Zotac H55-ITX-C-E Mini-ITX Motherboard Review

The H55 platform somehow appeared at the end of 2009. It basically is a P55 platform with reduced capabilities (RAID for example), but with the ability to use the integrated Intel HD graphics unit on Intel Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs based in Clarkdale's architecture. This way, you're able to build an HTPC with very decent performance and a graphics processor capable of reproducing HD content and some very light gaming on a small case. While this kind of systems were interesting, it wasn't as interesting as a Mini-ITX sized motherboard. Things finally changed when Zotac's company finally decided to launch a Mini-ITX H55 platform capable of using Clarkdale's processors and offering a PCI-e port to add raw gaming power to the PC; the H55ITX-A-E. Today, we're testing its new successor, the H55ITX-C-E.

Benchmark Reviews recently tested similar products such as the ASRock Core 100HT and the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 Motherboard. The first one is an all-in-one HTPC system, and it comes equipped with low power consumption parts. However, the H55N-USB3 received our Golden Tachometer award for being a beast inside a small package. The only cons we could manage to talk about were the not included WiFi module, no SATA 3 support, and a PCB which could give us some difficulties in the installation process. It seems Zotac has heard about this and improved their Mini ITX motherboard while adding USB 3-0 support to the H55ITX-C-E. Have a look at their retail's package:

Zotac specifies that their H55ITX-C-E motherboard is specially designed for Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs. So, don't get too excited about putting a Core i7 CPU and push it up to 4GHz in this board since that's not going to happen due to the electric design. Still, this motherboard should be able to put some extra MHz with a Core i3/i5 CPU and some decent memory.

There are always things to sacrifice when reducing the size to mini-ITX specifications. For example, you can't have lots of S-ATA ports for HDDs/SDDs, but Zotac still managed to include 6 S-ATA ports instead of the 4 ports included in the ECS and GIGABYTE'S models. You can also forget about multiple PCI/PCI-e cards, and finally, there's always less room to add power phases, which normally means it won't support high-end processors. That or overclocking abilities will be physically limited by the board's specifications. During our Review, we will submit the Zotac H55ITX-C-E to all these kind of tests and find out how it behaves against the rest of the competitors (currently available at the market); the ECS H55H-I and the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3.

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Zotac International.

Intel H55 Express Chipset

The Zotac H55ITX-C-E motherboard was built to support Clarkdale (Core i3/i5) processors. New to the H55 platform is a Direct Media Interface (DMI) that connects between the processor and chipset. The Intel H55 Express Chipset delivers new technologies and innovative capabilities for digital home, small office, and home office consumers. The Intel H55 Express Chipset features include the Intel Remote PC Assist technology and support for two independently controlled display interfaces. The H55 chipset doesn't support RAID levels 0/1/5/10 and because this is a reduced H55 platform, it only comes with a PCI-e 2.0 16x slot.

All motherboard busses and components are driven from a single base clock with a standard clock speed of 133.33 MHz; this is known as the B-Clock or BCLK. The individual component speed values are generated by applying a multiplier value to this base clock. There are four multipliers on the motherboard which are used to set the clock rates for:

1. CPU Speed: When multiplied by the system base clock speed (default 133.33 MHz), gives the CPU frequency. Four multipliers are used to define different speeds based on the number of active CPU cores.
2. Memory Speed: When multiplied by the system base clock speed, gives the memory frequency. For example a memory multiplier of 10 times the base clock of 133.33 MHz results in a memory frequency of 1333 MHz.
3. Direct Media Interface (DMI) Speed: Selectable transfer rate of data transferred between the CPU and the IOH. (Note: Many BIOS programs and monitoring utilities (CPU-Z, etc.) will report this as QPI. This is the interface used between the LGA1366 CPUs and the X58 Chipset.)
4. Uncore Speed: This multiplier applies to the non-CPU related items in the processor. The limit on this multiplier is set by the memory multiplier.

Intel H55 Express Chipset Features

• Intel Flexible Display Interface - An innovative path for two independently controlled channels of integrated graphics display data to be transported to the Intel 5 Series Chipset.
• Support for High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)*, DisplayPort* and DVI-1 - HDMI delivers uncompressed HD video and uncompressed multi-channel audio in a single cable, supporting all HD formats including 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. Dual-independent display expands the viewable workspace to two monitors.
• Intel Remote PC Assist Technology - This technology enables you to make a fast call for help and request remote technical assistance if you encounter a problem with your PC, even when the OS, network software, or applications are not functioning.
• Intel High Definition Audio - Integrated audio support enables premium digital surround sound and delivers advanced features such as multiple audio streams and jack re-tasking.
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) - Hi-Speed USB 2.0, provides greater enhancement in performance with a design data rate of up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps) with up to 12 USB 2.0 Ports.
• Intel Quiet System Technology - Intelligent system fan speed control algorithms use operating temperature ranges more efficiently to reduce system noise by minimizing fan speed changes.
• USB 2.0 rate matching hub - Enables lower power requirements and manages the transition of the communication data rate from the high speed of the host controller to the lower speed of USB full speed /low speed devices.
• Serial ATA (SATA) 3 Gb/s - High-speed storage interface supports faster transfer rate for improved data access with up to 6 SATA ports.
• eSATA - SATA interface designed for use with external SATA devices. It provides a link for 3 Gb/s data speeds to eliminate bottlenecks found with current external storage solutions.
• SATA port disable - Enables individual SATA ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through SATA ports. Especially targeted for eSATA ports.
• PCI Express 2.0 interface - Offers up to 2.5GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to 6 PCI Express 2.0 x1 ports, configurable as x2 and x4 depending on motherboard designs.
• USB port disable - Enables individual USB ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through USB ports.
• Intel integrated 10/100/1000 MAC - Support for the Intel 82578DC Gigabit Network Connection
• Green technology - Intel integrates environmental performance goals into every aspect of design and manufacturing. Intel 45nm high-k metal gate process technology is lead-free, and since 2008, Intel has produced halogen-free products.

Zotac H55ITX-C-E Specifications

Editor's note: While we usually add a Features section when reviewing motherboards, today Benchmark Reviews is making an exception as Zotac usually doesn't bundles any special software or features in their products (motherboards). This is the only Mini-ITX H55 motherboard including a WiFi module, and now it comes with USB 3.0 support. Even that, Zotac doesn't ship any special overclocking software or an energy saving feature as seen in many other motherboards. All drivers worked well from the beginning though... In the next section, Benchmark Reviews gives you a closer look to the H55ITX-C-E motherboard.

Closer Look: Zotac H55ITX-C-E

OK, let's get started. When you open that little box, you'll see Zotac includes many accessories which aren't normally seen in other ITX products. They do include a driver's CD and a full user's manual with a quick installation guide. Zotac decided to include 3, instead of 2 S-ATA cables as they feature 6 S-ATA ports instead of 4 ports. They also include a 4-pin to 4-pin CPU connector extension which is great for those using bigger PC cases or just to help cable management and they also include a DVI-VGA adapter. As a "premium feature", they include a pair of Antennas and their proper cables to install them from the motherboard to the I/O panel. While they included two antennas, it's not a dual band capable wireless adapter. It just improves signal by allowing you to set different angles for proper reception.

As I've said before, the Zotac H55ITX-C-E comes with a slightly different PCB design compared to the H55N-USB3 and the ECS H55H-I. Zotac places their 24-pin connector next to the RAM slots, instead of putting it near the S-ATA connectors. This could make things easier as now you need a shorter cable to reach the ATX connector, or just to help you improve cable management. The rest practically remains the same, with some small differences that aren't so important to be mentioned. Zotac also added a MOS-FET heatsink which will help to improve temperatures and perhaps, increase the overclocking ratio.

The I/O panel has plenty of connections for a Mini-ITX motherboard. Zotac includes a PS/2 keyboard port for those who still prefer them against USB keyboards. Zotac also includes 6 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 (blue) ports hosted by the NEC's controller. Perhaps, something lacking here is the D-sub connector, but Zotac already includes a DVI-VGA adapter in case you need it. Additionally, there's also an optical SPDIF and 7.1 channel support plugs, and finally an eSATA (red) port. There's a small push-button to reset BIOS configurations (very useful for overclockers) and above it, you'll have your pair of WiFi antennas after you install them in the H55ITX-C-E.

This motherboard comes with a little heatsink above the Southbridge. While it does its work, it can get pretty hot if your case hasn't got the proper air-flow. At its left, you can find the 3v+ batter and between this and the heatsink, the CMOS jumper, which is pretty difficult to access. Luckily, Zotac added a push-button at the I/O area.

Since this motherboard bundles lots of circuits to support its features (WiFi for example), they had to make some arrangements on the PCB's design. Because of that, they added some little integrated circuits and MOS-FETs at the back of the board just near the CPU backplate. Look at the left/inferior corner. They also added some circuits and diodes there!

Here's a closer look of the small circuits I told you about. They're so close to the socket's backplate that they won't allow you to put heatsink retention's backplates. That leaves you with fewer options as you'll need to look for a push-pin heatsink unless you're using Intel's stock heatsink. I do understand that this board wasn't done for extreme overclockers, but anyone who wants a quiet system will try to install a bigger heatsink in their HTPC, just to discover they can't, at least, not with this motherboard.

Let's take an even closer look at some of the unique features on this motherboard...

Zotac H55ITX-C-E Detailed Features

Zotac is the first brand to include a PCI-e 1x port in a H55 ITX motherboard. In the next photo, you can see the Mini-PCIe port being used by the Wireless adapter module. ASRock does the same with their Core 100HT series, but they also use SO-DIMM slots. You'll need to connect the antennas to this card, and while it sounds as an easy task, it might not be that easy, especially if you're a big-hands guy. It took me around 5 minutes just to connect the antennas, but well, they're working OK now.

Zotac is the only company including 6 S-ATA ports in their H55 ITX motherboard. This might be great for people with lots of HDDs keeping HD movies, music and photos. Some high-end motherboards also include 6-9 S-ATA ports, so I can't really complain this time. Zotac did a good work.

The H55ITX-A-E didn't include a MOS-FET heatsink, which could result into a smaller lifetime or lower overclocking capabilities. With the H55ITX-C-E, Zotac walked 2 steps by adding a heatsink here while also adding USB 3.0 support.

Near the RAM slots, there's a system's fan header. The BIOS chip is also being installed here, and it's good to know it's not soldered to the motherboard, as it makes the RMA process easier if they can just change the BIOS and send the motherboard back in case something's wrong with it.

At the other end of the RAM slots, you'll find the front panel connectors and a CPU-heatsink header, which can be controlled by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) within the BIOS.

Here's a closer look at the NEC D720200F1 chip. This little IC hosts a pair of USB 3.0 ports which can be found at the I/O panel. This is the same chip many brands are using to add USB 3.0 support. Sure, there are USB 3.0 PCI-e cards but in this case, that would leave the discrete GPU out of the game. While this isn't a killer feature yet, it's a plus at the moment.

Finally, have a look at the Realtek ALC888 Integrated Circuit, which fully supports 7.1 channels and audio support over HDMI.

In the next section Benchmark Reviews gives a detailed look at the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 Basic Input Output System (BIOS).

Zotac H55ITX-C-E BIOS

As you can see, Zotac prepared very decent BIOS which won't be the best for overclockers or high-end enthusiasts, but it suits perfect for an HTPC. They also allow you to modify basic component's voltages and modify some extra parameters regarding CPU, RAM and chipset settings. A negative downside is that Zotac includes no profiles at all, so every time you reset your BIOS, you'll need to setup every parameter again. BIOS updates are done via Windows flash tool, whereas I prefer a built-in option inside the BIOS configuration.

Zotac H55ITX-C-E Overclocking

Now that we've explored the BIOS let's get started with some basic overclocking. Last time I tested the H55N-USB3 to check max BCLK frequency, and then I moved to CPU overclocking. This time, I really wanted to do the same, but all my efforts were useless. I took my trusty Intel Core i5 655K CPU and installed it in the Zotac H55ITX-C-E. That way, I was already sure CPU wouldn't be a limiting, and since I'm using a pair of G.Skill ECOs DIMMs, all I needed to test was the motherboard itself. Here's a screenshot with the CPU at stock settings with Hyper Threading and Speedstep enabled.

Intel Core i5 655K at stock frequencies with Speedstep enabled.

The reason I said my efforts were useless is because it seems I found a wall when overclocking at 175-180 BCLK frequency. It wasn't that bad, because I could reach a completely stable setup running at 3.8GHz with stock CPU vCore. However, I wasn't able to try higher frequencies with higher voltages because of the BCLK limiting. After that, I decided to use the magic unlocked multiplier to try some higher frequencies but, guess what? It seems this BIOS wasn't done to work with unlocked processors (even if Zotac says so in their homepage). The Core i5 655K comes with a 24x multiplier, which can be easily raised to more than 40x values. However, while I was able to increase it to 26x, every time I tried higher values, the motherboard would post at 24x (default). So, that's where my adventure ends, because I wasn't able to pass 3.8GHz with the unlocked multiplier. Perhaps, a newer BIOS version could fix this up.

Intel Core i5 655K running fully stable at 3.8GHz with stock heatsink. This was our best result with the H55ITX-C-E.

My second hypothesis was that it wasn't a BCLK limiting, but more of a processor limiting. Not because it couldn't reach BCLKs or because it was a very bad sample, because I've tested it before and it did excellent, especially on air-cooling conditions. Somewhere, I had heard about Zotac having issues with Clarkdale CPUs regarding iGPU frequency. I'll easily confirm this later when 3D tests get done.

Motherboard Testing Methodology

While this is a very powerful configuration, we can't forget that we're talking about a Mini-ITX product here. This means that the product won't be compared to a Core i7 920 or a Phenom II X6 processor, but against similar systems in performance and size. This time, I've chose the recently reviewed ASRock Core 100HT HTPC for comparison. I'll be using the ECS H55H-I and the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 with the same settings and add them to the graphics for comparison. Let's have a look at the tests systems:

ASRock Core 100HT HTPC System

• Motherboard: ASRock HM55-HT mini-ITX (H55M-Express)
• System Memory: 4GB 1333MHz DDR3
• Processor: 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M Dual-Core
• Video: Core i3/Intel GMA HD (DirectX 11)
• System Drive: OCZ Vertex 120GB SATA SSD OCZSSD2-1VTX120G

Mini-ITX H55 Core i3 System

• Motherboard: ECS H55H-I / GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 / Zotac H55ITX-C-E
• System Memory: 4GB G.Skill ECO 1333MHz 7-7-7-21 DDR3
• Processor: 2.9GHz Intel Core i3 530 / Overclocked results at 3.8GHz
• Video: Intel GMA HD (DirectX 10)
• System Drive: OCZ Agility MLC SSD OCZSSD2-1AGT120G

Test Software

• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64-Bit
• Lavalys EVEREST Ultimate Edition v5.50.2160
• Futuremark PCMark Vantage 1.0.2.0 64-Bit
• Maxon CINEBENCH R11.5 64-Bit
• Passmark Performance Test v7.0 (1014) 64 Bit
• Capcom Street Fighter IV Benchmark
• Power DVD 10 Full HD 1080p H.264 playback

The 3rd test system actually consists on 4 different results. The first three are the ECS H55H-I, the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 and the Zotac H55ITX-C-E at stock speeds with the RAM running at 1333MHz 7-7-7 with HT enabled on the Core i3 530. The third result consists on the same PC components on the H55ITX-C-E but this time with the CPU overclocked at 3.8GHz with stock voltages. Therefore, RAM speed was increased to 1528MHz with an 8x multiplier. Don't be fooled by the reference to QPI in the CPU-Z display, it's actually the DMI interface that's being reported. If you watch closely, you'll notice all the screenshots in the overclocking and systems section shows the Core i5 655K CPU. Since this CPU is the same as the Core i3 530, just with higher (unlocked) multipliers and Turbo Boost technology, I just lowered the CPU multi to 22x (2.93GHz as result) and disabled Turbo Boost Technology in order to make it perform as the Core i3 530. Everything else was left as it should. Both processors have a 733MHz iGPU, so 3D benchmarks won't be affected either (or at least, they shouldn't).

EVEREST Benchmark Results

EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology by Lavalys. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems. Furthermore, complete software, operating system and security information makes EVEREST Ultimate Edition a comprehensive system diagnostics tool that offers a total of 100 pages of information about your PC. All of the benchmarks used in our test bed: Queen, Photoworxx, and AES, rely on basic x86 instructions, and consume very low system memory while also being aware of Hyper Threading, multi-processors, and multi-core processors.

CPU Benchmarks

Everest CPU benchmarks scale decently with CPU frequency. The H55ITX performed within the range in CPU Queen and CPU PhotoWorxx tests. It scored the same results as the ECS and GIGABYTE motherboards. When overclocked to 3.8GHz, it performed much better.

The Photoworxx benchmark tests for penalties against pipeline architecture. This synthetic benchmark stresses the integer arithmetic and multiplication execution units of the CPU and also the memory subsystem. Due to the fact that this test performs high memory read/write traffic, it cannot effectively scale in situations where more than two processing threads are used. The EVEREST Photoworxx benchmark performs the following tasks on a very large RGB image:

• Fill
• Flip
• Rotate90R (rotate 90 degrees CW)
• Rotate90L (rotate 90 degrees CCW)
• Random (fill the image with random colored pixels)
• RGB2BW (color to black & white conversion)
• Difference
• Crop

The Everest documentation hints that this benchmark is highly dependent on memory write speed, and so, it seems to be the practical case of the results obtained. Additional CPU frequency and memory bandwidth also increased the results by 19%.

The AES integer benchmark measures CPU performance using AES data encryption. It utilizes Vincent Rijmen, Antoon Bosselaers and Paulo Barreto's public domain C code in ECB mode and consumes only 48 MB of memory. The AES test produced closed results between the ECS H55H-I, GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 and the H55ITX-C-E leaving out of the game the ASRock Core 100HT. Once the i3 gets overclocked, it leaves behind the competition by 30%, similar to the CPU Queen results.

Zip Library Benchmark reports very similar results as we've seen them in the AES and CPU Queen Benchmarks. However, the Zotac H55ITX-C-E performed a little bit better in this test. The H55+Core i3 combo gets a 30% boost over the ASRock Core 100HT. Again, overclocking gives a consistent 30% boost against the non-oveclocked results.

Now, let's look at some additional benchmarks with PCMark Vantage.

PCMark Vantage Test Results

PCMark Vantage is an objective hardware performance benchmark tool for PCs running 32- and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. PCMark Vantage is well suited for benchmarking any type of Microsoft Windows Vista/7 PC: from multimedia home entertainment systems and laptops, to dedicated workstations and high-end gaming rigs. Benchmark Reviews has decided to use a few select tests from the suite to demonstrate/simulate real-world processor usage in this article. Our tests were conducted on 64-bit Windows 7, with results displayed in the chart below.

TV and Movies Suite

• TV and Movies 1 (CPU=50%, RAM=2%, GPU=45%, SSD=3%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • Video transcoding: HD DVD to media server archive
  • Video playback: HD DVD w/ additional lower bitrate HD content from HDD, as downloaded from net
• TV and Movies 2 (CPU=50%, RAM=2%, GPU=45%, SSD=3%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • Video transcoding: HD DVD to media server archive
  • Video playback, HD MPEG-2: 19.39 Mbps terrestrial HDTV playback
• TV and Movies 3 (SSD=100%)
  • HDD Media Center
• TV and Movies 4 (CPU=50%, RAM=2%, GPU=45%, SSD=3%)
  • Video transcoding: media server archive to portable device
  • Video playback, HD MPEG-2: 48 Mbps Blu-ray playback

Gaming Suite*

• Gaming 1 (CPU=30%, GPU=70%)
  • GPU game test
• Gaming 2 (SSD=100%)
  • HDD: game HDD
• Gaming 3 (CPU=75%, RAM=5%, SSD=20%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • CPU game test
  • Data decompression: level loading
• Gaming 4 (CPU=42%, RAM=1%, GPU=24%, SSD=33%)
  • Three simultaneous threads
  • GPU game test
  • CPU game test
  • HDD: game HDD

Music Suite

• Music 1 (CPU=50%, RAM=3%, GPU=13%, SSD=34%)
  • Three simultaneous threads
  • Web page rendering - w/ music shop content
  • Audio transcoding: WAV -> WMA lossless
  • HDD: Adding music to Windows Media Player
• Music 2 (CPU=100%)
  • Audio transcoding: WAV -> WMA lossless
• Music 3 (CPU=100%)
  • Audio transcoding: MP3 -> WMA
• Music 4 (CPU=50%, SSD=50%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • Audio transcoding: WMA -> WMA
  • HDD: Adding music to Windows Media Player

* EDITOR'S NOTE: Hopefully our readers will carefully consider how relevant PCMark Vantage is as a "real-world" benchmark, since many of the tests rely on unrelated hardware components. For example, per the FutureMark PCMark Vantage White Paper document, Gaming test #2 weighs the storage device for 100% of the test score. In fact, according to PCMark Vantage the video card only impacts 23% of the total gaming score, but the CPU represents 37% of the final score. As our tests in this article (and many others) has already proven, gaming performance has a lot more to do with the GPU than the CPU, and especially more than the hard drive or SSD (which is worth 38% of the final gaming performance score).

CINEBENCH R11.5 Benchmark

Maxon CINEBENCH is a real-world test suite that assesses the computer's performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on Maxon's award-winning animation software, Cinema 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. Maxon software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more. CINEBENCH Release 11.5 includes the ability to more accurately test the industry's latest hardware, including systems with up to 64 processor threads, and the testing environment better reflects the expectations of today's production demands. A more streamlined interface makes testing systems and reading results incredibly straightforward.

The CINEBENCH R11.5 test scenario uses all of a system's processing power to render a photorealistic 3D scene, "No Keyframes" the viral animation by AixSponza. This scene makes use of various algorithms to stress all available processor cores. The OpenGL graphics card testing procedure uses a complex 3D scene depicting a car chase with which the performance of your graphics card in OpenGL mode is measured. Since this one test is dominated by the performance of the video card, I'm not showing it here.

Passmark Performance Test Benchmark

PassMark Performance Test is a PC hardware benchmark utility that allows a user to quickly assess the performance of their computer and compare it to a number of standard 'baseline' computer systems. The Passmark Performance CPU tests all benchmark the mathematical operations, compression, encryption, SSE, and 3DNow! instructions of modern processors. In our tests there were several areas of concentration for each benchmark, which are combined into one compound score. This score is referred to as the CPU Mark, and is a composite of the following tests:

• Integer Math
• Floating Point Math
• Find Prime Numbers
• SSE/3DNow!
• Compression
• Encryption
• Image Rotation
• String Sorting

Taken together as a whole, the eight separate CPU tests offer a very realistic segment of what taxes the processor most for users. These tests are grossly exaggerated synthetic benchmarks, but they can still help illustrate the difference between similar hardware.

Passmark Performance CPU tests reinforce what we've got in Everest benchmarks. In CPU benchmark, all platforms scored the same results (except the ASRock Core 100HT, of course). This changes when running 2D tests, as the Core 100HT scores a better result than every other platform tested even with some OC. The rest of the motherboards tested score similar results. In 3d tests, the H55ITX scores a slightly better result than the competition, nothing really to show off, but still noticeable. Finally, memory results show that the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 performs a little bit better in the memory section. When overclocked the Zotac H55ITX gains a 30% boost, even if memory wasn't overclocked that much.

In the next section, we put all of our platforms to run Street Fighter IV benchmark and compare how they perform in a real 3d-game.

Street Fighter IV Benchmark Results

Street Fighter IV uses a proprietary Capcom SF4 game engine, which is enhanced over previous versions of the game. While modern desktop computers with discrete graphics have no problem playing Street Fighter IV at its highest graphical settings, integrated and mobile GPUs have a difficult time producing playable frame rates with the lowest settings configured.

Ok, now we're really talking about 3D performance. Again, the H55ITX performed a little better than the competition by pulling 2 extra FPS in the test. Still, we haven't got a play-able game with these settings, so don't expect your Intel HD graphics unit to be able to run latest games either. Now, as you might notice, there's a significant increase when overclocking our CPU, which really shouldn't be there. In other reviews, we've proven how little CPU frequency affects to 3d benchmarks, and Street Fighter IV is no exception. In our GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 review, the platform scored almost the same results when overclocked against stock values. This time, we're watching a 27% increase, which leads us to think/confirm the iGPU is being overclocked within the CPU BCLK. That would also explain why I couldn't reach higher BCLK values whereas my CPU is able to do 200MHz+ on BCLK frequency. Let's go ahead with some Full HD playback results in the next section.

Full HD playback Results

In our AVIVO Purevideo DXVA GPU Acceleration guide we explained how to enable GPU processing with different software available. Since Power DVD has proved to have the latest support for NVIDIA and ATI GPUs, it was only a matter of time until they included the newest Intel HD graphics support to their software's package. Finally, with the 10th version of Power DVD, it now supports "Intel Clear Video" GPU acceleration, and we're testing it today against other solutions. Of course, we analyzed CPU usage while reproducing a full HD 1080p video with Power DVD 10 and reported the results with both DXVA enabled and disabled settings. Have a look at the next chart:

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Power Consumption

I've been talking about a high-efficiency platforms a lot recently. High efficiency represents processing power between power consumption. Less power consumption means higher efficiency. Mini-ITX H55 motherboards are planned to have a very high efficiency if powered with the appropriate CPU. The real deal here is that most users will buy this motherboard and pair it with a Clarkdale CPU such as the Core i3 530 or a Core i5 661. These processors have a low TDP compared to the Core i7 LGA1366 CPUs. So, let's pair a Core i3 530 CPU to this platform and measure the overall power consumption with a P3 International Kill-a-watt EZ power meter. The CPU performance of a Core i3 has proven to be at least 3 times faster than the Atom CPU and sometimes up to 5 times faster. But, does it consume 3 times more power than the ION 330 platform? That's what we are about to test.

Zotac H55-ITX-C-E Final Thoughts

Why would you use a motherboard like this for your next PC? Well, I've answered this question with the results in the last pages, but let me summarize them all in the final thoughts. First, there's the user who wants an HTPC but will use it also for some light/medium work. That user who will surf the web and listen to music while talking with anybody by an instant messenger application and he hates feeling his computer very slow. Pair this motherboard with a G6950 or the used Core i3 530 processor and there you have an excellent solution for your media center. You'll be able to reproduce HD videos and also have a pretty decent performance while doing multi-tasks and some light and basic processing. Even MP3 conversions or some light games are handled pretty decent with a machine like this. And the best of all, it will fit in a very small case.

Now, there's another kind of people who's looking for a budget's gaming PC. Pair this motherboard with a Core i5 or even a Core i3 CPU and put a high-end GPU like the ATI HD5850 or the NVIDIA GTX 460 and there you have a very decent gaming rig. We've proven that more CPU cores or even high CPU frequency isn't necessary to play the latest games. Actually, the trend is going to GPU, and that means CPU won't be as important as it was in the past to power very decent graphics in a game. Now let's say you want to keep up with the small design and you put your system in the Lian Li PC-Q08 or the newest Silverstone's SG-07 and there you have a very interesting PC. Need more RAM? No problem. This motherboard supports up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM up to 1600MHz.

Unluckily, Zotac doesn't supports the action of installing a Core i7 CPU in this motherboard, neither a Core i5 750 or any Lynnfield based CPU, which limits us to a mid-end system, but not a high-end platform. If you're planning to buy a GTX480 or the latest HD5970, better get a platform which fully supports quad-core CPUs. While I still think my Core i7 860 CPU would fit perfectly in this motherboard as long as I don't overclock it, it might cause stability problems or reduce your motherboard's lifespan. Also, you'll need a better CPU heatsink, but given the fact that you can't use CPU Heatsink back plates, the options get pretty much reduced at the end.

The only downside I can see about this platform, is that those who are used to have additional PCI/PCI-e cards won't be able to use them. For example, I consider myself somehow demanding at audio quality, and so I can't really live with the integrated Realtek's audio chip. Others might want to add a TV Tuner/recorder card to their HTPCs and won't be able to use a high-end GPU. But for the small space this motherboard uses, I can't really demand them to add another expansion slot.

What I'd like to see on Zotac's motherboards, are better software features, as they already include decent hardware components. For example, I'd like to see built-in BIOS flash software instead of doing it in Windows OS. That way is much safer to do the process. Also, I'd like to see some monitoring and overclocking tools, exclusive from Zotac. Also, since this is an HTPC oriented motherboard, it would be nice to see an energy saving function/program to turn off some components when they're not being used and show CPU consumption if possible. You know... it's all about being "eco" friendly. Let's summarize all the tests and thoughts to build the conclusions about the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 mini-ITX motherboard.

Zotac H55ITX-C-E Conclusion

The performance of the Zotac H55ITX-C-E was very good. The motherboard proved to have nothing to ask against the competition, performing similar (sometimes faster, sometimes slower) in every benchmark test. Not everything is that good though, I had some problems when overclocking the CPU; the motherboard wasn't able to recover after a failed POST, and I had to do a clear CMOS. That wouldn't be that bad if they included a profile manager in the BIOS, but they don't. Any other feature and port performed really well, and I had no troubles to make everything run under Windows 7 OS.

The appearance of a motherboard is very subjective. I think this motherboard has got the best appearance between all the H55 ITX motherboards available today, but for some others, the colors used might not fit with the rest of the components. I'd add that having a pair of cables between the WiFi module and the antennas isn't what I'd call "great" for cable management, but I can forgive them this time. What I can't forgive, is that Zotac includes no expansion for the dual antennas, so you're stuck to place them in the I/O area, just behind your PC case, which could cause them to have bad signal quality if you're trying to hide your HTPC somewhere behind a furniture or similar.

Construction quality is just good. I really understand Zotac is the only brand to include 6 SATA ports and a WiFi module inside a PCIe 1x slot, but the fact they added some ICs just behind the CPU socket makes very difficult to fit an aftermarket CPU cooler, which might be important for many users to keep sound levels low. Also, they didn't add a D-sub connector, but that's fine because they include a DVI-VGA adapter and the iGPU only supports 2 monitors at once. Everything else is well done and I can't complain about it.

Talking about functionality, I'd throw a perfect score if the BIOS still had some minor glitches. Not being able to raise CPU multiplier and the lack of BCLK overclocking (probably because of iGPU frequency) leads me to think there's still some space to improve. The whole functionality of being an ITX platform with several CPUs support and the fact that you can add a high-end GPU and fit everything a very small case is still there. Also, if you're not overclocking and you're using iGPU, your overall power consumption will be too low for a highly efficient system, which is why I gave a 9 out of 10 here.

As of 06 December 2010, the Zotac H55ITX-C-E can be found on sale for $139.99 at Amazon or NewEgg. This price dangerously approaches to many Micro-ATX motherboards out there, while you can get the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 for $104.99 and the ECS H55H-I for $79.99 (almost half of the price). That's why I think Zotac is charging a premium price for this product, and even if they're the only ones to offer WiFi support and 6 S-ATA ports (no RAID support); the price is a little higher than expected. The H55ITX-A-E (same model without USB 3.0 support) can be found for $129.99, which is still high compared to the competition. Unless you have no other choice and you want those extra features, you might better get another model and add a USB WiFi adapter (can be found at $5). Let's wrap everything in the pros and cons section to end with this review.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Although the H55ITX-A-E model does not support the Intel Core i7 CPU series, Zotac model H55ITX-C-E officially does support Core i7 processors.

Pros:

Cons:

Ratings:

• Performance: 8.75
• Appearance: 9.50
• Construction: 9.00
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 7.50

Final Score: 8.75 out of 10.

Quality Recognition: Benchmark Reviews Silver Tachometer Award.

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