ZOTAC’s Mini-ITX mobo with dual core Atom and NVIDIA Ion platform
When NVIDIA announced the Ion platform for the Intel Atom processor, I have to admit, I was intrigued. The thought of coupling the Atom processor with the GeForce 9400M GPU was certainly enticing because one could finally build a system with decent 3D graphics and video performance..and one could potentially do it on the cheap.
Yet as the months went by, news related to the Ion platform was few and far between.. that is until now. A company called ZOTAC has announced a new Mini-ITX motherboard product coupling the NVIDIA Ion platform with a dual core Atom processor (the N330) called the IONITX-A-U. The full specs are as follows:
- Intel Atom N330 1.6GHz dual core processor
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M video
- Mini-ITX form factor
- D-Sub, DVI, HDMI video ports
- 10 USB ports (6 on back panel and 4 via pin header)
- 24 pin – 90 watt PSU included
- RAID 0, 1, 0+1
- 5.1 channel audio
- Measures 6.7 x 6.7 inches
- DDR2 667/800 MHz memory support (2 slots)
OK.. this all sounds great but how does it actually perform? Well two new reviews of the ZOTAC board are now out – one from TechReport and one from Anandtech.
TechReport’s review had this to say about the board:
“Were I looking to build an Atom-based desktop or home theater PC today, I’d use the IONITX-A in a heartbeat. It’s easily the best Atom-based motherboard around and thus TR Recommended.”
Anandtech had this to say about the new board:
“Zotac did a good job of delivering pretty much everything I’d want in a board like this, going even further than expected and offering a solution with an external power brick. I don’t like the external power option from a long-term replacement standpoint, but I do appreciate its convenience. My only complaint is the price, at $189 it’s a bit expensive for the performance you get but I do concede that there are some benefits in the convenience department. All you need to add is memory and some sort of storage and you’re good to go, you’ll have a system that’s easily capable of playing back high definition content (not to mention very power efficient while doing it).”
Well there you have it. It looks like the new ZOTAC board is a winner.. except it might be a bit pricey.
One thought – might be fun to build a Windows Home Server box around this board…
UPDATE:
(5/14/2009-1:40am) – It’s not quite the same board but Newegg is carrying a ZOTAC board with the Intel Atom N230 processor (single core) and a 90W PSU for $169.99.
