Intel D525MW Motherboard Review

Conclusions

The Intel D525MW is a Mini-ITX low-consumption motherboard, like the ECS HDC-I and the Zotac FUSION350-A-E which we tested recently. But that’s all it has in common with those boards, because the D525MW is not a good choice for entertainment or multimedia PCs, or for Home Theater PCs (HTPCs).

The problem is that the embedded graphics controller in the Atom D525 CPU, being a DirectX 9.0c controller with only two engines running at 200 MHz with no HD capabilities, is too weak for the modern multimedia requirements. The absence of an optical SPDIF audio output and an HDMI port is proof that this board is not aimed at the HTPC market.

Actually, the presence of one parallel port and two legacy serial ports makes clear what is the true market that the D525MW is designed for: commercial and industrial use. Examples of applications include information kiosks, LAN cafés, and process control. For those applications, the D525MW motherboard can be a good choice.

For the end-user, the reviewed motherboard makes sense only if you are building a low-cost, ultra-basic PC for office-only use, or if you need a motherboard for simple use with one parallel and two serial legacy ports.