There's something special about mini-ITX motherboards and of all the companies out there, Zotac is by far the best when it comes to cramming as many features as possible onto the small 140x140mm form factor. The company has announced two new models sporting Intel's new 7-series chipsets, the Z77-ITX WiFi and the H77-ITX WiFi A.
Starting with the H77-ITX WiFi A we have a board with as you'd expect for this form factor, a single x16 PCI Express slot, two DIMM slots, but also five SATA ports, an mSATA slot and a vertical half height mini PCI Express slot which is populated by a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 3.0 card. There are also pin headers for two USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 ports, as well as a serial port of all things.
Around the back we have a PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out and a DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI connector, as well as a pair of Wi-Fi antennas.
Zotac also bundles a USB 3.0 bracket with the board that is supplied with a full height and a low-profile bracket. For those stuck with an analogue display, a DVI to VGA adapter is also part of the package alongside an extension cable for the 12V power connector.
The Z77-ITX WiFi takes things up a notch, as Zotac has somehow managed to squeeze in an 8-phase VRM design, although this has meant that the half height mini PCI Express slot has been moved towards the front of the PCB. All of the features of the H77-ITX WiFi A are present on the Z77-ITX WiFi with the exception of one SATA 3Gbps port; although in its place Zotac has fitted a POST80 debug LED and an 8-pin 12V power connector for some extra power when overclocking this small board. There's even a very short heatpipe connecting the chipset heatsink to the VRM heatsink.
Around the back we have a PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports, 7.1-channel audio with S/PDIF out, a mini DisplayPort and two HDMI 1.4a ports, as well as a pair of Wi-Fi antennas and a clear CMOS button.
Zotac launches a duo of mini-ITX 7-series motherboards
It has only 3 capacitors
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