Question 1

I am looking to buy this unit. Does it include a heat sink?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The black fan like thing in the middle of the board pictured is the heatsink for the CPU. This is a passively cooled unit. I've been using it in a pfsense firewall and it works wonderfully and haven't had any issues with heat.

Question 2

I can't get it to install windows OS. when it get to the install screen that said press any key to install. the mouse and keyboard doesn't response. I read some where here from the manufacturer say you have to install a patch file for the USB to work. How do I install the patch when I can't even get it to install WINDOWS. I'M NOT TOO familiar with how INTEL board work?

Accepted Answer

It's been a while but as I recall there may be a work around.

1)  Use the Black USB 2.0 ports instead of the blue ports or 2) I may have used a USB Keyboard and Mouse to get the install running. If you don't have one maybe you can find some usb to ps2 adapters cheap on ebay or borrow a friend's ps2 keyboard and mouse .

I hope this helps. Also, I recomened you run the BIOS upgrade via an Eithernet cable is possible. I believe this was available though I have had several different boards over the years so I may be mixing up the procedures. There also might be a legacy usb or ps2 setting in bios.

Let me know if you still have issues since I am away from the computer right now but can check the machine later if you still have issues.

One other thing, if you are building a HTPC consider a newer vesion of windows since they better support the hardware video acceleration built into the newest intel CPUs.

Question 3

I bought this for the DDR3L support, but when I put in 4 gig sticks of DDR3L it won't POST... yet it works just fine with 2 gig sticks, is this motherboard limited to 2 gigabyte sticks of RAM or is that just DDR3L?

Accepted Answer

I successfully use:
Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) High Density Desktop Memory Model CT2K51264BD160BJ with this product.

Question 4

Is it possible to use ECC ram in this motherboard?

Accepted Answer

The manual only mentions support for DDR3/DDR3L 1600/1066 non-ECC unbuffered memory

Question 5

How much power does it consume in idle mode? What's the max power consumption?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the power supply. I am using a Pico-PSU DC-DC power supply with a power brick, similar to a laptop. It draws around $10 at idle on the desktop. The most I could get the board to draw was around 22 watts trying to play a certain game (0 A.D.). Most standard ATX power supplies are designed to be most efficient at much higher power draw, so they tend to draw more power running the same system. The few I tried increased power consumption by around 10 watts on this and some other low power (sub-50 watt) systems.

Question 6

what case I can use with power supply?

Accepted Answer

Check the specs out more carefully.  It shows that this is a Micro ATX mobo so any case that specifies Micro ATX support will fit it. 
As to PSU, the specs say that it uses a standard 24-pin plug.

Question 7

Please, can you recommend 8GB and 16GB memory kits for this board?

Accepted Answer

CORSAIR Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model

Questions & Answers