Installation
Test Rig:
Asus AT3IONT-I Deluxe complete with Intel Atom 330 CPU
Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3-1333
Thermaltake Element Q Mini-ITX Case (included power supply removed)
Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
Visio 32” HDTV via HDMI cable as monitor
I removed the power supply that came with the case, hoping it would help the lack of a fan. The case is pretty well ventilated, so I think I will be ok.
Having the CPU pre-installed makes things seem just too simple. Simply install the memory into the DIMM slots, install the I/O shield into the case, and then install the motherboard into the case. When installing the I/O panel into the I/O shield, make sure that none of the stupid “springs” are left in front of ports. After I put everything together and getting ready to start things up I realized that the “springs” were in front of the HDMI port and had to take everything back apart. I have never understood them, I had already bent the ones that would have covered the LAN port out of the way. Too bad Asus didn’t include one of their excellent padded/shielded Q-Shields.
Different cases have different configurations, this particular case has the motherboard on the bottom, the hard drive on the side of the case, and the optical drive over the motherboard. So all wiring has to be done before installing the optical drive. I had installed the hard drive prior to the motherboard.
The SATA power adapter worked very well, and would accommodate a case much larger than this one.
Install the optical drive and a PCI-E card if desired. (I installed my TV Tuner card to be used later) Unfortunately I do not have a BluRay drive to check out the HD content of the integrated graphics. Though this case does not have a fan, with the power supply removed there is a surprisingly large open area over the CPU cooler, so I should be ok. But, I definitely won’t be doing any overclocking, and I highly recommend that no one else does without some active cooling blowing air directly towards the CPU cooler.
