For some reason, the market for Mini-ITX motherboards have grown over the past few years. It’s interesting, because these motherboards were only really meant to be deisgned, for OEM and system builders who need specific requirements. One of the most appealing aspect of mini-ITX motherboards is its size. Measuring just 17cm x 17cm, it allows OEM manufacturers to create custom-built systems, which could satisfy the specific needs of their clients.
These could include surveillance systems, media center and HTPCs, and even AV equipement. I know of several car tuning and performance companies which have used these mini-ITX motherboards in their in-car entertainment (ICE) systems, all of which were custom-built. So there is definitely a lot of potential and versatility with mini-ITX motherboards. In fact, our Project-ITX 2011 will be using a mini-ITX motherboard from Gigabyte, which we reviewed a few months ago.
Lately, several manufacturers have been pushing their range of mini-ITX motherboard, most noticeably Zotac. In fact, Zotac have been producing mini-ITX motherboard for quite a while, using many chipsets over the years including ones from Intel, Nvidia and more recently AMD. As I’ve mentioned before, many mini-ITX motherboards usually include a processor (CPU) which is usually integrated into the motherboard. This allows cost savings, and helps to maximise space, leaving more room for other components. But now, it seems that this isn’t enough for the demands of the users of today. So, what Zotac have done, along with several others, is to produce mini-ITX motherboards that feature a proessor socket allowing users to install their own processor. This is good news for the enthusiast user who loves to build their own custom systems.
When Intel launched their new H67 chipset along with their Sandy Bridge processors, I knew Zotac would come up with something that will support this platform soon enough. And it wasn’t long before we had a call from Zotac, regarding a review sample of their H67-ITX WiFi mini-ITX motherboard. At the time of launch, we were told that the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi is one of the world’s smallest H67 chipset based motherboard, supporting all of Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors LGA 1155.
In this review, we’ll be taking a look at the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi mini-ITX motherboard. It utilizes the recently launched Intel H67 chipset and supports all of the Sandy Bridge processors LGA 1155 from Intel. Using the processor’s built-in “processor graphics”, it supports full HD, Blu-ray movie playback, HDMI and DX10.1, which is more than enough for mainstram and HTPC users. One of the main selling point of the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi (as the name suggests), is of course the built-in WiFi capability in the form of a mini PCIe card. It supports 802.11n/g/b wireless standards with data throughput of upto 300 Mb/s.
The rear ATX panel offer a wide range of connectors, these include the usual PS/2 mouse/keyboard, 4 x USB2.0, 2 x USB3.0, gigabit ethernet, 6 channel HD audio, RAID support, 1 x eSATA and triple video outputs including DVI, HMDI and DisplayPort. There’s also SPDIF optical output and an array of audio connectors. So as far as connectivity is concerned, the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi has plenty … more than enough for most users.
It will be interesting to see well the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi can compete against the original Intel DH67BL and the Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H, both of which use the same H67 chipset and are very good motherboards. Using the processor graphics of the Sandy Bridge (Core i7-2600K), we expect the graphics performance of the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi to be very similar to the other two H67 boards we’ve tested. As for the rest, there should be much difference … in terms of performance.
It’s amazing what the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi can actually do, especially when you take in to account the size of this tiny little mini-ITX motherboard. The photo below shows my iPhone next to it for size comparison. Feature-wise, the built-in WiFi is definitely very appealing, and the wide range of video outputs make it extremely attractive to HTPC and media PC users.
We’ll be testing the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi motherboard, using the following components, including the new Intel Core i7-2600K procesor (LGA 1155), 4Gb Crucial Ballistix DDR3-2133, Arctic Cooling Freezer13 CPU cooler and a Thermaltake ToughPower XT 875W power supply.
OK, let’s get down to business and take a closer look at the specifications and features of the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi motherboard …
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