Thread: Zotac + ION = Nice MB ;)

Originally Posted by Tidder

It is very good, I just built a media center with a buddy of mine last night using one of these boards. So far, very impressed, but looking forward to reading some of you all's reviews.

Can you use both video outputs (analog+HDMI) for dual display?

Originally Posted by Punky

finally a good looking replacement for the intel's ****ty buggy dual core atom.

Huh?
What do you mean by this? The Zotac Ion mothrboards still use Atom CPUs.
Either a dual core Atom N330 or a single core N230. But here just combined wit nVidia's new Ion chipset with GPU instead of using Intel's own chipset.

Originally Posted by kev000

Can you use both video outputs (analog+HDMI) for dual display?

We'll test it and get back to you.

I'm using the Zotac 630i mini-itx motherboard and a Celeron 430 35 watt cpu based on another recommendation I saw on this board. In the car it works great. Low power consumption, handles all the flash stuff with no problems, and I have the option to go to a dual core socket 775 if I ever need one.

I tried it in the house running some video stuff but the Geforce 7100 just doesn't quite have enough oomph to handle some of the H.264 video I threw at it. Could probably do it with a better cpu but I didn't try it. Transport Stream videos ran about 70% cpu utilization.

For just a little more than the Ion board you could get the Geforce 9300 based board and a low-end dual core cpu, which is what I'm thinking about for a media PC.

I'm not talking about the processor, i'm talking about the motherboard, intel has their own dual core atom mobo too, same processor, different bios and graphic chipset, its cheaper, but terribly buggy.

Originally Posted by Blues

Huh?
hat do you mean by this? The Zotac Ion mothrboards still use Atom CPUs.
Either a dual core Atom N330 or a single core N230. But here just combined wit nVidia's new Ion chipset with GPU instead of using Intel's own chipset.

I've got the 630i WiFi version planned to go into the car, same processor as well. I'm just waiting on replacement PSU.

Originally Posted by Zogg

I'm using the Zotac 630i mini-itx motherboard and a Celeron 430 35 watt cpu based on another recommendation I saw on this board. In the car it works great. Low power consumption, handles all the flash stuff with no problems, and I have the option to go to a dual core socket 775 if I ever need one.

I tried it in the house running some video stuff but the Geforce 7100 just doesn't quite have enough oomph to handle some of the H.264 video I threw at it. Could probably do it with a better cpu but I didn't try it. Transport Stream videos ran about 70% cpu utilization.

For just a little more than the Ion board you could get the Geforce 9300 based board and a low-end dual core cpu, which is what I'm thinking about for a media PC.

Originally Posted by jpinkerton

I've got the 630i WiFi version planned to go into the car, same processor as well. I'm just waiting on replacement PSU.

What PSU are you going to use? I bought a PicoPSU 120 wide input and it worked okay for a couple of days, then refused to turn on reliably. Just see the LED flash momentarily and then nothing. This was with the Zotac, Celeron, and a 2.5" SATA drive, and nothing else. All current req.'s well below the limits on the PicoPSU. This combo works perfectly with an M1-ATX, which is a 90W supply. Got a replacement PicoPSU and it's even worse. I'm hoping to get a refund for the Pico since it's unusable.

I'm currently running the system off the M1-ATX, with a bastardized ATX extension cable hanging out of the case, which is too small for the M1. I have to run my display and HD-radio off car power, but at least the system works. It's all under the drivers seat so at least you can't see the wiring mess. Extremely disappointed with the PicoPSU though.

I was planning to use the M4-ATX but due to some firmware issues causing my M4's not to power, I'm going to make the switch to the DSATX 220. It should be here Wednesday.

Originally Posted by jpinkerton

I was planning to use the M4-ATX but due to some firmware issues causing my M4's not to power, I'm going to make the switch to the DSATX 220. It should be here Wednesday.

What is the firmware issue and on which device? I'm wondering if it's the same problem I saw with the PicoPSU. Sometimes it would work but usually not.