Several distributors of Via mini-ITX boards appear to be stocking a new embedded model with dual LAN ports and four serial ports. The Epia EK is powered by Via's two-chip Luke CoreFusion chipset, clocked at 800MHz or 1GHz. It targets network appliances and POS (point-of-sale/service) devices, and appears to replace the older Epia PD and CL designs.

Two Epia EK models appear to be available. The passively cooled EK8000 is clocked at 800MHz, while the “fan-sink” equipped EK10000 is clocked at 1GHz.

The Epia EK8000 (left) and EK10000 (right)
(Click either to enlarge)
The EK boards are based on “Luke” processors from Via's CoreFusion line. CoreFusion chips integrate processor and northbridge functionality into a single chip that can be paired with various Via southbridge chips, depending on the required I/O and peripheral set.

Luke CoreFusion with VT8237R southbridge
(Click to enlarge)
Luke's processor is Via's embedded Eden design, based on the Nehemiah C5P core. The integral northbridge is Via's CN400 design, which supports DDR400 SDRAM, and has an integrated graphics controller based on the S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP chip. The graphics controller can use up to 64MB of system memory, and features MPEG-2 decoding.

Both available Epia EK boards use Via's VT8237R southbridge, which features a high-speed interconnect and compatibility with several Via SATA drive, RAID, and audio chipsets.

Epia EK8000 (left) and EK10000 (right)
(Click either to enlarge)
Other Epia EK board specs include:

• Supports up to 1GB of DDR266/333/400
• 1 x 40-pin ATA133 port
• 2 x SATA ports
• 4 x backpanel USB 2.0 ports
• 4 x onboard USB 2.0 via 2 x pin headers
• 2 x 10/100 Ethernet ports
• 1 x backpanel COM port
• 3 x onboard COM pin headers
• 1 x parallel port
• 1 x PCI slot
• VT1618 8-channel AC'97 audio chipset
• PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports
• “LVDS-ready,” with Via's LVDS-07 add-on board for 18- or 24-bit LCD panels

Availability

The Epia EK boards appear to be in stock at Via distributors such as Mini-ITX.com and Logic Supply, priced at about $225. Via appears to have announced the EK design back in January.

Via's Epia boards typically support Linux reasonably well, with a few quirks. A variety of sites, such as EpiaLinux.org and EpiOS offer advice and free software.

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