10R Southbridge is placed between the G45 Northbridge and the lower I/O ports, however, which means the four RAID-capable S-ATA II ports are fairly close to the 1x PCI-E slot. With a pair of tall capacitors nearby, neatly routeing S-ATA cables neatly to the front edge of the motherboard is a little tricky. This 1x PCI-E slot is the only expansion slot, but as good PCI-E TV tuners and sound cards are now available, this is a sensible alternative to a PCI slot.
The Southbridge has no heatsink, so if you're going to pack this board inside a case with limited airflow you may want to attach one. You'll have to use thermally conductive glue for this, as there are no mounting holes for a heatsink. Besides the 4-pin CPU fan header, there's only one other fan header. There are also headers for an infrared emitter and receiver, a serial port and two headers that can provide two more USB 2 ports each.
For testing, we had to use the on-board Intel GMA X4500HD GPU, as there's no 16x PCI-E slot for our usual 512MB GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card. With this setup, we saw a commendable overall score of 948 in our 2D Media Benchmarks.
However, Crysis ran at slideshow-like 1fps on the Intel GPU. We tried using the GMA X4500HD to watch Blu-ray movies using CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Ultra, but even setting the PAVP option of the BIOS to the recommended Lite setting didn't yield anything more than an annoying green screen. Intel recommends using BIOS version 75 or newer (we used version 79) and the 15.11.1.1545 graphics driver or later, and says Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre, CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Ultra and Corel WinDVD 9 are all certified with this board. However, trouble with Blu-ray playback isn't damning, and DVD movies played perfectly.
We've previously experimented with chopping the end off short PCI-E slots to fit 16x PCI-E graphics cards, and have achieved good results. Cutting a notch in the end of the 1x PCI-E slot of the DG45FC is tricky, thanks to the two tall capacitors placed in-line with the slot - we had to carve our way down rather than using a saw. If you do mod a PCI-E slot like this, be careful not to damage or disturb the many delicate wires inside the slot. With a notch carved out, we installed our 512MB GeForce 8800 GTS and tested both Crysis and Folding@home.
The results weren't great: Crysis ran at between 12fps and 20fps, while folding returned a score of 1,868ppd running project p5230. With the same card installed in a similarly equipped PC with a 16x PCI-E slot, the card ran Crysis at between 25fps and 32fps, and produced 5,184ppd running the same project. The 1x PCI-E slot either doesn't deliver sufficient bandwidth or power for a decent graphics card.
Conclusion
With just a 1x PCI-E slot, you won't be able to build a tiny but powerful folding rig or an ultra-portable gaming PC. However, with an LGA775 socket, it's significantly more powerful than other mini-ITX boards.
