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*Official* Zotac Geforce 9300 Mini-Itx HTPC Motherboard Thread

post #1 of 1588
1/22/09 at 11:32pm
Thread Starter 
Well I thought I would officially create a thread for Zotac's new Geforce 9300 mini-itx board. It's suppose to go on sell the 2nd week of February.

Picture:


Specs:
• New ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi platform
• NVIDIA GeForce 9300 mGPU
• 16 stream processors
• Hybrid SLI compatible
• Microsoft DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 compatible
• NVIDIA CUDA and PhysX ready
• NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology
• Full-length PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot
• HDMI (w/Audio), DVI (w/Audio) and VGA outputs
• HDCP compliant
• Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
• Intel Core 2, Celeron and Pentium support – Socket LGA775
• 1333 MHz front-side bus compatible
• 2 DDR2 DIMM slots
• DDR2-667/800 compatible
• Up to 8GB of DDR2 memory

http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-01-09/121a.jpg


Info on the NVIDIA GeForce 9300 mGPU:


Review of the Geforce 9300 mGPU (Blueray charts included):
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3432

Official Zotac 9300 Itx Page: http://www.zotac.com/index.php?optio...per&Itemid=419
Manual:http://www.zotac.com/index.php?optio...120&Itemid=506

Low Profile Heatsink Reviews:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article964-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article976-page1.html
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post #2 of 1588
1/23/09 at 4:15am
I'm ready, I've been waiting for a little while now. Gotta find a thermaltake SD100 to go with it.
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post #3 of 1588
1/23/09 at 5:15am
Trying to understand the wireless for this type of board...kooky engineers. Great if you want to stream dvds maybe but useless for most. Would have liked my usual audio connectors, maybe they put them on a header somewhere.

Looks promising overall.

Anyone have experience with this manufacturer? They any good?
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post #4 of 1588
1/23/09 at 5:30am
They also make a GF8200 based AMD2+ mini ITX board, which is more appealing to me because it is cheaper to build a system with them (45 watts TDP brisbane core AMD2 processors are dirt cheap) and it offers 4 SATA connectors, not the measley 2 this one does. But the fan control and temps monitoring implementation appears to be rudimentary at best, also due to badly writen drivers it can not play a blu ray disc. there is a review of the AMD board at SilentPC: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Zotac-GF8200ITX
The thing is, this company has not been around too long and their track record with quality control, updates and such is unknown.
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post #5 of 1588
1/23/09 at 10:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Max_Schreck View Post

They also make a GF8200 based AMD2+ mini ITX board, which is more appealing to me because it is cheaper to build a system with them (45 watts TDP brisbane core AMD2 processors are dirt cheap) and it offers 4 SATA connectors, not the measley 2 this one does. But the fan control and temps monitoring implementation appears to be rudimentary at best, also due to badly writen drivers it can not play a blu ray disc. there is a review of the AMD board at SilentPC: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Zotac-GF8200ITX
The thing is, this company has not been around too long and their track record with quality control, updates and such is unknown.

What are you going to do with 4 SATA connectors? Are you buying a bigger case to hold more HDDs/Optical Drives?
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post #6 of 1588
1/23/09 at 10:19am
Perhaps 2 SATA+1 eSATA (9300-ITX) is better than 4 SATA (8200-ITX) for most people.
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post #7 of 1588
1/23/09 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 
With a mini itx board I see no reason to have more than 2 connectors as most of the cases only allow you to install a hard drive or a DVD drive. Plus you can always add a Sata PCI express card if need be.
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post #8 of 1588
1/23/09 at 12:04pm
Two hard disk drives + one optical drive: I don't think that is asking too much, but if it turns out to be a good board and does not have the issues of its AMD counterpart, I'll concede that I can always use USB for the optical drive, as long as it is reasonably priced.
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post #9 of 1588
1/24/09 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
Well bringing over info from another thread

This is the case I went with:


It's not a bad case besides all the connections being sata. Which works for me as this box is going to be my front-end. The fan's this case comes with were really loud, so I replaced them with "Scythe 2000RPM Kama Flex 80mm Fans". I also replaced the PSU fan with one of these also. I had to do some magic to get the wires to connect, but it's working fine now.


As for the comment about controlling the fans, as of right now I'm not too worried about controlling the fans, as I can always add a fan controller to the 3'5 bay that comes on most ITX cases. With the addition of my new fan, I don't think I'll have a problem with heat. I'll be adding a low profile cpu fan from either zalman,thermaltake or this http://www.nexustechnologyusa.com/c/ntusa/low-7000.html

For those who are wondering this is my build list

Zotac 9300 Itx
Intel Core 2 Duo E7300
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 7200 RPM
LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray DVD-ROM SATA
DViCO FusionHDTV7 Dual Express DUAL Low Profile Tv Tuner
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post #10 of 1588
1/24/09 at 8:09am
This mobo looks very promising to me. Im building a mini itx media server. I already have my case went with the Chenbro ES 34069. I was going to go with the Intel G45 FC, but theres been so many mixed isssues with bios, plus with the support of quad core and 8gb of ram with the zotec mobo , shold be able to build an awsome media server.

Attachment 131002

Attachment 131003
LL
LL
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post #11 of 1588
1/26/09 at 7:56pm
I'm waiting with baited breath for this.
I have a dg45fc right now, and would prefer to have the option of the x16 PCI-E slot for a real graphics card. I'll be trying to fit all of this within 3.5"x6.5"x8" or so of a mostly custom case.
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post #12 of 1588
1/27/09 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by grmocg View Post

I'm waiting with baited breath for this.
I have a dg45fc right now, and would prefer to have the option of the x16 PCI-E slot for a real graphics card. I'll be trying to fit all of this within 3.5"x6.5"x8" or so of a mostly custom case.

No review/preview of the board yet? I'm so corius how the board will handle heat, it world be nice if the only fan, that are needed is the CPU cooler.!

1.8" ssd, slim-optical drive and this board = hell of a small DIY case!
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post #13 of 1588
1/27/09 at 2:43pm
I'm building one for myself.
I think the key is to have the 2.5" drive and the optical drive -under- the MB, so that is how I'll be designing it.
Work will afford me the opportunity to screw the metal bits together in a couple of weeks-- hopefully in time for the zotac!
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post #14 of 1588
1/27/09 at 2:43pm
I am also concerned with power.. most ITX power supplies are less then 150 watt.. typically the 9300/9400 require 300 watts (as per nvidia spec)
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post #15 of 1588
1/27/09 at 3:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

I am also concerned with power.. most ITX power supplies are less then 150 watt.. typically the 9300/9400 require 300 watts (as per nvidia spec)

Ehh I think we'll be fine, as long as we dont try to put a 8800GT and above in this. Plus most cases are lower profile, which means the cards are gonna have to be half height. Most of the ones I've listed below require sometimes at least a 300W power supply. I'm thinking at least a 8400 or 4350 would do the trick. They mostly require a 200-200W power supply. I think I would be able to swing it with a 150W as long as I dont push it.

The PSU that comes with my case is 150W, so thats gonna be pushing it to add anything else. I think I'll just use the onboard video and add a tv tuner to it

If anyone is interested here is the top of the line video cards in low profile form. FYI Just remember to buy one that his HDCP ready, as some on the site are older and this is a must for a HTPC

ATI:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...04000%20series

Nvidia:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e%209%20series
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post #16 of 1588
1/27/09 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

I am also concerned with power.. most ITX power supplies are less then 150 watt.. typically the 9300/9400 require 300 watts (as per nvidia spec)

Isn't the main reason to go with the Zotac motherboard is it's small form factory and on-board video that is capable of driving HiDef video over HDMI? If so, why worry about adding another video card and increasing power?
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post #17 of 1588
1/27/09 at 5:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bondisdead View Post

Isn't the main reason to go with the Zotac motherboard is it's small form factory and on-board video that is capable of driving HiDef video over HDMI? If so, why worry about adding another video card and increasing power?

Quite true, just in case it turns out that others including myself need to add a card it would be good to know what's out there. I will already be adding a tv tuner to my slot so I'm all good there. I just brought a e7400 on sale today for 99.99 bucks so I should have everything ready once the board gets released. There should be more info on it's release next week.
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post #18 of 1588
1/30/09 at 2:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

I am also concerned with power.. most ITX power supplies are less then 150 watt.. typically the 9300/9400 require 300 watts (as per nvidia spec)

As for the power consumption details :
System with
E8400 at 1066 fsb (2,4ghz) I'll use E5200 later (cheapest 45 nm CPU except atom to draw less power (I'll downclock it, because of HD decoding on 9300
2GB
Zotac 9300
120mm fan (i used intel low profile heatsink and have one 120mm for both cpu and chipset)
Win7 7000 x32

Peak power consumption: (during 3D mark vantage testing) .... 80Watt (tested with power meter)

I will build the system based on Inwin BM639 Black case (with 120w power supply)
So + 24 W for BD drive and 14 W for samsung F1 1Tb drive
Total 116 W (bd will peak at start of the system and will be at least half during playback -12w) or if hd is played from the hdd - 4w, during hd/bd playback system will draw 64 w, so 120 w ps will be enough

Overally there is just one better solution - Ion
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post #19 of 1588
2/1/09 at 5:35pm
Anybody know whether this will have esata port multiplier support? That's the main drawback of the ich10 dg45fc board that i'm using now as a file server / htpc
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post #20 of 1588
2/1/09 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwilcox25 View Post

Anybody know whether this will have esata port multiplier support? That's the main drawback of the ich10 dg45fc board that i'm using now as a file server / htpc

As of right now, information is coming up very short. We should have the manual and more information by friday, as the board is due to be released next week.
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post #21 of 1588
2/1/09 at 7:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwoody2016 View Post

As of right now, information is coming up very short. We should have the manual and more information by friday, as the board is due to be released next week.

sounds good. also, audio listed here is limited to 6ch: http://www.zotac.com/index.php?optio...d=299&Itemid=1

is this information outdated...can the board really do 8ch pcm?
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post #22 of 1588
2/2/09 at 12:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwilcox25 View Post

sounds good. also, audio listed here is limited to 6ch: http://www.zotac.com/index.php?optio...d=299&Itemid=1

is this information outdated...can the board really do 8ch pcm?

6 ch is analog from the onboard audio codec. HDMI audio from GeForce 9300 is 8 ch LPCM.

Perhaps eSATA port is actually one of the SATA ports from GeForce 9300. That means it does not support PM.
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post #23 of 1588
2/2/09 at 9:54pm
thanks for the info. hopefully the esata port isn't from the 9300 then
Quote:
Originally Posted by grmocg View Post

I'm waiting with baited breath for this.
I have a dg45fc right now, and would prefer to have the option of the x16 PCI-E slot for a real graphics card. I'll be trying to fit all of this within 3.5"x6.5"x8" or so of a mostly custom case.

I might be considering this as well. My case is also pretty small (2.8" x 8.7" x 7.3"), so the card would def have to be low-profile. Not to mention SLI capable w/ this mGPU
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post #24 of 1588
2/2/09 at 10:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwilcox25 View Post

thanks for the info. hopefully the esata port isn't from the 9300 thenI might be considering this as well. My case is also pretty small (2.8" x 8.7" x 7.3"), so the card would def have to be low-profile. Not to mention SLI capable w/ this mGPU

I keep checking everyday to see when this board will be going on sale. I called zotac today, from there understanding it's due out sometime by the end of the month. So it looks like it might turn out to be a long month. Hopefully no other itx boards come out or it might make this choice even harder
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post #25 of 1588
2/3/09 at 1:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwilcox25 View Post

hopefully the esata port isn't from the 9300

I think the probability is zero. I see no reason to add another chip just for eSATA, wasting four SATA ports from GeForce 9300.
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post #26 of 1588
2/3/09 at 3:35am
Very much doubt that the eSATA port is anything other than a regular SATA port made available on the rear panel - and thus is unlikely to support port multipliers.

How many motherboard chipsets on-board SATA implementations do? (My understanding - probably illinformed - was that port multipliers were more common on expansion card-based SATA implementations - as it allowed more ports to be offered than would fit on the rear panel otherwise?)
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post #27 of 1588
2/3/09 at 3:44am
ICH9 supports (command-based) PM. SB700 too (this post).
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post #28 of 1588
2/3/09 at 6:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

I am also concerned with power.. most ITX power supplies are less then 150 watt.. typically the 9300/9400 require 300 watts (as per nvidia spec)

I've got a system built with the Asus P5N7A-VM 9300 board, with a e4500, 2.5" HDD, and sata CD-Rom, plus a chipset 60mm fan and 60mm case fan. That's all powered by a 150w PicoPSU without any problems.
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post #29 of 1588
2/3/09 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

ICH9 supports (command-based) PM. SB700 too (this post).

My ASUS P5Q Deluxe has ICH10R, and it's esata port support PM.
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post #30 of 1588
2/3/09 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bondisdead View Post

My ASUS P5Q Deluxe has ICH10R, and it's esata port support PM.

No wonder, becasue the eSATA port is connected to Marvell 88SE6121 controller.
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