Why no love here for fanless Atom Ion motherboards?

gellfex · Post by **gellfex** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 6:00 pm

I'm doing my research for my next HTPC build, and some of the these boards, particularly the Asus and Zotac fanless CPU models, seem right on the money for what I want: a silent HTPC and desktop apps machine, no gaming. But there seems almost no discussion of them here, a natural place to hear about them. There also seems to be way more out of stock models than available ones, indicating either low production or high demand.

Any info to share out there?

My vague build plan is to mod or build a case for a very shallow bookcase PC, just deep enough for the optical drive and panel to sit at 90 deg to the normal axis, coming out the "side" on a normal tower case. The case just needs to be large enough for 2 drives + optical and a MPEG encoder card. I can leave plenty of room for convection past the Atom's passive heat sink, venting both top and bottom of the case. If I had to, a 120mm fan at 5v could be mounted pulling out the top.

victorhortalives · Post by **victorhortalives** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:48 pm

I have Zotac ION-B in everyday use as a internet/office PC with no problems - mind you I only have a boot SSD in it.

I have overclocked the mobo to 2Ghz (easy) and have one low speed 92mm fan cooling the system. Details are :

Zotac ION-B
4GB 800Mhz RAM
32GB Samsung SSD
Samsung DVD unit SH-S183L

Pico 90W PSU
LianLi Q07 case
Noctua 92mm fan + Zalman external controller.

Windows 7 Pro

Data files are on the other end of a CAT6 LAN in a NAS

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:48 pm

I guess the problem really is the plural: you see one Atom/Ion rig, you've seen them all. Their performance is low and doesn't vary - the interest for most pretty much ends there. It works for desktop use and then it's a crapshoot to get a prebuilt with decent fans. Choosing an Atom mobo is easy, just go for the features you need and slap it in a case that can fit your fans and other stuff. There's not much to discuss!

My guess anyway. Found two reviews of mobos and one of a system in the first 2 pages of SPCR's CPU&Motherboard section, and that seems plenty to me.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 9:59 am

There was a fair amount of buzz IIRC back when the Zotac IONITX boards were released. Das_Saunamies is probably right, there's just not anything really new/exciting to talk about with these boards currently. Search the forums, though, you should find plenty of topics on these boards and systems built around them.

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:52 am

I've got two of the dual-core Zotac IONITX and they're not exactly cool enough to run fanless in the extremely tiny cases they tend to be used with. I know it's tempting to go really low on the CPU since "everything" will be handled by the GPU but I've found that's not always the case even for a machine that's used purely for playback.

Pre-Flash 10.1 release, Flash video playback was an issue albeit that's been mostly resolved now. Another issue I encountered under Windows 7 is the lack of DXVA support for the native VC-1 decoder. My workaround for that is to stop ripping HD-DVD's and Blu-ray to MKV and just stick to ISO format with TMT3 for playback. For MKV with subtitles, MPC-HC is used as an external player. With those problems solved, a new one has recently cropped up. Netflix has started streaming HD to the PC and while HD streams are few and far between, the ones I've tried brought the Atom/ION to its knees. I've since replaced the two ION HTPC's, one with a GF9300-G-E + Celeron E3300, the other with a DH57JG + Core i3-530 both of which are working better than the ION. The nice thing is now I don't have to worry if DXVA works or not. The processors are fast enough that DXVA isn't an issue.

The Atom/ION isn't exactly cheap, either. It's possible to build a mATX AMD that will run rings around it for cheaper. Alas, the form factor is hard to beat.

victorhortalives · Post by **victorhortalives** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:36 am

ilovejedd :

What PSU are you using with the DH57JG/Core i3-530 and what wattage use are you getting ?
Does this system work with only one fan ?

Cheers

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:13 am

victorhortalives wrote:ilovejedd :

What PSU are you using with the DH57JG/Core i3-530 and what wattage use are you getting ?
Does this system work with only one fan ?

I have it inside a Silverstone Sugo SG06B and am using it with the included 300W PSU. The build actually has three fans:
intake fan: 120mm (included with case)
CPU fan: 120mm (Scythe Big Shuriken)
PSU fan: 80mm?

Even with all those fans, the biggest source of noise is the lone WD10EADS HDD. Granted, I didn't exactly go out of my way to reduce noise. It's an HTPC and from 10' away, it's practically inaudible. The biggest irritation is actually the bright blue LED. I have no doubt it'll work quite cool even without the intake fan. I just find it a pain to remove the front fascia.