| Mini-ITX
is a 17 x 17 cm (or 6.7 x 6.7 inches)
low-power motherboard form factor developed
by VIA Technologies[1]. Mini-ITX is slightly
smaller than microATX. Mini-ITX boards
can often be passively cooled due to their
low power consumption architecture, which
makes them useful for home theater PC
systems, Thin clients where fan noise
can detract from the cinema experience.
Beside that specific application, they
are commonly used in small form factor
(SFF) computer systems. The four mounting
holes in a mini-ITX board line up with
four of the holes in ATX-specification
motherboards, and the locations of the
backplate and expansion slot are the same
(though one of the holes used was optional
in earlier versions of the ATX spec).
Mini-ITX boards can therefore often be
used in cases designed for ATX, micro-ATX
and other ATX variants if desired.
The form factor has provision
for one expansion slot. Conventionally
this is a standard 33 MHz 5V 32-bit PCI
slot. Many case designs use riser cards
and some even have two-slot riser cards,
although the two-slot riser cards are
not compatible with all boards. Some boards
based around non-x86 processors have a
3.3V PCI slot, and some newer boards have
a PCI-express x16 slot; these boards are
not compatible with the standard PCI riser
cards supplied with cases.
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