Jonesing for a new small form factor PC, are you? Not so keen on selecting a pre-fabricated unit? If you definitely fit the bill here, it's worth taking a gander at Zotac's recently released
IONITX-A motherboard. As the first of its breed to actually ship, a whole lot is riding on its solder points, and according to reviews found 'round the web, it's done a satisfactory job of living up to expectations. The test bench-abusin' kids over at
Hot Hardware found that Zotac's board (and the included dual-core
Atom 330 CPU) performed "as expected," notching results that were "significantly better than any of the single core Atom 230-based systems." The unique DC power input was also lauded, and the silent nature made this a perfect candidate for a low-power, highly-capable carputer building block. All in all, this here mobo won't transform your life, but it's certainly a welcome extra in the all-too-stale DIY SFF market. Check the links below for all the bar charts you can handle.
Read - Hot Hardware ("most appealing of the Ion-based products")
Read - PC Perspective ("an impressive motherboard for its size")
Read - The Tech Report ("as good as the Ion platform gets")
Read - Tom's Hardware ("it's most promising destination is in the HTPC space")
posted May 13th 2009 at 8:57AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tristan King @ May 13th 2009 9:08AM
I sure hope someone doesn't try hooking this thing up straight to the dc power in their car without a voltage regulator. It'll let the vital smoke out or have brownouts when the starter motor cranks.
Once you have a voltage regulator it isnt that much of a step to a full blown 12v atx power supply.
AVG @ May 13th 2009 9:09AM
S-O-L-D.
crashcarstar @ May 13th 2009 9:12AM
It would be great if something like this was put in a small, "book" shaped device that one could surf the "net", among other things.
tuzzio @ May 13th 2009 9:19AM
Yeah, I kind of wish that some damn vendors would finally show us an ION-based netbook. Fortunately, isn't CES or Computex or one of those ridiculously huge expos coming up soon? Maybe those douchefuckers will get off of their asses and show us what we want to see.
Imostly want an ION/Atom for a small HTPC anyways, but I also want to get a new netbook and can't convince myself to spend money on the 945/Atom combo when it's on it's way out.
NeoJew @ May 13th 2009 9:26AM
It looks a bit thick for a netbook.
jon @ May 13th 2009 9:28AM
I'm not sure how nicely the ion's cooling requirements and the netbook form factor will play together.
I think that is a large part of why we haven't seen any proto's yet.
chanmanplanet @ May 13th 2009 10:39AM
It will handle HD streaming, .h264, divx but not all at the same time and when streaming from Hulu for instance, dont move your mouse cuz the image will get choppy. In conclusion, it could do it all, but not very well and not smooth when it comes to multitasking still. and for me that's very limiting to the capability of what a HTPC supposed to be able to do. for me that's a deal breaker.
JayC @ May 13th 2009 9:17AM
I am waiting for some e-tailer to get them in stock. I already purchased the case, RAM, HDD and DVD+RW.
0 fans in this mini-ITX system, it will be connected to a 52in LCD and 99% of the time will be used to playback 720p or 1080p MKV files.
Bruf @ May 13th 2009 9:36AM
Which case did you get for your build?
JayC @ May 13th 2009 9:43AM
I went with this one:
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/gs_l01
http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews05/serener/index.php?file=1
I won't use the power supply nor the heatpipe.
Mike @ May 13th 2009 10:39AM
Are you sure it will play MKV's? I haven't found anyone who says for sure weather or not any of the ion platforms will play them. Also, what player would you use?
Sledgehammer @ Jun 24th 2009 9:29AM
JayC, did you manage to get one of these yet?
You said you planned to use it to play 1080p MKVs... Have you already tested it playing such content? With what player/codecs? How did it go?
Tarnation @ May 13th 2009 9:22AM
Great to actually see some ION based kit making it to market.
It will be interesting to see what people will cram these into. I am wondering if you could somehow set up a system that has a regular mega PC mounted and set up on one side and this ION board mounted to the other and somehow boot two computers from one case.
Oli D @ May 13th 2009 12:19PM
Ive ordered a few of these to play around with, they have missed a trick by not including a PCIe x1 port, would have been absolutely sick when hooked up to dual DVB card...
Im making one with 4Gb DDR2 800 OCZ gold, 2x 32Gb SSD (patriot, fast MLC) in RAID 0 in a nice new case.
Then im going to make a "budget one" with a 250Gb 7200rpm WD 2.5" HDD and a slot loading DVD/RW.
paragraph @ May 13th 2009 9:23AM
For a second there i thought this was an nVidia Ion board. I got excited.
Still cool, but i'm going to hold off to see how the Ion benchmarks against this. This would be a great little NAS box or even SD media center, but for serious HD streaming etc. i'd feel better with a little bit more... you know... graphical power.
JayC @ May 13th 2009 9:28AM
This is basically the ION reference platform + a power supply. The weakness of the ION is the CPU not the GPU. The 9400m is more than capable for all video and media.
paragraph @ May 13th 2009 9:30AM
:X
actually read the article
oops
excited again
:D
Neoprimal @ May 13th 2009 9:27AM
I JUST upgraded my HTPC ... :(
/sigh
I'm sure I can find another reason/justification to buy this, kitchen PC?, tertiary PC?
Brian @ May 13th 2009 9:51AM
Wow. I have the extra ram and hard drives laying around the house. All I need is a case.
Never mind, I'll use an empty cereal box.
I'm totally buying one of these for the living room.
TREX6662k5 @ May 13th 2009 10:22AM
My Gawd. Now to cancel my Acer Revo preorder...
TREX6662k5 @ May 13th 2009 10:54AM
Apparently even the dual cores have issues with Flash Video :(
Gav @ May 23rd 2009 5:08PM
I have a Dual Xeon 3.2Ghz machine with HyperThreading and a Nvidia Quadro Graphics Card. That still struggles with Flash Video...
wywywywy @ May 13th 2009 10:57AM
So how does it compare to the Intel D945GCLF2 in non-DXVA/non-gaming usage?
Oli D @ May 13th 2009 12:20PM
well depends what you want out of it, if your using for video editing etc you will want this.
As far as most applications go, the extra RAM is what you really want.
P.S. These can take 3 monitors simultaneously
Ben @ May 13th 2009 10:57AM
The problem with all of these atom based PC's is that it's darn hard to play 720p mkv files. Have you ever tried to get Vista Media center to hardware decode mkv? It's possible, but not easy, you have to use Media player home cinema edition and perform some codec voodoo.. Then, if you made a mistake in encoding your mkv, you're going to have to rely on the CPU to decode. Not gonna happen in an atom based system. I'd consider long and hard before trying to use a board like this in that application, you're likely to find the performance is close, but not quite there. However, for a car based PC, this looks like a winner. I might even pick one up to replace my aging CPC. The old sempron 1800 is just not cutting it anymore :(
Stevenfb @ May 13th 2009 11:26AM
You dont know what you are talking about noob.
720p mkv's play fine on my msi wind. If you were smart, you wouldn't put vista on a 945 video chipset. Then your mkv will scream with Media player home cinema edition & CoreAVC
Ben @ May 13th 2009 11:39AM
@Stevenfb Who you callin' noob? 'round here, them's fightin' words.
Never said I was using a 945 chipset to decode .mkv, never even said I had tried. The point of my post was that for anyone considering using this as a Media center PC, it's hard to get hardware decoding of mkv files in Vista Media center. Not impossible, just hard for the average user. Because mkv is a container, not a format, the codec used within that container will impact the efficacy of hardware decoding. The primary benefit of this board is the graphics card, my point was that using that graphics card won't always work with video, which is highlighted in the reviews when the system can't handle a youtube video in fullscreen. So, stfu
TREX6662k5 @ May 13th 2009 2:04PM
CoreAVC with CUDA, haalisplitter and ffdshow for audio / subs
Works great in Vista Media Center
NipsMG @ May 13th 2009 11:07AM
The biggest problem with using this as an HTPC is that you still can't reliably play back Hulu videos, as flash video is processed entirely by the CPU. So while you can decode 1080p video using the 9400m, you can't play back free online shows reliably which for me is one major piece of required functionality for any HTPC.
--Correct me if I'm wrong here.
bandigolo @ May 13th 2009 11:51AM
That's unfortunate if true. So what in the hell CAN play back 1080p + Hulu HD?
glenn s @ May 13th 2009 12:31PM
@bandigolo
If you are looking at the ITX platform, then I'd suggest the Zotac ITX board with nvidia 9300 chipset and socket 775. You can put a Pentium 5300 in there and it will play all of your Hulu videos no problem, and be screaming fast compared to the Atom/Ion solution. It is basically the same chipset as the ION, but with a real CPU option. That is really the only ITX board out there if you are looking for a SFF HTPC kit. Of course, if you move up to a uATX case, then you've got tons of options.
bandigolo @ May 13th 2009 12:45PM
Thanks. Yeah, I was referring to ITX... So how much will a home-built 9300 ITX rig cost me from Newegg (etc.) parts? i do NOT need a BDP in it. I have a circa 2003 desktop lying around for parts, but they're probably all incompatible with ITX and/or worthless due to age.
rallysquirrel @ May 13th 2009 1:24PM
Total build for the Zotac 9300 itx with E5200, 4GB Ram, and 320GB WD HD, and M350 case and Pico-PSU from mini-box $450.
bandigolo @ May 13th 2009 1:39PM
Seems pretty cheap... what's the catch?! :) Any significant downgrade from the 5300 to the e5200? How much is a decent DVD/CD-RW these days?
I've got the geeky DIY bug! Hopefully I don't break it trying to put it together! I haven't modded a PC in over 4 years, much less "built" one!
rallysquirrel @ May 13th 2009 2:32PM
From E5300 to E5200 is .1GHz and $10 difference. I even wish I could underclock the E5200.
The M350 enclosure http://www.mini-box.com/M350-universal-mini-itx-enclosure did have to be modified to allow a 2.5HD to fit without blocking the heatsink.
I've got a post on avsforum with pictures of my build. I'm modifying the M350 even more to completely get the HD away from the HD allowing the GPU heatsink to cool more efficiently and get the temps down into the low 60C. I've got a 40mm fan that I may put on the GPU to cool down into the 50C range.
bandigolo @ May 13th 2009 3:06PM
link to post?
bandigolo @ May 13th 2009 3:10PM
Oh, and why not drop the extra $30 for the e7400? Seems worth it for the extra FSB and L2C.
Bokal @ May 13th 2009 11:13AM
I've noticed something funny.
When you speak of Blu-ray, people (very) often say "there's no difference with dvd, why would I buy it?" and when you speak of atom/ion powered boards, the only comment you hear is "does it decode 1080p?"
I guess the audience is different, but I still think it's funny.
bandigolo @ May 13th 2009 3:32PM
The BDP naysayers are either (a) people that are pissy at the thought of having a DVD library that is totally outdated, or (b) people whose home theater consists of a 36" plasma with no surround setup. There is no question whatsoever that Blu looks and sounds a ton better than DVD. But in any event, I'm guessing they're not the same people that ask whether a HTPC can decode 1080p!
Bokal @ May 13th 2009 11:17AM
I add that such a board in a eeebox like form factor would be an instant buy for me.
(not the one by acer)
barc0de @ May 13th 2009 12:01PM
So, while I would really love to use this in an incredibly low power usage system, the Ion platform is just as limited by the Atom CPU as any current Intel chipset based solution. I wouldn't want to spend all the money it would cost to build a system (little as it may be, comparatively) when that system would already be dated and wouldn't perform all the tasks it was designed to do, because not everything is able to be passed off onto the GPU.
My other alternative, and the one I will probably now choose, even after waiting this long on the ION, is to buy the strikingly similar Zotac board also released that supports LGA 775 CPUs, pop in a low powered Wolfdale, and be happy that while I'll still be using significantly more power, I will also be getting significantly better performance.
ray @ May 13th 2009 8:46PM
any idea on how this would handle netflix streaming? (thats my #1 goal if I go this route)
rallysquirrel @ May 13th 2009 1:34PM
I wanted to wait for the ION reference too, but ended up using the Zotac 9300itx with a E5200 2.5GHz dual core cpu. Power consumption is 5-6W over the Zotac ION board.
TREX6662k5 @ May 13th 2009 2:13PM
What about cooling though? The E5200 has a TDP of 65w compared to 330's 8w
TheJerit @ May 13th 2009 12:26PM
@ barc0de:
Bingo.
TheJerit @ May 13th 2009 12:27PM
I went with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500012
still have the mini-itx ff and the power of a normal dual core processor. accompanied it with a cheap e2200, 2 gig of ram, and a 500 hdd out of my older rig and have an awesome htpc! I watch whatever I want, perform multitasking like I would on my desktop, and can play some games (albeit not at the same level as my desktop, but there are still plenty I can play).
I put it in this case and its still overall smaller than my old set top box was (although it is a little taller).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811234021
Kind of looks like the 360's goofy cousin, but its pretty nice and I couldn't be happier.
bdav @ May 13th 2009 12:40PM
$189 and only 35w Load power consumption?
Think it might well be time to drop the PS3 as my HD media extender thingy.... Loose the power hog of the PS3, minus the power used by the mac mini hosting itunes/squeezecenter/storage drives - seems like these SFF pcs are finally a decent proposition for HD.
rallysquirrel @ May 13th 2009 1:16PM
If you want the same itx form factor with nvidia 9300/9400 but a REAL processor look at the $140 ($120 with mail in rebate until end of month) motherboard from Zotac at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500022&Tpk=9300%20itx
you can overclock the 9300 to 9400 specs.
Oli D @ May 13th 2009 1:23PM
power consumption
ITXION: Sub 25 watt
ITX775: Pro 50 watt
Fans
ITXION: passive
ITX775: Big CPU fan
ITX775 O/C: Boeing 757 jet prop
rallysquirrel @ May 13th 2009 1:29PM
BS ITXION is passive with temps getting over 70C. You'll DEFINITELLY end up using the fan.
Power consumption.
ITXION 30W idle, 35W playing movie.
ITX775 I'm getting 35W idle and 41W playing a movie. Tested using Kill-a-watt P3.
We're talking 5-6W difference for something that putts you in a completely different ballgame.