A peek under the hood
Under the hood, the EPIA-M10000 is running VIA's Nehemiah 1GHz C3 processor. I've already given you a primer on Nehemiah, but let's check out the chip's cooler just for kicks.
Exciting, isn't it? Ok, so it's not exciting, but it's important to note that, unlike previous Ezra core C3s that got away with a single passive heat sink, the EPIA-M10000's processor requires active cooling. The EPIA-M10000's processor fan is nearly whisper quiet and shouldn't bother even the pickiest noise fanatics, but I'd prefer passive cooling even if the heat sink had to be a little larger. The fact that the EPIA-M10000's processor heat sink is epoxied to the chip means that swapping the board's stock cooling solution out for a third-party passive cooler wouldn't be easy, either.
Under a shared heat sink lurk VIA's VT8623 and VT8235 north and south bridge chips, respectively. The VT8235 has been used everywhere from select KT333-based motherboards to even a few KT400As, so it's been around the block a few times. The VT8623 north bridge, however, is a little new. The chip features VIA's new CastleRock integrated graphics core, which, short of a discrete PCI graphics card, is the only video option users will have for the EPIA-M10000.
The CastleRock graphics core has a 128-bit 2D engine and 1x2-pipe 3D architecture that quite honestly feels underpowered as far as even integrated graphics options are concerned. What can I say? The nForce2 IGP spoils me. Still, CastleRock isn't designed to break new ground in integrated 3D performance. The only kind of gaming I can realistically contemplate throwing at the platform would be console emulation, which can have performance, compatibility and stability problems on even high-end desktops.
For the EPIA-M10000, CastleRock's most important feature is its integrated MPEG-2 decoder, which will bear some of the load during DVD and movie playback. For high-end systems with plenty of CPU cycles to spare, MPEG-2 decoders aren't all that important. However, since the EPIA-M10000 has limited CPU resources to begin with, a hardware MPEG-2 decoder could mean the difference between smooth movie playback and a mess of dropped frames and out-of-sync audio.
Those looking at the EPIA platform as a potential basis for a home theater PC should note that VIA also offers a line of EPIA-V motherboards that don't feature a hardware MPEG-2 decoder. While the EPIA-V is otherwise similar to the -M line, the latter's hardware decoder should produce superior video playback performance.
The CastleRock graphics core does not, however, include a TV encoder chip to output that video to a TV. For a home theater PC that just won't do, so VIA uses one of its own VT1622M TV encoder chips to power the EPIA-M10000's video output port. The VT1622M is capable of outputting NTSC and PAL signals at 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768, though no widescreen or high definition output formats are supported. The VT1622M is only a TV encoder chip, so a discrete capture card will be required to do any video recording.
As far as quality goes, I'd call the EPIA-M10000's TV output signal adequate. Honestly, I have yet to see even a high-end graphics card produce what I'd call great picture quality on a TV, so calling the EPIA-M10000's output adequate is more complimentary than it sounds. When displayed on my 20" Trinitron TV, Windows desktop text is a little fuzzy, especially from the couch. Still, the EPIA-M10000's signal quality seems to have more than enough bandwidth to handle smooth video playback without any blurring, streaking, or artifacts.
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On the codec side of the equation, VIA is eschewing Realtek's ubiquitous ALC650 codec chip in favor of its own VT1616 codec. Like the ALC650, the VT1616 supports 20-bit audio output, and VIA claims a respectable signal-to-noise ratio of 90dB for integrated motherboard environments.
Technical audio specs are great and all, but how does the EPIA-M10000's Vinyl Audio sound? Pretty good, for integrated audio. Honestly, I'd like to see VIA integrate its Envy24PT audio chip into the EPIA-M10000, but I can live with Vinyl Audio for now. To my ears, the EPIA-M10000's audio quality is comparable to the nForce2, but neither solution has the dynamic range to run in the same ballpark as a true 24-bit audio solution like M-Audio's Revolution 7.1. Saying that might make me sound like an audio snob, and I suppose to some extent I am, but real 24-bit audio solutions really do sound much better than this, especially with good music, headphones, and high-bitrate recordings.
As it stands, the EPIA-M10000's integrated audio is probably going to be clean enough for most users, especially those who will be using low-end speakers. Anyone looking to build a high-fidelity home theater system with the EPIA-M10000 would be well-advised to fill the board's PCI slot with a 24-bit audio card.
