ZOTAC GF9300-D-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 HDMI Wi-Fi Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: -GeForce 9300 onboard video is very nice. I don't game, just photos, CAD and video editing. Works well with all my apps. If you choose 512 mb in the BIOS, you will have only 2.75 gb RAM available to WinXP x32. I reduced the video memory to 256 mb and 3 gb of RAM was available to WinXP again. Still plenty good for my needs. -DVI video port and 6 USB ports -Nice layout; 3 onboard USB headers -All solid caps -x16 PCI-x slot gives great flexibility for expansion (also runs x1 or x4 cards) -Good driver installation CD; covers everything -So far very stable. -Lifetime Warranty in the US. Hopefully never have to use it :-)

Cons: -eSATA port only works in AHCI mode; not XP compatible (very, very disappointing; -1 egg) -Realtek ALC662 onboard audio not that great. Would have preferred ALC8xx series. -No firewire port. Installed a low-profile IEEE 1394 card in the x16 PCI-x slot to solve this problem -Manual just so-so -Chipset heatsink pretty big (it needs to be; gets pretty warm, even hot) Almost couldn't use my aftermarket CPU cooler, which isn't large. RAM slots are a little close to the cooler too. But it still worked out and doesn't seem to overheat the CPU. Stock Intel heatsink should be no problem. -Limited BIOS

Overall Review: -Tested a Q9550 at first, but it got a little warm (60 c just sitting on my workbench) so decided to use an E8400 instead, which runs nice and cool (45 c inside the case). -Installed in an InWin BM639 case. No problems with cables not reaching anything they needed to. Perfect match. Replaced case fan with a SilenX IXP-52-11 (much quieter) -Using 1tb Samsung 3.5" HDD; works great -Installed 4gb DDR2 OCZ PC-6400 -No IDE port so if you plan to use a slimline DVD-RW as I do, be sure to get a SATA to slimline IDE DVD-RW adapter. I bought a newer SATA slimline drive, only to find out I needed an adapter for that one too. Lesson learned! Both adapters available from NewEgg. -Not using WiFi adapter so can't comment on that feature. It is attached to the motherboard with 2 screws next to the 3 audio ports -Bought an Auzentech X-Fi Forte LP PCI-x soundcard to use with this build, but it was too long for the case so can't use it :( -Even though I listed several cons, overall this board is

Pros: Small and powerful for HTPC needs. Handles all of my video needs.

Cons: Big problem for HTPC people is the absence of Powered USB ports when in S3 Standby. Without this the only way to come out of S3 standby is thru the Power button. Means you can't use a MCE remote to do it. Incomplete fan control, with the System fan header not operating the fan at any other speed than full. System gets hot because of the Chipset heatsink so keep that in mind.

Overall Review: I am not sure if I would have bought this know that the fan controls weren't 100% and that there wasn't any Powered USB ports for S3 standby.

Pros: Everything you need is on-board. Easy setup, drivers working in xp/vista/windows7 32 bit and 64 bit (I have run all of these in an attempt to figure out my problem, see cons).

Cons: There is one thing that plagued my setup for the last week and drove me absolutely up a wall! Using S/PDIF passthrough for HD playback of x264 movies with an AC3/DTS stream I was getting periodic audio "hiccups". Video playback was never affected. I tried every OS and codec under the sun to no avail. Swapped audio cables 5x. Tried a different receiver. NOTHING would make this problem go away. CPU usage was extremely low @ 20-30% max during playback. After 5 days of wracking my brain, I happened to leave the case cover off and noticed that I wasn't getting any skipping. I put the case cover back on and 2 minutes later the skipping is back. The only difference was obviously temperatures. Turns out that when the Northbridge/GPU was going over 50C, the skipping would occur. Anything under 50C and there is no problem. I cannot find anyone else on any forum that can duplicate this problem which leads me to believe this is a problem with my particular board only.

Overall Review: I have this motherboard in an Apex MI-100 case with 2x120mm fans (one on each side) and a relocated hard drive for optimal temperature control. The computer runs prime95 for 12+ hours at stock clocks with no problems. The only thing keeping this from being a 5 star motherboard for me is the issue described above. Hopefully a replacement yields different results, but this is by far the hardest problem I've ever had to track down. Heat causing only SPDIF streams to occasionally skip? Troubleshooting nightmare.

Pros: System built with the following: Case: Morex T3500 PSU: Pico-PSU WI-120W w/Fortron 120W brick CPU: E5200; stock RAM: Crucial value RAM 2x2GB HDD: WD Scorpio Black 160GB ODD: Samsung SN-T083A HSF: Dynatron P12G w/Noctua 80x25mm @5V OS: Vista 64 SP1 As far as ITX builds go, this motherboard provide a great foundation for a fast, stable system. Board layout is excellent, and drivers have been trouble-free. I have not tested audio over HDMI, although video is fine (and the video signal via HDMI is instantly recognized from boot-up). Have not tried waking up from hibernate over USB, but the system has never failed to go into and come out of standby. Onboard LAN and the included WiFi module both work flawlessly.

Cons: No cons to date that are specific to the board per se. As with most ITX builds in tiny cases, heat is always a concern- for this board, most heat issues will center around the NB/GPU. I found that the chipset needs some dedicated airflow under full load, as throttling occurred once temps went above 90-92C. In a small enclosure, I am not sure if an aftermarket chipset heatsink would really make that much of a difference, as the airflow would be a limiting factor. That said, with a small 40x20mm fan @5V strapped on top of the chipset heatsink, I have had no problems even after hours of 3D load. While the E5200 runs cool enough in the T3500, undervolting options would be nice for those using cases with very restricted airflow. It is worth the $4-7 to purchase a Thermalright bolt-through kit if using a heatsink that comes with push-pins (including the stock HSF)- push pins will warp the board, and it is much, much easier to work with screws when space is limited, as it is here.

Overall Review: Temps @ room temp of ~20-23C CPU idle: 35-39 (both cores) CPU load: 67-76C (gaming and Linpack, respectively) GPU idle: 65-67C GPU load: 83-87C (gaming and RTHDRIBL, respectively) As mentioned above, CPU temps are with an 80x25mm fan (fixed to heatsink with heavy-duty mounting tape) at 5V (~800RPM), and GPU temps are with a 40x20mm fan at 5V (~2500RPM). NB: With the Morex T3500 and the Dynatron P12G, an 80x25mm fan is just a bit too tall for the cover to slide on and off easily- some force is required to make it fit, but once on, it should not be a problem. An 80x20mm fan would probably be ideal. Final thoughts: This mobo is an ideal choice for anyone needing a tiny PC for work and some light gaming. The 9300 GPU is surprisingly capable, and can handle most modern games at reduced quality and/or resolutions (i.e. L4D runs relatively well at 10x7 w/low-moderate IQ settings and 2x AA).

Pros: Features, eSATA, 6 USB, WiFi, On board NVIDIA which means the on board is actually worth while and useful. Best of all Full x16 PCI-e. This board runs great I have been using the integrated 9300 on a 24 inch Samsung LCD at 1920x1200 does everything with ease I am honestly very satisfied with using the onboard and that coming from a power user who prefers $500 and up video cards means a lot. This chip is powerful for integrated. I am able to play L4D at 1680x1050 with bilinear, no aa, everything on high except the shaders have to be set to medium. Also can play TF2 at 1680x1050 with trilinear, no aa, everything on high. My frame on both of these games are around 24 - 30 average with a few situations where it dips to 20 or just under 20 but still playable not ideal but playable. I am very impressed.

Cons: None this board is amazing. I wish it was less expensive but that is not a con considering its features compared to other boards for the price.

Overall Review: If your thinking about getting this get it. Tip- this is the 9300 get yourself 4GB of RAM dedicated 512 to the GPU I have been testing it makes a big performance difference over the auto. Also overclock this to the 9400 at 580 core, and 1400 shader it will do it with ease. I have been running mine OCed to a 9400 spec with 512MB dedicated to the video that is how i have gotten such great performance out of it. Fully stable no issues or artifacting. Note: I also run a Q6600 which does help with gamelplay in TF2 and L4D since both those games have CPU rendering support. The GPU effects visual quality though and the quality is great.

Pros: Mini-itx board with 775 socket and PCI-E x16! Some decent BIOS options as well. After trying an embedded VIA board (vb8001, with PCI-E x16 too, 25W!), I went the more traditional route and pair this board with an e5200. So far, results have been as expected. I put a Sparkle low-profile 9800gt in the PCI-E slot and it's great for gaming!

Cons: You get what you pay for and this isn't a bad deal at all, especially with the included WIFI. BUT, if this were priced a little lower, these boards would sell like hot cakes.

Overall Review: Contrary to some forum posts, you CAN manually control CPU fan speed through BIOS. It's the "MCP Hardware Monitoring Option" in one of the subheadings. Just switch smart fan off, change fan setting (1-15, mine is on 10 = 1500 RPM, near-silent)

Pros: Everything basically worked - set up time was a little long - but this was my first build since the Intel 8088 days.

Cons: 1. Driver disk included with motherboard had the wrong chipset drivers - had to download new drivers from ZOTAC site 2. Before you install, record the serial number and PCB number - they are on the bottom of the board - you will need the PCB number to upgrade the BIOS 3. The included motherboard instructions show capabilities that the BIOS doesn't have (like "power on" via keyboard) - I could have used that capability!

Pros: The most feature complete Mini-ITX board out there: 1333Mhz FSB / PCIE-16x / 2 DIMM / WiFi / etc Very stable

Cons: INCOMPLETE VOLTAGE CONTROL - Can only OVERvolt, cannot UNDERvolt. Defeats the purpose of a low-power ITX build when the bios ram setting bottoms out at 1.9v (bought 1.6v dimm) and the CPU runs at 1.25v @ load (It otherwise runs stable at 1.05v in other boards) Overall very lacking bios and incomplete fan control. Drivers CD = Paperweight Vista 64 - Had to manually install all chipset/audio/network/etc drivers. Win 7 64 - All drivers except wireless recognized - Wireless will not work Had to disable sleep in OS get keep LAN from sleeping. Would like to see a smart-LAN system to enable downloads to continue when the PC is resting (Too used to my Asus P6T V2)

Overall Review: We NEED competition in the high-end ITX segment. Zotac put out an amazing piece of technology but fails to provide sufficient bios/software support. We need Asus, Gigabyte, etc, to get into the mix - Companies renown for their support beyond the hardware itself. Specs: Core 2 Duo E8500 4GB Geil Green DDR2-800 ECS 9800GTE 512mb Zotac 9300-D-E Mini ITX 60GB OCZ Apex SSD 320GB Western Digital Black 7200RPM 2.5" Silverstone Sugo 5 Windows 7 64 RC / Vista HP 64 (Not yet decided)