Specification

Zotac has four Mini-ITX mainboard models on Intel Atom processor and GeForce 9300 chipset. All of them look very similar to one another, but feature pretty different specifications. Among them are solutions with a single- and dual-core Atom processor, with and without WiFi controller, with ATX or unipolar power supply. We received Zotac ION-ITX-C mainboard for our today’s review.

This mainboard model has no WiFi on it, is equipped with a single-core Intel Atom 230 processor, but uses an external “notebook” type power supply unit that allows putting this mainboard into very small system cases with the size of a car stereo system.

You can check out the complete list of formal specifications of this mainboard from the following table:

From the specs of Zotac ION-ITX-C, we can notice that it is an almost completely ready computer system as is. There is almost everything you may need, except for the memory and hard drive. So, keeping in mind that a mainboard like that costs about $160, you can build a complete system for as little as $250-$300.

However, the system case may make a few adjustments to this budget. Mass production small cases are mostly pretty pricy and are not too widely spread. But with some persistence you can find very nice-=looking inexpensive solutions, especially since Zotac ION-ITX-C comes with its own power supply unit. For example, we personally really liked M350 Universal Mini-ITX case from this on-line store.

Like many other mass production nettop cases, this solution is equipped with standard VESA mount, so you can easily put it behind your monitor.

But, let’s get back to our mainboard.