Author Topic: Zotac's Ion Board On Windows 7: Nvidia Re-Arms Intel’s Atom - compatability?  (Read 27400 times)

roberto99

  • Veteran
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
  • ...dreams of becoming a LMCExpert
    • View Profile
Hi all

I have been waiting for this as the ION plattform should combine the Atom processor with the Nvidia chipset for low power consumption and good video output capability. I hope to get as much input on this as possible as soon as the product will be availabele cause it looks like a interesting board for MD's and might get one for my self for testing if it look generally promising to who ever will read this.

What do you think?

Here is the link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/zotac-ion-atom,2300.html

Cheers
Roberto

Marie.O

  • Administrator
  • LinuxMCE God
  • *****
  • Posts: 3675
  • Wastes Life On LinuxMCE Since 2007
    • View Profile
    • My Home

roberto99

  • Veteran
  • ***
  • Posts: 101
  • ...dreams of becoming a LMCExpert
    • View Profile
match point for you ;-)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2009, 01:43:52 pm by roberto99 »

totallymaxed

  • LinuxMCE God
  • ****
  • Posts: 4660
  • Smart Home Consulting
    • View Profile
    • Dianemo - at home with technology
Hi all

I have been waiting for this as the ION plattform should combine the Atom processor with the Nvidia chipset for low power consumption and good video output capability. I hope to get as much input on this as possible as soon as the product will be availabele cause it looks like a interesting board for MD's and might get one for my self for testing if it look generally promising to who ever will read this.

What do you think?

Here is the link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/zotac-ion-atom,2300.html

Cheers
Roberto

Well we got our fanless Zotac 230 Ion board today and we are really very impressed indeed. As its Ion based it really is as compatible as the Revo...so we just added it to a Core and it just worked. As you can see from the psecs/pic the Zotac has an incredible array of I/O fro such a tiny little mobo...and its BIOS is also equally well equipped with a very rich set of features & capabilities. As with the Revo we have both PCM & Dolby Digital/DTS working over the HDMI port very nicely...on the Zotac of course you have the option of S/pdif (Coax/Optical) too. The Zotac has VGA, DVI & HDMI and the picture quality out of each is excellent.

Performance wise it was impossible to say whether the Revo or Zotac performed better or worse than one another...they were equally good in this respect.

All the best

Andrew
Andy Herron,
CHT Ltd

For Dianemo/LinuxMCE consulting advice;
@herron on Twitter, totallymaxed+inquiries@gmail.com via email or PM me here.

Get Dianemo-Rpi2 ARM Licenses http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=14026.0

Get RaspSqueeze-CEC or Raspbmc-CEC for Dianemo/LinuxMCE: http://wp.me/P4KgIc-5P

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dianemo-Home-Automation/226019387454465

http://www.dianemo.co.uk

darrenmason

  • Addicted
  • *
  • Posts: 529
    • View Profile
Andrew,

Thanks for posting your review on this. Looks like a motherboard that ticks every box for an MD.

Perhaps a sticky posting with this will answer the endless questions of what MD motherboard to get.

Regards
Darren

castlec

  • Regular Poster
  • **
  • Posts: 34
    • View Profile
Andrew,

I started researching these little guys a few days ago.  I'm certainly excited about them.  The Atom 230s are available here now.  Do you think it's worth waiting/paying for the 330s?

Also, an odd question but how high is the board including the exposed part of the mounting screws and ram?  It looks like the heatsink is nearly as high as the IO panel but not quite there.  I'm thinking of squeezing one into one of these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013FGYTC/.

totallymaxed

  • LinuxMCE God
  • ****
  • Posts: 4660
  • Smart Home Consulting
    • View Profile
    • Dianemo - at home with technology
Andrew,

I started researching these little guys a few days ago.  I'm certainly excited about them.  The Atom 230s are available here now.  Do you think it's worth waiting/paying for the 330s?

Also, an odd question but how high is the board including the exposed part of the mounting screws and ram?  It looks like the heatsink is nearly as high as the IO panel but not quite there.  I'm thinking of squeezing one into one of these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013FGYTC/.

Hmmm...even though the Zotac 230 is fanless and passively cooled...it does still need ventilation. Locking it inside that steel case will secure it for sure but will also fry it pretty quickly!!! Lol! The integral passively cooled heatsink needs to be convection cooled and therefore should be used in a ventilated case design.

Andrew
Andy Herron,
CHT Ltd

For Dianemo/LinuxMCE consulting advice;
@herron on Twitter, totallymaxed+inquiries@gmail.com via email or PM me here.

Get Dianemo-Rpi2 ARM Licenses http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=14026.0

Get RaspSqueeze-CEC or Raspbmc-CEC for Dianemo/LinuxMCE: http://wp.me/P4KgIc-5P

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dianemo-Home-Automation/226019387454465

http://www.dianemo.co.uk

Anthony_Molg

  • Regular Poster
  • **
  • Posts: 32
    • View Profile
How did it perform at 1080p???

Thanks

totallymaxed

  • LinuxMCE God
  • ****
  • Posts: 4660
  • Smart Home Consulting
    • View Profile
    • Dianemo - at home with technology
How did it perform at 1080p???

Thanks

1080p is supported and works fine in testing so far.

Andrew
Andy Herron,
CHT Ltd

For Dianemo/LinuxMCE consulting advice;
@herron on Twitter, totallymaxed+inquiries@gmail.com via email or PM me here.

Get Dianemo-Rpi2 ARM Licenses http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=14026.0

Get RaspSqueeze-CEC or Raspbmc-CEC for Dianemo/LinuxMCE: http://wp.me/P4KgIc-5P

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dianemo-Home-Automation/226019387454465

http://www.dianemo.co.uk

Anthony_Molg

  • Regular Poster
  • **
  • Posts: 32
    • View Profile
Sweet thanks. I think i am going to be getting a new MD :)

castlec

  • Regular Poster
  • **
  • Posts: 34
    • View Profile

Hmmm...even though the Zotac 230 is fanless and passively cooled...it does still need ventilation. Locking it inside that steel case will secure it for sure but will also fry it pretty quickly!!! Lol! The integral passively cooled heatsink needs to be convection cooled and therefore should be used in a ventilated case design.

Andrew

Thanks for the warning.

The only idea was to give it a place to live.  I have no issue with cutting vent/fan holes into the box.  It was already on my mind.  I'll have to decide exactly how I want to ventilate it when I have the board and can verify that it can in fact live in the tiny cash box.  I really can't imagine it needing much more than a small fan though.  I'm not even sure said fan would need to be moving at full power. 

I wish I had real info to report..... stupid pre-order.

The real issue to me is that ITX cases are either not suited to diskless MDs or are overpriced or both.  I'm willing to have an adventure to save that money.  If you have better suggestions, speak :)

totallymaxed

  • LinuxMCE God
  • ****
  • Posts: 4660
  • Smart Home Consulting
    • View Profile
    • Dianemo - at home with technology

Hmmm...even though the Zotac 230 is fanless and passively cooled...it does still need ventilation. Locking it inside that steel case will secure it for sure but will also fry it pretty quickly!!! Lol! The integral passively cooled heatsink needs to be convection cooled and therefore should be used in a ventilated case design.

Andrew

Thanks for the warning.

The only idea was to give it a place to live.  I have no issue with cutting vent/fan holes into the box.  It was already on my mind.  I'll have to decide exactly how I want to ventilate it when I have the board and can verify that it can in fact live in the tiny cash box.  I really can't imagine it needing much more than a small fan though.  I'm not even sure said fan would need to be moving at full power. 

I wish I had real info to report..... stupid pre-order.

The real issue to me is that ITX cases are either not suited to diskless MDs or are overpriced or both.  I'm willing to have an adventure to save that money.  If you have better suggestions, speak :)

I'm certainly not saying it will need a fan... if you go for the fanless model. But what it will need is ventilation slots to allow for convective cooling.

Andrew
Andy Herron,
CHT Ltd

For Dianemo/LinuxMCE consulting advice;
@herron on Twitter, totallymaxed+inquiries@gmail.com via email or PM me here.

Get Dianemo-Rpi2 ARM Licenses http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=14026.0

Get RaspSqueeze-CEC or Raspbmc-CEC for Dianemo/LinuxMCE: http://wp.me/P4KgIc-5P

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dianemo-Home-Automation/226019387454465

http://www.dianemo.co.uk

castlec

  • Regular Poster
  • **
  • Posts: 34
    • View Profile

I'm certainly not saying it will need a fan... if you go for the fanless model. But what it will need is ventilation slots to allow for convective cooling.

Andrew

Agreed.  I could see it being possible that it would need a small fan.  I don't think it would though.  All the same, dremel to the rescue  ;D

Zaerc

  • Alumni
  • LinuxMCE God
  • *
  • Posts: 2256
  • Department of Redundancy Department.
    • View Profile
Instead of a small fan you might want to consider a big one and have it run slowly, that will be more quiet.
"Change is inevitable. Progress is optional."
-- Anonymous


castlec

  • Regular Poster
  • **
  • Posts: 34
    • View Profile
Instead of a small fan you might want to consider a big one and have it run slowly, that will be more quiet.

You're right.  It all depends on the layout and what's actually necessary.  We'll see :o).