Verdict and Conclusion
I was uniquely surprised to find that the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi Motherboard performed better than I had expected. In some of the tests, it actually outperformed both the original Intel DH67BL and the Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H motherboards, but only marginally. Still, it’s quite an achievement considering its size. The scores for both ScienceMark 2 and PC Mark Vantage were very good, while PC Mark Vantage and Ungine DX10 tests produced respectable results. This is no doubt, all thanks to the onboard processor graphics found on Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors … it is a Core i7-2600K after all 😉
Looking at the quality of the board, the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi isn’t bad at all. Although Zotac haven’t advertised or marketed the component features that well, it does use solid capacitors and some good quality components, which all helps at the end of the day.
One of the things which I particularly like about this motherboard are the built-in WiFi capabilities. It makes the motherboard extremely attractive and adds that extra appeal. This built-in WiFi comes in the form of a mini PCIe card, and supports 802.11n/g/b wireless standards with data throughput of upto 300 Mb/s. There’s also a RJ45 connector for the onboard gigabit enthernet, if WiFi isn’t your thing.
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, SATA2, SATA3, 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.
I almost forgot to mention … if you find the onboard processor graphics from the Sandy Bridge CPU isn’t enough, well you’ll be glad to know that the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi also comes with 1 x PCIe (x16) slot. Just install any discrete graphics card and then you can see your system really fly!
The Zotac H67-ITX WiFi comes with a UEFI (firmware/BIOS) for configuring the motherboard settings. It’s fairly easy to use, however it’s not to my liking as I find it difficult to use it for overclocking. In the end, we didn’t overclock the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi, as we felt that it wasn’t really meant to be used for that purpose. What the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi is really about, is the features that it offers from such a small mini-ITX motherboard.
I’m not sure if being one the first to produce a mini-ITX motherboard, featuring Intel’s new H67 chipset has its benefits. But I hope there isn’t a price premium for this. Prices on the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi are scarce, but if rumors are correct, it should cost somewhere in the region of USD $150 (GBP 100.00). At this price, I think it offers excellent value for money. It’s a great little motherboard for projects, custom builds, HTPC and media PC users.
SCORE
8.5/10
