ITXGamer Archives – SFF.Network

AMD revealed the DTX and M-DTX in 2007 to answer the call for small form factor motherboards, and to compete with Intel’s BTX and M-BTX (2005). Both disapeared quickly though, with only OEMs soldiering on. With only the limited OEM boards available, neither form factor really took a foothold in the enthusiast market. Various manufacturers have produced a smattering of M-DTX boards for retail, with Zotac being the only notable one until now. The main issue was the fact they they almost always had Intel Atom or equivalent processors embedded. What the community wanted was upgradability, and support for the …

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As those of you who frequent out forums will no doubt have noticed, ITXGamer has been acquired by LOSIAS Technologies. I was hoping we would have the transfer complete a week ago so the announcement would coincide with ITXGamer’s second birthday (Sept. 19 for those who are counting) but a few technical hurdles required some extra time to complete the switchover. However, the move is complete and ITXGamer is now the newest addition to the LOSIAS family. You can read the official press release here, and you can read my thoughts about it below. I started this blog two years …

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When the temptation strikes me to build a new ITX rig, the first thing I look for is a case to house it. There’s new mini-ITX hardware dropping regularly these days and it’s fast becoming a viable format for many PC gamers. Sadly, finding a quality case with the features most gamers want is still a tall order. Aside from the staple PC-Q series from Lian-Li and the SG series from SilverStone, finding something different to handle a high-end ITX build with double-wide GPU’s is a challenge. Whilst perusing various sites reading up on forthcoming Trinity APU’s, I came across …

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Zotac was one of only two manufacturers who brought the overclockable Z68 chipset to the mini-ITX platform (ASRock was the other). Their attempt, the Z68-ITX, was met with decidedly mixed results. Some boards were highly overclockable and stable. Others, not so much. Not wanting to leave ITX overclockers out in the cold when Ivy Bridge drops, Zotac has added to their promised mini-ITX line up with the addition of a Z77-based mini-ITX motherboard that was shown off at CES. On first glance, the board appears to be built to live up to the large uppercase “SUPER OVERCLOCK” label printed on the PCB. The board features an …

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I’ve had my ThermalTake Element Q Llano ITX build on the back burner for a while owing to the need to find a low profile CPU cooler that would fit under the SFX power supply. Mini-ITX cases with the PSU directly over the CPU are quite common, but as most are designed to be used with Atom and Brazos motherboards, CPU heatsink fit is usually not an issue. However, for those select few who feel the need to cram a full size gaming rig into a mini-ITX enclosure, we need a better solution. Enter the Scythe Kozuti low profile cooler. At a …

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Once again Zotac is showing the love for the mini-ITX format. Their recent display at this years’ CES included not just one, but two, H77-based mini-ITX motherboards. These socket LGA1155 boards are based on the upcoming “Panther Point” chipset from Intel and will pave the way for the upcoming Ivy Bridge processors to find their way into our mini-ITX gaming boxes. The two H77 ITX boards showcased do not have official model numbers as of yet (dare we guess at H77-ITX WiFi and H77-ITX Supreme?) but nonetheless, we can at least have a quick look at the features that will be offered. Both …

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Expected to be available this week for about $150, the Zotac A75-ITX Wifi is the second mini-ITX FM1 motherboard that we’ve previewed with built in WiFi support (the other being the ASUS F1A75-I). Clad in trademark yellow and orange, the A75-ITX is priced at the higher end of the Llano mini-ITX range, but upon first look, appears to offer the features to back up the asking price. At first glance, it appears that the FM1 socket on this board is further away from the PCI slot than the socket on any other ITX board we’ve seen. But its proximity to …

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With a model from ASRock already on the table and a preview from ASUS circulating, it was only a matter of time before Gigabyte dropped hints about their upcoming mini-ITX socket FM1 mini-ITX Llano motherboard. Announced months ago as the GA-A75N-USB3, a few images and some specifications have begun to appear for Gigabyte newest mini-ITX gaming motherboard. Upon first glance, the GA-A75N-USB3 offers the now familiar FM1 socket for the new AMD Llano series of APU’s beside a pair of Dual Channel DDR3 DIMM slots. The standard PCI x16 expansion slot is present, as are four SATA III 6Gbps drive …

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