ZOTAC GF9300-I-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Small, Sleek. Works great thanks to the integrated graphics.
Upgraded from a mATX, re-using 4 GB (2 x 2GB) OCZ Platinum, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz (Overclocked to 2.77 GHz). System is reliable and stable.

Cons: None Yet.

Pros: Excellent feature set and priced very well

Cons: Everything was going well until it died

Other Thoughts: I've built a few HTPCs and this was my 2nd HTPC in mini-itx. My first was the Zotac NM-A-E D510. I wanted this one since it had the LGA 775 socket to accept faster processors. My setup was a 2.93 LGA e6500 with 2GB of PNY ddr2 RAM. I had everything up and running, mythtv was installed and running smoothly. I then decided to test out it's HD decoding capabilities. I played ESPN in HD and it played very smooth and clear. I checked the cpu and it was chugging along at 38% (according to 'top'). After 2 min of HD viewing pleasure the system died. It would not power on. I would hear a slight click but no lights nothing.

I took this mobo out using my 450watt PS and put back the D510 and it was up and running. I swapped RAM and still no power. I reseated the CPU heat sink and still nothing.

This being my 2nd ZOTAC purchase I'm dissapointed. I knew there were bad mobo's but I didn't expect to get one.

I plan on returning this mobo and update this review once I get one that

Pros: "Good" performance, good features, heatsink reasonable for chipset / GPU, reasonable board layout given form factor

Cons: I cannot recommend boards made by this manufacturer whatsoever.

Poor QA process leads to boards being approved that can't do a very possible 2x2GB of RAM in dual channel. The approved RAM list and configuration test matrix on their site show almost no dual channel configurations (the [i]one[/i] they have is for 512MB DIMMs, hardly relevant), so I have zero guarantee that any number of RMAs would solve my problem. This sort of oversight leads me to wonder how bad QA is in other areas, leading to my conclusion.

Other Thoughts: There's no other practical options for a mini-ITX LGA 775 board that has an onboard GPU powerful enough to work in a HTPC use configuration. If you must keep an LGA 775 config for your own HTPC, I'd recommend going with another manufacturer's boards and tacking on a GT 220 video card. That would set you back $130 or so if you get very lucky. By the time the costs add up, you might as well just go buy a new system that uses DDR3 RAM.

Pros: Got it up and running no problems.

This is my first Mini ITX build, and I am very impressed with how well designed the layout is. I never would have imagined it would be so easy to install all the components with something this small.

The WiFi works well after I installed the drivers off the included CD. So far the only video/sound output I have tested is HDMI, and it works great.

I'm running XBMC (xbox media center) for Windows on it. and it has played everything in hi definition perfectly with no hiccups.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: Only time will tell if it will continue to perform well. I've got high hopes and so far I am very impressed.

Pros: Small size and powerfull specs.

Cons: Would not post, DOA

Other Thoughts: RMA'd for replacement, will see if next one is the same.

Pros: The board fit the specifications of what I needed for the PC that I was building. Other than the problem noted below it has been working fine.

Cons: After only a few months the audio jacks for the speakers have stopped working correctly. It will only play from 1 of the 2 stereo channels. If I jiggle the wire it will play from both momentarily but then stop again. It is undoubtedly a problem with the jack.

Other Thoughts: I'm concerned over whether or not the parts used for the jack are low quality in the first place. Since it is beyond Newegg's standard return window I need to work with Zotac directly. According to Zotac policy they wont send a replacement until they have received the defective board. No exceptions. Unfortunately this board is a critical part of my entertainment system. So it looks like we'll be down for whatever period of time is required to do the mail exchange.

After this experience I will definitely be cautious about doing business with them again.

Manufacturer Response:

Sorry to see you are experiencing problems with our products. ZOTAC has technical support available 24/7 to fully assist you if you are having performance issues with your motherboard. Please free to contact us and we will be happy to assist you with diagnosis and possible replacement if needed. You should be able to request for a cross shipment of your RMA at the time of the RMA request. I apologize as it seems your request was denied.

External Link(s):

ZOTAC Technical Support|

Pros: Good looking Mother board but never got to try it. See Other thoughts.

Cons: Be careful installing the CPU cover you will bend the pins.

Other Thoughts: I bent the CPU pins installing the plastic CPU cover on the socket. I placed the plastic cover under the hold down not on top as it was designed to be. Warning be careful not to do this. suggestion for Zotac, if the cover was made larger it would be obvious it went on top of the hold down.
Carl

Pros: It worked the first time

Cons: The extended USB not always works.

Other Thoughts: Wifi was not working, moved the USB connection over one position and it has worked ever since.

Pros: A small board packed with rich functions and connectivity.
overclock-ability is good too, i am able to overclock my Pentium 4 631 3.00GHz to 4.5Ghz, with STOCK COOLER outside in the -5F Illinois =^_^=

Cons: --looks like we had a pretty high DOA rate, several people mentioned they had a DOA, and when i first got it, fan spin, no image on screen, it was A DOA TOO!!!!
--Only 2 Fan connector, looks too less for me.
--Can't boot from USB DVD drive, can't figure out the problem yet, bought a SATA drive and worked.
-- WIFI is kinda weak so far.

Other Thoughts: this is the very first build and first newegg purchase i did, the result make me pretty happy, newegg really made the transaction and the RMA process smooth.
my specs:

Zotac GF9300 Mini-ITX board
Pentium 4 631
Crucial DDR2 800 2GB RAM
some retail store 64GB SSD(Newegg not allow to post...)
Silverstone Sg06 Case with 300W PSU

Pros: This board is the most packed ITX board with HDMI, VGA, DVI, etc.... I have built about 10 MCE systems for clients using this board and they handle bluray dvds, mkv/video files and everything else you can throw at them. This is def. a great buy for those who want to make a small robust media center computer.

Cons: To all the people that post "DOA" - THe boards are all actually built quite well, the only problem is an engineering oversight. The NVIDIA MCP chipset and the factory heatsink are too close to the CPU heatsink and the heatsink poorly conducts heat, as a result it will turn on for a moment and shut off and then pretty much stay off until it cools. The MCP chip jumps up in temp VERY fast. To fix this, a) Carefully remove the heatsink, wipe off the exessive compound on the chip and heatsink, buy some arctic silver thermal adhesive, glue the heatsink to the MCP chip (do not install CPU or put mobo in case yet) and let it SET. b) The stock CPU fan for the intels has wire clips on the side. You need to take the fan wire out and clip off the little clips. This is the problem people have without noticing, the cpu fan wire clip pushes the MCP heatsink at an angle which causes it to loose thermal conductivity, overheat fast and shut down.

Other Thoughts: I build these with the Apex MI-800 ITX case, LG Bluray Readers, 1tb WD Black/OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, 4gb AMPx (2x2gb) ddr2, intel Q8300/E8400 Cpu's and the Rosewill MCE remotes.