Portwell announced a Mini-ITX board designed to accept Intel's “Sandy Bridge” Core i3, i5, or i7 processors. The WADE-8012 supports up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, has six SATA ports and three video outputs, and provides two gigabit Ethernet ports, according to the company.

The WADE-8012 is the latest in a series of 6.7 by 6.7-inch Mini-ITX boards from Portwell that have included the likes of the Atom-based WADE-8075 and WADE-8076 and the Core 2 Duo-based WADE-8180, among others. It's compatible with Intel's 2011 Core processors (a.k.a. "Sandy Bridge"): Portwell doesn't say which, listing only "Core i7/i5/i3," but the board's use of an LGA 1155 socket suggests compatibility with the desktop offerings but not the mobile-specific ones.

Portwell cites use of Intel's Q67 Express chipset, which is one of the "Cougar Point" offerings that was initially flawed, with 3Gbps SATA ports that the chipmaker discovered could deteriorate over time. Here, Portwell is apparently confident that it has a supply of updated Q67 chips, since the WADE-8012 sports both two 6Gbps ports and four 3GBps SATA ports (compatible with RAID 0/1/5/10), according to the company.

Portwell's WADE-8012
(Click to enlarge)

As usual, the SATA ports are on top of the board (pictured above), along with two DIMM sockets (up to 8GB of DDR3 memory accepted) and a PCI Express x16 expansion slot. The WADE-8012 also provides headers for four internal USB 2.0 ports and 16-bit digital I/O, according to Portwell.

The board's coastline (below), meanwhile, provides two gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB 2.0 ports, two serial ports (one RS232, one RS232/422/485), and three audio jacks (mic in, line in, and line out). There are three video outputs, Portwell adds: VGA (up to 2048 x 1536 pixels), DVI (up to 1920 x 1200), and HDMI (also up to 1920 x 1200).

Real-world ports on Portwell's WADE-8012

According to Portwell, the WADE-8012 offers a programmable watchdog timer, plus beep alarms for over temperature and over/under voltage. Also cited is Intel's AMT (active management technology) 7.0.

Specifications listed for the WADE-8012 by Portwell include:

• Processor — Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs with LGA 1155 socket
• Chipset — QM67 Express
• Memory — up to 8GB of DDR3 memory via two DIMM sockets
• Expansion — 1 x PCI Express x16
• Networking — 2 x gigabit Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • 6 x SATA (2 6Gbps, 4 3Gbps)
  • 8 x USB 2.0 (4 external, 4 internal)
  • 2 x serial (1 x RS232, 1 x RS232/422)
  • audio — mic in, line in, line out
  • VGA
  • HDMI
  • DVI-D
• Power requirements — "TBD"
• Operating range — 32 to 140 deg. F
• Dimensions — 6.7 x 6.7 inches

Further information

As is often the case, Portwell did not bother to cite operating system support for the WADE-8012, no doubt figuring that Intel's Core processors will run any known x86 operating system. Pricing and availability also weren't detailed, but further information may be found on the WADE-8012 product page.

Jonathan Angel can be followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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