Zotacs top LGA 775 9400m top end motherboard is about £120-30 on average, coupled with a e5200 would make it a little more than there ion board, but give it alot more potential.
This board is very interesting, but priced wrong. Built in PSU, love the idea, scared it will fry its self.
I am glad to see manufacturers taking advantage of the Ion's potential. I've always loved the small dimensions of mini-itx boards, and now they finally have enough power to handle anything bar top-end gaming!
Originally Posted by Burnout21 YAY ion is here, however
Zotacs top LGA 775 9400m top end motherboard is about £120-30 on average, coupled with a e5200 would make it a little more than there ion board, but give it alot more potential.
This board is very interesting, but priced wrong. Built in PSU, love the idea, scared it will fry its self.
I don't think it's priced that wrong after taking into account both are different markets and you get a (silent) power brick you know works with it: it's a hassle saver. The ion platform is lower power, media centric, much lower profile. The LGA775 board is more powerful, requiring a bigger case - I'd not leave that always on all day for example.
I think people will be put off after seeing "Atom = cheap" but again, an Atom-Intel board is another market altogether again. It's good to have consumer choice that's all I'll say ;)
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi I don't think it's priced that wrong after taking into account both are different markets and you get a (silent) power brick you know works with it: it's a hassle saver. The ion platform is lower power, media centric, much lower profile. The LGA775 board is more powerful, requiring a bigger case - I'd not leave that always on all day for example.
I think people will be put off after seeing "Atom = cheap" but again, an Atom-Intel board is another market altogether again. It's good to have consumer choice that's all I'll say ;)
I do agree with the idea of not wanting to leave an LGA 775 machine on all day, and this is where the atom really shines.
£160 ok thats with a power brick and built in PSU and wireless, so for £200 you could have an awsome HTPC system for DVD playback, or spend a little more and get a blue-ray drive.
I just hope Zotac flood the market with this, as Evga 939 SLI mATX board was awesome but rare as F**K making it very expensive!
Could you check the power draw at the wall on these please ?
I have a mATX 740G + AMD 5200x2 (@ 2GHz) + 2GB Dimm + 160GB HDD running at about 40 watts.
Originally Posted by amdavies Could you check the power draw at the wall on these please ?
I have a mATX 740G + AMD 5200x2 (@ 2GHz) + 2GB Dimm + 160GB HDD running at about 40 watts.
Thanks.
Of course, when the review comes :)
To the other about PCI slots etc: I agree, but this is only one of a few models from what I've been told, so we'll see :)
Tbh if you wanted a full size RAID card you'll go for the LGA solution: I not sure an Atom will be able to handle the IO.
@bowman: I think he was referring to the cost of electricity. Any PC with adequate cooling can run 24/7 no problem. That's not the issue here. I keep my own "gaming" PC on 24/7 as well. If you can afford the electricity costs then fine go ahead.
And when it comes to the pricing of this board I can only say that small form factor stuff always costs the same or more than it's bigger counterparts. It's the price of miniaturization. Also there is a much lower volume on this kind of hardware. And they still have to earn a buck. It's basic economy.
Ok Bindi, you said there are other models to come, maybe one that will include a PCI or PCI-e slot in lieu of that Mini PIC-e?
Personally, IMO, it needs the extra sata slots so it can handle an NAS. The Atom should be able to handle some IO on it, as long as your not doing anything intense.. Now will this set up handle gaming well? Obviously its not going to beat a E5200, Zotac ITX board and some nvidia gpu, but compared to its "brothers" it handles gaming and video a lot better?
I think the trick with this is rather than trying to turn it into a NAS considering most of us already have a NAS, just hook it up over a 1Gbit Lan and stream any media.
Personally i would use a cheap laptop HDD or SSD for the OS, with a small amount of data like a background images folder. And then a laptop slim line or if price is a problem a nomal sized blue-ray drive for the local playback of media.
then run utorrent to download locally and then once finished automatical move it to the NAS.
^Bingo.
Although there's something reassuring about an E5200 paired with a 9300M. A decent soundcard and you'd have a system that would make for a great media center box :)
I know you guys dont want to "Fry" it but whats the point if you dont properly test it, so yes please put at least two 1tb type HDD and a Blu-ray drive to test with because its pretty obvious by its design that this is intended for HTPC environments even right down to the power brick so ya if you dont do such a test then well it will certainly be far from a review.
Originally Posted by stonedsurd It's a "First Look" HBD.
Full review later, I think.
I'm sure they have the same thing in mind, judging from the last 2 paragraphs.
oh I know its a first look but in it they sounded hesitant to really test this board out which would be a real shame and unjust for their readers to not properly be informed on what this board can really handle, thats all I was getting at was when they do the full review they actually fully review the capabilities and handling of the board. :)
Three sata is better than one or two you often see on mini-ITX boards. The wireless card seems to take up a fair amount of space....
SPDIF, esata, no need for a PSU, six usb ports.... it has an impressive amount of features. However, i dont see how it can act as an HTPC given theres no PCI slot for a TV card (you could go USB, but for me thats not ideal).
seems to have most potential as a torrent box/ low power server/ NAS combo. If you can keep it quiet it would make a very good audio source (going via spdif, usb or HDMI to your amp/receiver/dac). Then again, none of those options require that nvidia GPU, and I seem to remember the nano still struggled with blu-ray source material (i.e. 20+ Mb/s), so Im struggling to see the use for it.
Interesting, but I think that it would hit the target market better if it had a tuner module of some sorts (even if it hooks up via the internal USB port). It is needlessly powerful for a NAS and not really suitable for a LAN game PC.
Comments 1 to 25 of 64
ReplyZotacs top LGA 775 9400m top end motherboard is about £120-30 on average, coupled with a e5200 would make it a little more than there ion board, but give it alot more potential.
This board is very interesting, but priced wrong. Built in PSU, love the idea, scared it will fry its self.
I don't think it's priced that wrong after taking into account both are different markets and you get a (silent) power brick you know works with it: it's a hassle saver. The ion platform is lower power, media centric, much lower profile. The LGA775 board is more powerful, requiring a bigger case - I'd not leave that always on all day for example.
I think people will be put off after seeing "Atom = cheap" but again, an Atom-Intel board is another market altogether again. It's good to have consumer choice that's all I'll say ;)
I do agree with the idea of not wanting to leave an LGA 775 machine on all day, and this is where the atom really shines.
£160 ok thats with a power brick and built in PSU and wireless, so for £200 you could have an awsome HTPC system for DVD playback, or spend a little more and get a blue-ray drive.
I just hope Zotac flood the market with this, as Evga 939 SLI mATX board was awesome but rare as F**K making it very expensive!
No 4-disk NAS, and no adding a proper RAID or Video or Sound, or Capture card...
I have a mATX 740G + AMD 5200x2 (@ 2GHz) + 2GB Dimm + 160GB HDD running at about 40 watts.
Thanks.
Of course, when the review comes :)
To the other about PCI slots etc: I agree, but this is only one of a few models from what I've been told, so we'll see :)
Tbh if you wanted a full size RAID card you'll go for the LGA solution: I not sure an Atom will be able to handle the IO.
Hm. I leave my LGA1366 on all day, all night, weeks at a time.. I must be weird.
And when it comes to the pricing of this board I can only say that small form factor stuff always costs the same or more than it's bigger counterparts. It's the price of miniaturization. Also there is a much lower volume on this kind of hardware. And they still have to earn a buck. It's basic economy.
Do you pay the bills?
My housemates would murder me if my PC was on 24/7
I've had my eye on the Zotac 9300 LGA775 board for a while now.
Great preview though! ;)
Personally, IMO, it needs the extra sata slots so it can handle an NAS. The Atom should be able to handle some IO on it, as long as your not doing anything intense.. Now will this set up handle gaming well? Obviously its not going to beat a E5200, Zotac ITX board and some nvidia gpu, but compared to its "brothers" it handles gaming and video a lot better?
Personally i would use a cheap laptop HDD or SSD for the OS, with a small amount of data like a background images folder. And then a laptop slim line or if price is a problem a nomal sized blue-ray drive for the local playback of media.
then run utorrent to download locally and then once finished automatical move it to the NAS.
Small tight machine for 24/7 use.
Although there's something reassuring about an E5200 paired with a 9300M. A decent soundcard and you'd have a system that would make for a great media center box :)
Full review later, I think.
I'm sure they have the same thing in mind, judging from the last 2 paragraphs.
oh I know its a first look but in it they sounded hesitant to really test this board out which would be a real shame and unjust for their readers to not properly be informed on what this board can really handle, thats all I was getting at was when they do the full review they actually fully review the capabilities and handling of the board. :)
I'm interested in this as for an HTPC, so I feel your concern. :)
SPDIF, esata, no need for a PSU, six usb ports.... it has an impressive amount of features. However, i dont see how it can act as an HTPC given theres no PCI slot for a TV card (you could go USB, but for me thats not ideal).
seems to have most potential as a torrent box/ low power server/ NAS combo. If you can keep it quiet it would make a very good audio source (going via spdif, usb or HDMI to your amp/receiver/dac). Then again, none of those options require that nvidia GPU, and I seem to remember the nano still struggled with blu-ray source material (i.e. 20+ Mb/s), so Im struggling to see the use for it.
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