Ditto. The GPU is on par with i3/i5 IGP, both for games performance as well as bitstreaming, but if you want to build a HTPC, Intel would probably require less power, thus less heat, thus potentially quieter... Meh.
Not so sure about the 4000s though, and I think the 4250 in the 880G is actually more closely related to the old 3300 from the 790GX than the rest of the 4000 family.
The socket 1156 mini-ITX boards really don't use less power than what has been done for years, with all sorts of different desktop platforms. They're still desktops.
The key here is that they give you the option of one built on a low power laptop platform.
Yep, these are a bit on the late side, especially considering Bobcat/Zacate boards are only a few months away, and they should give similar CPU performance and better GPU performace than the Turion based board while using less power
Depending on the price of the M880G-ITX I would definately consider it to replace my old Athlon 64 X2 system that is currently running Fedora 12 + Amahi as my home server (motherboard is getting kinda flaky).
mATX boards with modern AMD chipsets (i.e. 780G in the past and 880G these days) always cost WAAAY WAAAAAYYYY less than comparable mITX ones, so why bother? Pay extra $100 or so just to get a TAD smaller mITX case compared to slim mATX one? Yeah Zotac keep ya fockin dreamin, LOL
You should go for the Sapphire ipc-am3dd785g instead of buying those. It has a PCI-E 16x port and works perfectltly fine. I have one and am very pleased with it. Allows you to to do a little FSB/multiplicator OCing but no voltage tweaks. My Phenom II X3 720 2,8 ghz runs stable at 3,4 Ghz silent and cold. Coupled with a HD 5850. Plus, Zotac wifi onboard sucks most of the time.
An even better board is the ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe for $125. Cheaper and it also comes with a full size PCIe slot and all the goodies of an ASUS BIOS with core unlocker and auto tuning to overclock the system to its max.
If those 6x SATA ports are native (not off a multiplier) it will probably sell well enough for its niche - that many ports with a low power CPU puts the board in pretty exclusive company.
Quad Core x86 2 x PEGx16 4 DIMM slots 6 x SATA 6 RAID5 1 x GbE 1 x 802.11n Mini-ITX <$150
This would make the best general purpose home server in the history of the world. You could probably drop the second PEG slot if the performance on the SATA6 was solid enough.
Eh...I don't get it. Do you need 16GB of RAM for some weird reason? It seems like existing mini-ITX boards would suit you just fine, so long as you can bare to manage with a paltry 8GB.
And if not, there have been micro-ATX boards like that for ages, which aren't exactly horribly large for something that ought to be put out of the way.
for low power mini HTPCs or those who want a web browsing/email machine?
having said that, n or not I wouldn't want to trust 1080p streaming (multi gigabyte rips @ thousands of kb/s bitrate, not super compressed web 1080) to wireless.
A real hassle for ITX has been the absence of any motherboard with ECC RAM support, which is pretty much necessary for anything other than a media player or games machine. With an AMD chipset, this could be the one!
Unfortunately there is no information about ECC support on Zotac's product page. If they included those traces on the motherboard, I would finally be able to build that tiny, tiny server! Anyone know any more about its ECC support or lack?
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
26 Comments
Back to Article
Soulkeeper - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
This would have been nice a year ago, kinda late now.Infernus - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Yeah I would have jumped on these over their older GeForce 8200 AMD ITX boardstherealnickdanger - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Ditto. The GPU is on par with i3/i5 IGP, both for games performance as well as bitstreaming, but if you want to build a HTPC, Intel would probably require less power, thus less heat, thus potentially quieter... Meh.hvakrg - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
If I'm not mistaken AMDs IGPs do not support anything better then 2.0 stereo.Vepsa - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
The newer AMD IGPs do support 5.1 over HDMI.Noriaki - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
The Evergreen (5000) series do for sure.Not so sure about the 4000s though, and I think the 4250 in the 880G is actually more closely related to the old 3300 from the 790GX than the rest of the 4000 family.
Vepsa - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Well, I'm interested in a board like this for my home server and not a HTPC so meh.OneArmedScissorB - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
The socket 1156 mini-ITX boards really don't use less power than what has been done for years, with all sorts of different desktop platforms. They're still desktops.The key here is that they give you the option of one built on a low power laptop platform.
raddude9 - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Yep, these are a bit on the late side, especially considering Bobcat/Zacate boards are only a few months away, and they should give similar CPU performance and better GPU performace than the Turion based board while using less powerVepsa - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Depending on the price of the M880G-ITX I would definately consider it to replace my old Athlon 64 X2 system that is currently running Fedora 12 + Amahi as my home server (motherboard is getting kinda flaky).bwooster0 - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
From the pictures it seems that the boards have two PCI slots. Any idea if they are x1/x4/x8/x16?Vepsa - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
No, they have a single PCIe x1 slot and two memory slots.ajp_anton - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Plus a mini-PCIe slot. Don't know how to make it useful though... (and it's already occupied by the wireless).Pirks - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
mATX boards with modern AMD chipsets (i.e. 780G in the past and 880G these days) always cost WAAAY WAAAAAYYYY less than comparable mITX ones, so why bother? Pay extra $100 or so just to get a TAD smaller mITX case compared to slim mATX one? Yeah Zotac keep ya fockin dreamin, LOLsprockkets - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Supply and demand pirks, supply and demand.sleepeeg3 - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
So you can fit it in a carPC where a mATX will never fit?kallogan - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
You should go for the Sapphire ipc-am3dd785g instead of buying those. It has a PCI-E 16x port and works perfectltly fine. I have one and am very pleased with it. Allows you to to do a little FSB/multiplicator OCing but no voltage tweaks. My Phenom II X3 720 2,8 ghz runs stable at 3,4 Ghz silent and cold. Coupled with a HD 5850.Plus, Zotac wifi onboard sucks most of the time.
Gungel - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
An even better board is the ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe for $125. Cheaper and it also comes with a full size PCIe slot and all the goodies of an ASUS BIOS with core unlocker and auto tuning to overclock the system to its max.GeorgeH - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
If those 6x SATA ports are native (not off a multiplier) it will probably sell well enough for its niche - that many ports with a low power CPU puts the board in pretty exclusive company.Sahrin - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Here's what I want:Quad Core x86
2 x PEGx16
4 DIMM slots
6 x SATA 6 RAID5
1 x GbE
1 x 802.11n
Mini-ITX
<$150
This would make the best general purpose home server in the history of the world. You could probably drop the second PEG slot if the performance on the SATA6 was solid enough.
OneArmedScissorB - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Eh...I don't get it. Do you need 16GB of RAM for some weird reason? It seems like existing mini-ITX boards would suit you just fine, so long as you can bare to manage with a paltry 8GB.And if not, there have been micro-ATX boards like that for ages, which aren't exactly horribly large for something that ought to be put out of the way.
Kibbles - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
There is physically not enough space for 2 x16 PCIe slots on a mini-ITX.4 SODIMM might be doable, if they put them on the back.
Zelog - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Why would you require 802.11n on a network server with GbE?wintermute000 - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
for low power mini HTPCs or those who want a web browsing/email machine?having said that, n or not I wouldn't want to trust 1080p streaming (multi gigabyte rips @ thousands of kb/s bitrate, not super compressed web 1080) to wireless.
halfflat - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
A real hassle for ITX has been the absence of any motherboard with ECC RAM support, which is pretty much necessary for anything other than a media player or games machine. With an AMD chipset, this could be the one!Unfortunately there is no information about ECC support on Zotac's product page. If they included those traces on the motherboard, I would finally be able to build that tiny, tiny server! Anyone know any more about its ECC support or lack?
Crass Spektakel - Wednesday, December 8, 2010 - link
Tootootoo..