The Mini-ITX form factor is usually reserved for projects such as a personal file server, a budget Internet box or a HTPC. A quick trip to my favorite online retailer revealed that the majority of Mini-ITX boards are sold as a combo paired with a low powered Intel Atom CPU. While such a hardware combination will work just fine for basic web browsing, e-mail and word processing tasks, you shouldn't expect much more from this configuration.

What a lot of people don't realize, however, is that if you can get by with just a single PCIe x16 expansion slot, a Mini-ITX system can pack one heck of a punch given the right motherboard and supporting hardware. Today we are going to be taking a look at Gigabyte's GA-H55N-USB3 Mini-ITX motherboard which supports Intel's 2010 Core Processor Family based on Socket 1156.


As you can gather from the retail package, Gigabyte has packed a ton of features into this small board and they want you to be aware of each and every one. Both the front and the back of the box are covered with various features and specifications, many of which we will take a closer look at shortly.

Inside the retail box is the board itself, an I/O shield, two SATA cables, a user manual and software installation disc.

Let's move ahead and take a closer look at the features and specifications on this H55 board from Gigabyte.