Gigabyte STA Thin Client

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Gigabyte STA Thin Client

At Phoronix we have looked at a number of Gigabyte products from their motherboards to graphics cards and even wireless adapters. However, today is our first time looking at one of Gigabyte's barebone solutions. The Gigabyte STA Thin Client, specifically the GB-STA-C7V7, is a mini-ITX solution that ships with a VIA C7 1.0GHz processor, UniChrome PRO graphics, is completely fan-free, and it's all packed in a slim yet stylized chassis. However, does the Gigabyte STA Thin Client work with Linux? We'll let you know today.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=12254

[a9db0]

Originally Posted by phoronix

Phoronix: Gigabyte STA Thin Client

Does the Gigabyte STA Thin Client work with Linux? We'll let you know today.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=12254

Will you be providing any more in depth coverage, such as performance information? If this would be a viable media machine, how is the video playback? How did it perform on the test suite?
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[poison]

The power consumption under load and when idle would have been interesting ^^
Also the specs available on the Gigabytes site aren't very detailed, would somebody happen to know if the graphics port is DVI or if it can do 1920x1200?

[lordmozilla]

have you considered using this as an LTSP howto/review?

Because the review currently seems kind of pointless. Mini ITX PC's are cheaper than before and gigabyte make one is all I learnt from that review....

Sorry to sound so down, but your reviews are usually more usefull than that. Maybe including some benchmarking with your own benchmark suite with comparisons to an atom CPU? (ok i'm dreaming they aren't released), but some comparison would be good.

[Svartalf]

Originally Posted by a9db0

Will you be providing any more in depth coverage, such as performance information? If this would be a viable media machine, how is the video playback? How did it perform on the test suite?
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Think in terms of an EPIA VB7001 board. It'll do some media operations well, but without decent Chrome9 support, including clean MPEG2/4 decode assist, you're better off with something else. For a thin client, kiosk PC, light duty PC, etc. it is very good. For heavier tasks, the machine is bogged under because of the C7, which, while it's very much a nice low power x86 device, is subpar performance-wise.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by lordmozilla

Maybe including some benchmarking with your own benchmark suite with comparisons to an atom CPU? (ok i'm dreaming they aren't released), but some comparison would be good.

The problem with this one is that I had a limited amount of time to spend with this pre-production system before Gigabyte needed it mailed back, so not much time.

[lordmozilla]

Originally Posted by Michael

The problem with this one is that I had a limited amount of time to spend with this pre-production system before Gigabyte needed it mailed back, so not much time.

That seems fair enough, shame really.

Brendan

[timosa]

I have been looking for fanless home server with decent performance. Fanless Gigabyte STA V7C7 seems to meet my requirements perfectly.