[mcnovy]

*update*
Ordered 2 boards..
both Dead on Arrival..
first card had a defective memory slot.
second board, had a defective output to the Cabinet fan.
so.. both cards will be sent back, and I will buy 2 intel cards instead.


Hey,
so, finally bought my HTPC.

the system is as follow:

Silverstone SG05B
Zotac Z68-ITX Supreme (GT430) (ZOTAC Z68ITX-B-E)
i3-2100t
8GB Corsair ram
Corsair Force Series 3 SSD 60GB

Just finished assembling everything.

So, will make a small review, and if anyone is interested, a QA..


Review starts here.: (bare with me, I am not perfect with english, but will do my best, and I am not that experienced will reviewing either. )

first things first..
assemble.
The SilverStone SUGO SG05B (300W Internal PSU included):
Build quality, not that good.. feels flimsy, and just doesn't give you the feeling that is is great quality.
when assembling, you actually need to disassemble the whole thing first, PSU and all the plates.. off you go..
after that, it gives you a good deal of working space, not to much, but not too tight either.
it was quite easy, and fast to assemble the whole machine, and make it look rather nice..

now for installing..
and that is where I am right now.. so will return in a little while

Motherboard.
Read in the manual, that the HDMI output is for the HD2000 GPU, and not the GT430, so will need to buy an adapter for that..
I am going fullHD, with bitstream sound, so HDMI is important, optical is not good enough..
Edit: there are 4 outputs
1 dvi for gt430
1 display port for gt430
1 dvi for hd2000
1 hdmi for hd2000

Bad news, want boot with 8 gigs of ram.
So right now, only 4 gigs of ram.
Something might be defective

back to the Case (Silverstone)
changed the stock 120mm FAN to a Scythe S-Flex. (Stock FAN is way to noisy)
CPU is now at idle in Win7 is 40 Degress Celcius. (stock Fan) (forgot to check temp before change, but is probably somewhat the same)

The 2 Blue LED's in the front (Power and HDD) is far to bright.. and can't be adjusted in BIOS,
so I might Solder a resistor on it, to decrease the output, or turn if off completely by removing the wires to it.

[mcnovy]

Reserved

[mcnovy]

hmm.. just to make sure.. will also keep this one..

[eskro]

Motherboard.
Read in the manual, that the HDMI output is for the HD2000 GPU, and not the GT430, so will need to buy an adapter for that

Huh!?
This is not fair!!
why have a GT430 iGPU if u cant use it?

O.O

[mcnovy]

Huh!?
This is not fair!!
why have a GT430 iGPU if u cant use it?

O.O

Sorry.. Edited first post
Hdmi is for hd2000 display port is for gt430
Thats why I need an adapter

[eskro]

sorry but, an an adapter fo what?

[mcnovy]

sorry but, an an adapter fo what?

Displayport -> hdmi

[eskro]

So DVI port is for GT430??

[mcnovy]

So DVI port is for GT430??

There are 2 DVI port, 1 for GT430, and 1 for HD2000

one HDMI for HD2000 and 1 Displayport for GT430.

As far as I know, Displayport can do the same as HDMI,
so just need an adapter.. will order that on sunday, so I should be able to test picture quality and more on tuesday..

[carbon60]

Let us know, I have that feeling that this motherboard will let us down like all the others despite showing promise with it's specification. I just hope that the Displayport will do the same as HDMI when using an adapter.

[mcnovy]

Well..

haven't got the Displayport cable just yet.

I bought 2 similar machines, one for me, and one for my boss (we share the same interest in HTPC's)

I assembled his machine as well, although haven't installed anything on it.
but his machine booted up with all 8 Gigs of ram..
so an RMA have been made for my motherboard..

well.. this is the weekend though, so can't sent it just yet, so might as well play a bit with it..
next issue.. the Corsair 60GB drive is probably causing some issues due to the Sandforce chip, so the machine stalls once in a while, so I have updated it to 1.3, hopefully that will take care of that issue..
I get some random boot issues as well, still trying to figure that out,
it mainly happens when I am updating drivers and stuff.
(running Win7:x64 ulti)

right now, I am trying to test the board using the HDMI (HD2000)
but the drivers for that is giving me a headache, picture is fine.. sound is.. gone..?

im running Aeon MQ2, with alot of graphical niceness, and the menus are running smooth like I wanted..
It's playing bluray MKV's just fine, though, the HD2000 24Hz is noticeable..

well.. so far.. this has been a nightmare to be honest, and this is the reason, why the last couple of times I have picked up a Media player, it has been a Boxee, or Dune or similar..

Well.. I am still eager to get this baby running, and I haven't givin' up just yet..
stay tuned.. the RMA case will probably take a week or so, so not much I can add though..

[deej]

So on paper this board looked awesome and in practice it's a disappointment. No HDMI for the Nvidia GPU, really? You typically buy this board exactly because you don't want Sandy Bridge's integrated graphics and you want womething stronger than Atom + ION.

Let's hope Intel keeps developing their Linux drivers so that they reach the level of Nvidia and we can use Sandy Bridge to its full potential.

[rchapoteau]

Any update on this project?

[carbon60]

I'd be interested too. However after the initial comments about the HDMI port I'm considering going for a separate graphics card.

[crashnburn]

Whatever happened to this box / mobo/ project? I was suggested to get one on other forums for my requirements.