An online retailer in the U.K. is taking preorders for a motherboard equipped with the upcoming Diamondville version of Intel's Atom processor for £53, or $104.

Tranquil PC's D9454GCLF Mini-ITX motherboard measures 17 centimeters by 17 centimeters and has a 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor and an Intel 954GC chipset, which includes integrated graphics. The motherboard is not a complete system, and still requires users to add memory and a hard disk, among other parts.

Diamondville is a variant of the Atom processor used in the Centrino Atom package for handheld computers. The Diamondville chips are intended to be used in low-cost laptops and desktops.

Tranquil is pitching the Atom-based motherboards as a powerful upgrade to Mini-ITX boards based on Via Technologies' rival C7 processor. The company says users can expect to see benchmark scores that are three to four times higher with the Atom system compared to the C7.

While users can order Atom motherboards from Tranquil now, they won't ship until the first week of June, when Intel plans to formally launch Diamondville at the Computex exhibition in Taipei. The Tranquil motherboard isn't the first product based on Intel's upcoming Atom chips to hit the market. Online retailer Expansys is taking preorders for Micro-Star International's Wind laptop, which also uses Diamondville.

REFERENCES:
MSI's upcoming Wind laptop priced from $560, May 12, 2008