Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi: Good Things Come in Small Packa

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yefi
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Post by yefi » Sun May 17, 2009 6:05 pm

wim wrote:this looks good.. can anyone tell me what is the max resolution from that DVI? would it drive a dell 30" at 2560x1600 ok?
Judging by the posts on the Zotac forum, no. However, and here is the funny thing, the ION-ITX-A with the Nvidia 9300M does (at least, with the latest BIOS).

Perhaps if someone pesters Zotac, they too will update the BIOS for this mobo so it supports dual-link DVI.

Maverickâ„¢
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Post by Maverickâ„¢ » Sun May 17, 2009 10:27 pm

Hi Mike, thanks for the great review!

since 8200-itx review I'm curious about the Asus BC-1205PT drive additional idle power consumption to the whole system, can you tell us? :wink:

Lawrence Lee
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Post by Lawrence Lee » Mon May 18, 2009 12:03 am

Maverickâ„¢ wrote: since 8200-itx review I'm curious about the Asus BC-1205PT drive additional idle power consumption to the whole system, can you tell us? :wink:
IRC, it's about 2W.

ist.martin
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Recommend system around this board ...

Post by ist.martin » Mon May 25, 2009 7:29 am

I am somewhat familiar with the 'standard' SPCR recommended system when using larger cases, but I am not really sure what the consensus mini-iTX recommendations are?

If I were to put together a basic system around this board - e5200, 30 GB SSD, 320GB notebook HDD, BLU-Ray optical drive - what would the best case/PS/cooler combo be? Assume I am far more concerned with silence than getting the smallest possible form factor. Any chance of building something in the 15-16 dB range?

Will a PicoPSU be enough for a SSD + a 2.5" HDD + an optical drive?

Thanks,

Ian

JamieG
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Post by JamieG » Tue May 26, 2009 4:17 am

ist.martin wrote:If I were to put together a basic system around this board - e5200, 30 GB SSD, 320GB notebook HDD, BLU-Ray optical drive - what would the best case/PS/cooler combo be? Assume I am far more concerned with silence than getting the smallest possible form factor. Any chance of building something in the 15-16 dB range?

Will a PicoPSU be enough for a SSD + a 2.5" HDD + an optical drive?
Something like the SPCR-reviewed Apex MI-008 with the stock PSU removed and a higher wattage picoPSU and decent wattage power brick instead (which should have no problem powering your proposed system) might be ideal.

Have a look at these threads in the General Gallery using the Apex case or the similar Aywun MI-100 case to get some ideas.

viewtopic.php?t=53612

viewtopic.php?t=53685

Alternatively, have a look at the Silverstone Sugo-05. Replace the included power supply with a picoPSU and you should have some options from the Recommended CPU Heatsink section of the main site that could fit in that case. A Ninja Mini should be a good option. Only downside is that you have to use a slim-line optical drive, and not a normal size drive, which will increase your cost somewhat.

ist.martin
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Total power?

Post by ist.martin » Tue May 26, 2009 8:07 am

Thanks JamieG. That system from kieran45 is almost identical to what I was thinking of viewtopic.php?t=53685. I would just add a 30 GB Vertex SSD to it. Any idea of there would be room for the SSD, and power to spare?

Thanks,

Ian

b3nbranch
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Post by b3nbranch » Tue May 26, 2009 10:58 am

Alternatively, have a look at the Silverstone Sugo-05. Replace the included power supply with a picoPSU and you should have some options from the Recommended CPU Heatsink section of the main site that could fit in that case. A Ninja Mini should be a good option.
Hmmm. An SG05 with a good 120mm fan in front and a fanless Ninja Mini
sounds like fun. You could add a fan to the Minja if necessary (hot room,
hot climate).

JamieG
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Re: Total power?

Post by JamieG » Tue May 26, 2009 3:25 pm

ist.martin wrote:Thanks JamieG. That system from kieran45 is almost identical to what I was thinking of viewtopic.php?t=53685. I would just add a 30 GB Vertex SSD to it. Any idea of there would be room for the SSD, and power to spare?
Looks like there would be plenty of room under the optical drive cage to fit another HDD or SSD. Since you don't have to worry about vibrations from the SSD, you could fit your Vertex pretty much anywhere under there.

SSDs are very low power, 1-2W at max or something like that, so it shouldn't affect your power requirements.

I have a 60Gb Vertex / 1Tb HDD / E5200 (underclocked a little and EIST enabled) / G31 motherboard running off a 60W brick so you should be fine.

deruberhanyok
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Post by deruberhanyok » Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:32 am

yefi wrote:
wim wrote:this looks good.. can anyone tell me what is the max resolution from that DVI? would it drive a dell 30" at 2560x1600 ok?
Judging by the posts on the Zotac forum, no. However, and here is the funny thing, the ION-ITX-A with the Nvidia 9300M does (at least, with the latest BIOS).

Perhaps if someone pesters Zotac, they too will update the BIOS for this mobo so it supports dual-link DVI.
I guess it all depends on whether or not they put the proper hardware in place for dual-link support. If they did, a BIOS update could enable the feature. If not, though, they'd have to release a new revision of the hardware.

yefi
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Post by yefi » Thu Jun 04, 2009 2:13 pm

deruberhanyok wrote:I guess it all depends on whether or not they put the proper hardware in place for dual-link support. If they did, a BIOS update could enable the feature. If not, though, they'd have to release a new revision of the hardware.
This is exactly what has happened. According to this post, only PCB revisions 2 and later of the board have hardware support for dual-link DVI, which is nevertheless disabled until a new BIOS release.

legooolas
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Post by legooolas » Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:25 am

I have two DVI 1920x1200 monitors -- can I use one on the DVI and one on the HDMI and have them at the full resolution? I'm not bothered whether they show up as one large screen or two completely separate ones, so it's not quite the same as dual-link dvi.

(Or is this something I should ask on the Zotac forums?)


This boards looks awesome, and if it can manage this then I'll probably be building myself a new mini-itx machine to replace my moderately iffy desktop machine :)

mark314
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Post by mark314 » Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:43 pm

Our test system is fairly basic, featuring a Core 2 E7200, a 65W TDP mid-level dual core processor cooled by an Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 Pro connected to a variable DC fan controller so the fan's power draw does not come into play. The rest of the system consists of a single stick of Corsair memory, an Asus Blu-ray drive, a 5400RPM notebook hard drive and an OEM Seasonic 400W power supply. The operating system used is Vista Home Premium SP1 (32-bit).
Test Results: E7200 @ 2.53 GHz, EIST

....

Idle System Power 35W
CPU + GPU Load 65W
How did you get this power draw? I am running a very similar system:
Zotac GF9300-itx
Core 2 Duo E6300 45nm 65W TDP
OCZ Vertex 30Gb (.5W idle, 2W max)
2x2Gb Mushkin DDR2-800

The only difference in hardware is your Momentus 5400.6 HDD (.23W idle, 2.85W Max) and 4Gb ram instead of 1Gb. I also did not have a blu-ray drive or any optical drive at all.

On Bootup, BIOS access, or windows, I saw an idle of 65W. Measured from the wall with a Kill-a-watt.

Which leads me to my next problem. I am using the Antec ISK300 case, with the 65W power supply. The first few times I booted it, repeatedly, my system would power off - cold - after a length of time varying from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. This included one instance where I was in the BIOS making modifications. Also, I ran memtest twice, and both times, it shut down cold after about 1 minute. No errors, just power off.

Because I assumed I was exceeding the 65W max on the PSU, I switched to a known good 350W Antec power supply (torn from an Antec NSK1380 case). Boom, exact same problem.

Finally I found that if I plug in an optical drive and a windows install disk, it would not shut down. I installed Win 7 and it ran perfectly on the 350W PSU. However, benchmarking like Prime95 runs for 30 minutes (!) and then shuts off randomly.

Since everything ran smoothly I put the 65W original PSU back on and lo and behold, it still runs. Perfectly. I have not done any benchmarking or 100% load scenarios, but it has an uptime > 24hrs, and it has been used for HD video and >75% load scenarios.

So my question is, what is at fault here? Do I have faulty components? Is my power meter botched? What the heck??

AlexNC
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Post by AlexNC » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:27 am

I have an older 720p HDTV that has overscan. Does the integrated 9300 graphics card have a 'slider' setting to allow the user to adjust the screen size (X and Y axis)?

Thanks

mark314
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Post by mark314 » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:21 am

OK well, I'm going to go ahead and answer my own question.

http://www.zotacusa.com/forum/index.php ... post&id=36

The Intel standard heatsink has wire clips on two sides. When installing, you have to rotate the heatsink so the clips are not on the same side as the GPU heatsink, otherwise they will push and lift the heatsink up.

To fix I remounted both the GPU and CPU. I cleaned off the old paste from the GPU (lots of it) and put fresh on, and remounted the CPU. I rotated the heatsink so the clip wasn't in the way.

Even then, instead the clip interfered with the heatsinks on my ram - so i had to cut one of the clips off. Problem solved.

CPU temps stayed the same; GPU temps dropped from idle 80 degrees C to idle 45 degrees C. No more shutting down - success!

Mark

AlexNC
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Post by AlexNC » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:38 am

Has anyone had any luck finding rev3 board yet? They are supposed be shipping now or soon, allowing "wake on USB". I have all my hardware lined up ready to purchase; except I am still waiting on this updated motherboard ... it's becoming a test of my will power =)

Lo2
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Post by Lo2 » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:36 pm

Hello,
I have two DVI 1920x1200 monitors -- can I use one on the DVI and one on the HDMI and have them at the full resolution? I'm not bothered whether they show up as one large screen or two completely separate ones, so it's not quite the same as dual-link dvi.
Does anybody know this answer please? I do not want to buy an extra graphic card.

Thanks!

sluggy
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compared to Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi

Post by sluggy » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:52 pm

Hi,


I've been looking at a number of reviews, including the ones done here for the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi and Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi. Since the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi was done a while ago, I'm assuming that the HD playback issues have been resolved. With that said, does anyone know of any potential drawbacks between the Intel option and the AMD option? I plan on using this motherboard primarily as a thin client for HD playback (via Linux/XBMC or Windows 7). I'm leaning to the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi but I want to see if I am losing out on anything (especially since the Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi was given the editor's nod and the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi was not).

MikeC
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Re: compared to Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi

Post by MikeC » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:16 pm

sluggy wrote:I'm leaning to the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi but I want to see if I am losing out on anything (especially since the Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi was given the editor's nod and the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi was not).
The awards were introduced only a couple months ago; the 8200-ITX would have got one too. In fact, I've been meaning to go back to earlier reviews to tag the awards retroactively, at least for products that are still current.

My impression is that the 9300 had fewer things to quibble about, but BIOS changes and newer revisions of the 8200 probably improved it. The price is nice, at least $20 cheaper, and the current v2 board supports AM3 -- which means you can use the new AMD Athlon II X2 240e -- 2.8GHz, 45W, 2MB total dedicated L2 cache, 4000MHz HyperTransportâ„¢ bus, socket AM3, whole sale price of $77.

sluggy
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Re: compared to Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi

Post by sluggy » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:34 am

MikeC wrote:
sluggy wrote:I'm leaning to the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi but I want to see if I am losing out on anything (especially since the Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi was given the editor's nod and the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi was not).
The awards were introduced only a couple months ago; the 8200-ITX would have got one too. In fact, I've been meaning to go back to earlier reviews to tag the awards retroactively, at least for products that are still current.

My impression is that the 9300 had fewer things to quibble about, but BIOS changes and newer revisions of the 8200 probably improved it. The price is nice, at least $20 cheaper, and the current v2 board supports AM3 -- which means you can use the new AMD Athlon II X2 240e -- 2.8GHz, 45W, 2MB total dedicated L2 cache, 4000MHz HyperTransportâ„¢ bus, socket AM3, whole sale price of $77.
Woah. That's good to know. I was doing some searching online and did not see a specific V2 board with AM3 support. Where did you see this?

MikeC
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Re: compared to Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi

Post by MikeC » Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:20 am

sluggy wrote:Woah. That's good to know. I was doing some searching online and did not see a specific V2 board with AM3 support. Where did you see this?
Zotac web site, pdf.

ist.martin
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New version - ZOTAC GF9300-G-E LGA

Post by ist.martin » Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:10 am

There is a new version of this board out now, with PCB revision 04:

ZOTAC GF9300-G-E LGA

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6813500035

It has wake-on-USB, 3 SATA headers and 1 PATA header.

sluk
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Post by sluk » Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:46 pm

Sorry for a stupid question, how can I install OS to the hard drive of this motherboard without a SATA DVD drive?

Charuto
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Post by Charuto » Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:16 pm

I've used this guide:

http://www.sumedh.info/articles/install ... c-asus.php

to install xp from usb.

Lucien
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Post by Lucien » Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:19 am

Does anyone know if the Intel E3300 will work on this board? Zotac's CPU compatibility list (last updated February ) doesn't list it. But on the other hand, it doesn't list the E5300 either and that seems to be a popular choice going by forum postings.

Trav1s
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Post by Trav1s » Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:08 am

Lucien wrote:Does anyone know if the Intel E3300 will work on this board? Zotac's CPU compatibility list (last updated February ) doesn't list it. But on the other hand, it doesn't list the E5300 either and that seems to be a popular choice going by forum postings.
I have the i630 board and the support staff on the Zotac support site ( http://www.zotacusa.com/forum/index.php?act=idx ) assures me that it should work on mine since is a variation of the current generation of processors. I cannot confirm this has I have NOT pulled the trigger on it.
I can confirm the e5300 does work in my board.

Lucien
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Post by Lucien » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:38 am

Thanks. Guess I'll just have to try it and see.

javitxi
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Post by javitxi » Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:20 pm

Hi guys and happy new year!

I'm building a first try quiet HTPC, and I've changed my mind on Intel DG45FC for the Zotac you have been posting about, and I've good news to all of us with the new version Zotac 9300 I-E:

"The range of voltage options allow for overvolting to increase overclocking capabilities or undervolting for greater energy-efficiency."

"The enhanced ZOTAC GeForce® 9300-ITX WiFi receives a new dual-link DVI output that supports monitors with resolutions up to 2560x1600. With the new dual-link DVI output, users can experience extreme HD resolutions when using the integrated GeForce® 9300 graphics processor"

I hope to see some reviews first or do my personal review when I'll decide to buy this motherboard to state if undervolting is so as sayed on the article

Javier

PS: my first try on quiet HTPC over here. Any suggestions would be appreciated :)

leifeinar
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Post by leifeinar » Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:13 pm

Today i undervolted my board with rmclock. at full load with F@H an E8600 with Stock voltage 1,225V it pulled 102W from the plug. set Rmclock to 1,1V And it droped to 80W. so down 22W........

So i really hope and pray that we se a gigabyte m-itx board soon with some proper undervolting options.

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