If you want to minimize power costs, look to higher voltage, not lower. Run your computers off 208-240 volts instead of 100-120. If your supply is not auto ranging, make sure it's set to the high / 230 setting. Having a massive 12v power supply to run several computers isn't going to save any power. Your second picture just demonstrates they have integrated the electronic power supply into the board, thus when your power supply fails, you can replace the entire system instead of just a component. It is doubtable than a 12VDC to ATX converter is any more efficient than an AC-line to ATX converter. Plus the cabling to transfer 12V at 10a+ more than a few feet is going to be massively expensive - look up the I2R losses on google. In regards to cpu support, the via website mentions the C7 compares directly with the Pentium IV, which would make it a 686 class cpu. Additionally, they claim support for these extended instruction sets: MMX, SSE, SSE2 & SSE3 One thing you might want to consider, is DIY blade computing. With some clever wiring, you can splice the ATX connector harnesses from several dead power supplies onto a modern high wattage psu, providing power for 4 to 6 low-end system boards arranged in a stack. A new "80 PLUS" rated 500-600w psu should have no problems. Pick one from the stack to be the 'master', and toss a hard drive on it, the rest can net boot from it. Gordon