Operating Guidelines
Version 1.20
Noise Level Data
VIA and the EPIA series have been at the forefront of the quiet computing initiative.
The VIA EPIA CL-series has been designed to be totally non-obtrusive with noise
levels equivalent to a person whispering. With noise levels ranging from the totally
silent EPIA CL6000 to 25dBA for the EPIA CL10000, a new wave of system design
innovation and exciting opportunities are being created in an almost limitless number
of emerging new market segments - ranging from fanless networking devices, video
conferencing to a host of commercial networking applications such as Kiosk and POS.
Common Sounds
dBA Level
Threshold of hearing
0 dBA
EPIA CL6000
0 dBA
Normal breathing
10 dBA
Whispering at 1 meter
20 dBA
EPIA CL10000
25 dBA
Conventional PC
35 – 50 dBA
Rainfall
50 dBA
Normal speech
60 dBA
The dBA scale is logarithmic, i.e. 10 dBA represents a doubling in volume. dBA values are measured at a
distance of one meter.
Power Consumption Tests
As the DVD playback performance is comparable in the table above, we will also look
at comparing the different power consumption results of the VIA EPIA CL series of
Mini-ITX mainboards when running network applications and other PC functions with
a typical “one size fits all” platform that is being promoted by others in the PC
industry. We have also included the low power VIA EPIA-Series V-Series of Mini-ITX
mainboards as a frame of reference. Where the VIA EPIA CL series of mainboards is
aimed at networking in the home, office, and commercial networks, the VIA EPIA V-
Series mainboards are aimed at the thin-client, small footprint desktop and
education PC markets.
The “one size fits all” system that we are using as a reference platform is an Intel
845-based Pentium 4 platform and we are comparing the power consumption to that
of the VIA EPIA CL mainboard series. The tests conducted include: the power
consumption levels when running networking applications, running office
applications, in idle sate, playing MP3s and playing DVDs. All tests were conducted
using the Microsoft Windows® 2000 operating system and include the wattage
consumed by the total platforms.
