Zotac H55-ITX Review - The World's First mini-ITX H55 Motherboard
by Joshua Youngberg on February 28, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Testbed Setup
We used 2x2GB 1600MHz memory kits from A-Data and OCZ to test the memory compatibility of ZOTAC’s newest motherboard. The operating system was installed on a 320GB WD hard drive while the applications were stored by a 1TB WD hard drive. A fresh installation of Windows 7 64-bit was applied to every motherboard before testing.
Intel’s factory heatsink handled the processor cooling duties at the factory frequencies. During overclocking we used a Corsair H50 Hydro cooler to cool the processor although it was hardly needed.
When testing the ZOTAC 8200-ITX we relied on the nVidia chipset for graphics. The H55-ITX used an overclocked XFX 5770 for all tests except where noted. We used the same XFX HD 5770 for all of the DFI MI-P55 tests as well.
While testing the Intel-based motherboards we tried to keep the DDR3 timings as similar as possible. Unfortunately, due to a bug in the H55-ITX BIOS we had to run the CAS latency at 10. Memory frequency on these boards was set at 1333MHz due to fact that the i3 530 does not natively support 1600MHz RAM. Interestingly, the BIOS on the H55-ITX has an option for 1600MHz but choosing it prevents the system from POSTing. However, when the i3 530 was overclocked the memory frequency was bumped up to 1500MHz while using the same timings.
We used two ZOTAC motherboards for our wireless performance test. Our review motherboard, the H55-ITX, has wireless-n capabilities while the other board, the ZOTAC 8200-ITX, uses the older wireless-g standard. We measured the time it took both test systems to transfer a 1GB movie file. In order to simulate a typical HTPC environment the test systems were separated from the wireless-n router by thirty feet and two insulated walls.
For our lone AMD board all benchmarks were run using 4GB of 800MHz DDR2. The main RAM timings were set at 5-5-5-15 while any additional sub timings were left on auto.
We ran two sets of gaming benchmarks on the H55-ITX motherboard. One set uses Intel’s HD graphics while the other uses a HD 5770 from XFX. We have included these to demonstrate the viability of using i3 530’s integrated GPU for graphics.
Power Consumption
For our system power consumption tests we measure the watts being pulled out from the wall socket by the entire system. Keep in mind that power consumption at the wall can vary for a specific system based on the efficiency of the power supply being used. For these tests every power saving option in the BIOSes were turned on.
The Zotac H55-ITX put down some of the lowest idle power consumption numbers that I have ever recorded on a desktop. System consumption under 100% CPU load was very mild as well. Numbers this low would make the H55-ITX ideal for a system that is rarely shutdown, like a HTPC.
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damianrobertjones - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
InstallWindows 7 Pro, latest flash installed, IE 8
Etern205 - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
I've been on this site for years and have not encounter what you're getting.Voo - Sunday, February 28, 2010 - link
Never happened to me, you're sure it's not something nasty on your PC? Wouldn't be the first of its kind..JarredWalton - Sunday, February 28, 2010 - link
It does sound more like an infection rather than one of our ads, though I could be wrong. If you can provide specific details on the advertisement, that would be helpful. (Not that I have nothing to do with ads, but I could at least pass the information along to the appropriate person.)Assuming it's an infection (very possibly a rootkit), here are a few suggestions:
1) http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php">Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
2) http://download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Free-Anti-Malwar...">Ad-Aware Free
3) http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy...">Spybot Search & Destroy
If you run those and get an infection, and still have issues after cleaning, you might need to try http://www.gmer.net/">GMER.exe... there's a particularly nasty rootkit going around right now that infects your ATAPI.SYS file, and GMER.EXE will fix that one. I don't recommend this as a first option, though, as it's not user friendly and can be a powerful (re: dangerous) tool in the hands of an inexperienced user.
/Tangent.
damianrobertjones - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
It's always the user hey...Tomshardware has recently been diverting my laptop to a malware page so... I asked a forum to check and it happened to them. I then created a clean vm, updated, installed AV, bam, same thing.
New machine out of a box, the only machine on the connection, updated, AV, bam... re-direction.
Please resolve your banner situation and I've already sent a mail to Toms with no response. It's not always the users
The0ne - Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - link
Toms is not a good site to go to nowadays, especially if you don't have the capability to turn scripts off! If you do use some sort of script blocking plugin, take a look at all the fcking junk that Toms has on their site. Truly amazing and disgusting. Mind you I'm not saying they're bad, just a lot of junk the visitor aren't aware of.banthespam - Sunday, February 28, 2010 - link
I believe FaaR is correct. I was browsing over pc.ign.com and got the exact same page (obvious ad-redirect to malware). So I googled the malware url and found this page. First time I brought it up, it redirected me to the malware site. But it's a one time thing. I tried to reload, clear cache cookies and so on, could never get the malware site again. They're hidding it well. There's probably even some random stuff thrown in so you never know when it'll brought up.And yes, just in case, I did scan my comp, absolutly nothing was found. I am not running as administrator thus cannot be infected by rootkits.
SilthDraeth - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
Not running as admin is definitely safer than running as admin, but it does not make you immune to being infected by rootkits.PianoManDan - Saturday, July 9, 2011 - link
I know this topic is a bit old, but I've just come across it as I'm looking into this board as a change to my current setup.Firstly, my use is quite different, and a bit specialist. Hopefully, even though this topic is over a year old, someone will be able to offer some advice.
My PC is used for Mobile Audio work, as well as a home server with multiple virtual machines. I would like to take advantage of my current equipment and also use it as a relatively decent gaming machine.
I currently have an i7 870 CPU which I'm using with Gigabyte mATX board. It was in a 2U Rack case (because of my mobile usage), and as the 870 doesn't have on-board graphics, I'm using a Low-Profile ATI 5450 1GB GPU.
I've just switched to a 1U Case, which mounts the GPU horizontally instead, making room for a full size GPU. This does mean though that the GPU and heatsink is on top of some PCI & PCIe Slots on the mATX board.
I'm looking at an ITX board instead so the extra space is available for the HSF on the GPU, plus it means I can hopefully take advantage of a full size, better GPU that will be good for gaming. It can't be dual size though (2 PCI Slots in height). I'm not after anything amazing - but just to comfortably manage modern games with good detail.
So, now you understand my usage, my questions are:
Can this board handle relatively decent gaming?
What GPU would you recommend without being overkill for this MB?
Long-winded I know - but sometimes you need to know the uses before you can comment and make a suitable recommendation. I appreciate any help anyone can offer.