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Edit:
So basically after enough testing I figured a few things out.
You need to install Windows 7 from a DVD (not USB) and you need to set the BIOS to IDE or AHCI mode (AHCI preferred).
You also need a working DVD or blu ray drive, or you might get weird errors.
Before you install Windows you should create a DOS USB stick and upgrade the system BIOS and USB 3 firmware. (any order is ok) You need to use a special command line setting to actually update the BIOS, it is mentioned in the instructions.
Anyway I cannot make it boot in RAID mode, at least not without a RAID setup. I don't have enough extra drives to test RAID mode right now.
If anyone can make this board boot in EFI from a Windows 7 installer USB stick it would be nice if you put up a guide for it somewhere.
As for Ubuntu 11.4, after finally getting windows up and running, I tried to install it, but it doesn't install a bootloader. There is some kind of extra step you have to perform on Sandy Bridge.
To get the EFI stuff to work out, you will see 2 boot options in the BIOS menu for the DVD. A regular ATAPI and a UEFI ATAPI option. You should pick the UEFI boot option. This UEFI option only appears after the BIOS reads the DVD and sees the Windows efi folder. Microsoft thought way ahead and put EFI in windows 7, even RTM install DVD. You can get SP1 DVDs now of course though. You can also force a particular boot option from the save menu in the BIOS, instead of changing the boot order, this is helpful. Also you can disable the non-EFI boot options in the save menu tab. (not the boot menu tab)
After installing Windows, a new boot option will appear that says "Windows boot loader" or something like that. This is the UEFI boot option. It will boot windows like normal.
Overall I am impressed with the BIOS on this machine. The PC boots very fast, much faster than older Zotac boards. There are more options than before. Lots of power saving options. (and I think they all work this time, unlike 1st gen 9300 ITX)
There is a smart fan option and a manual fan option for the CPU. You can easily change RAM timings on the board. While H67 only allows up to 1333 RAM, I put in an 8 GB kit of CAS7 RAM. It defaulted to standard 9-9-9-9-24 timings in the BIOS. I changed those 4 settings to 7-7-7-21 and it runs smooth and gets 7.7 on the Windows experience index. (I will use this RAM kit in my Z68 board that is being delivered today, and will try OCing it at some point)
You can change many power saving options in the BIOS. You can also turn on or off deep sleep states. (requires power button to turn back on instead of mouse/keyboard)
Overall, while the Zotac H67 ITX BIOS doesn't have all of the fancy graphical stuff like my AsRock Extreme4 does that I am getting today, the BIOS is laid out very nicely and there are a lot of settings to play with.
The major limitations are all H67 ones and not Zotac. In fact there are extra greyed out options for CPU overclocking and stuff. I think this supports the rumor that Zotac will have a Z68 version of this board next month.
The main options missing are undervolting options. There are a few options present, and the lack of further undervolting is probably by desing. Routing signals on the smaller board is more dificult to do. This is probably the major area Zotac had to cut down from full sized ATX designs.
Also the WiFi on the board works fine for me. I haven't done any real performance testing yet, but the wifi works out of the box in Windows and Linux (can connect during install for updates on both).
In fact I actually had issues with the Gigabit ethernet. At first I was getting a weird BSOD installing the drivers. But after I got everything else installed I uninstalled the drivers completely, and grabbed the realtek 8111 drivers direct from Realtek's site and it worked. I'm not sure what the issue was but you guys should make sure you don't have other things installing when you try to install the Ethernet, in case it bluescreens. The BSODs quit happening right before I was about to take a picture, so I don't have the error code.
The HDMI audio works, but only on the HDMI port. In fact it works more consistently than Nvidia's ION audio, which used to have problems not turning on. Audio doesn't come out of the DVI port. I have asked Zotac about this. (might be H67 limitation, previous Zotac boards had audio over DVI)
I don't have any SATA 6Gb/s, USB3, or Display port stuff to test so I can't comment on that right now.
Using the integrated graphics I can actually run a lot of games from the past few years at lower settings at 720p. (no graphics glitches or anything) I think the higher end CPUs with the 3000 graphics could surpass a crapbox 360 in graphics. However you really should get a discreet Nvidia GPU. As always you can use a riser to mount the GPU sideways for more room. Even Newegg sells a riser adapter now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816129055
So basically after enough testing I figured a few things out.
You need to install Windows 7 from a DVD (not USB) and you need to set the BIOS to IDE or AHCI mode (AHCI preferred).
You also need a working DVD or blu ray drive, or you might get weird errors.
Before you install Windows you should create a DOS USB stick and upgrade the system BIOS and USB 3 firmware. (any order is ok) You need to use a special command line setting to actually update the BIOS, it is mentioned in the instructions.
Anyway I cannot make it boot in RAID mode, at least not without a RAID setup. I don't have enough extra drives to test RAID mode right now.
If anyone can make this board boot in EFI from a Windows 7 installer USB stick it would be nice if you put up a guide for it somewhere.
As for Ubuntu 11.4, after finally getting windows up and running, I tried to install it, but it doesn't install a bootloader. There is some kind of extra step you have to perform on Sandy Bridge.
To get the EFI stuff to work out, you will see 2 boot options in the BIOS menu for the DVD. A regular ATAPI and a UEFI ATAPI option. You should pick the UEFI boot option. This UEFI option only appears after the BIOS reads the DVD and sees the Windows efi folder. Microsoft thought way ahead and put EFI in windows 7, even RTM install DVD. You can get SP1 DVDs now of course though. You can also force a particular boot option from the save menu in the BIOS, instead of changing the boot order, this is helpful. Also you can disable the non-EFI boot options in the save menu tab. (not the boot menu tab)
After installing Windows, a new boot option will appear that says "Windows boot loader" or something like that. This is the UEFI boot option. It will boot windows like normal.
Overall I am impressed with the BIOS on this machine. The PC boots very fast, much faster than older Zotac boards. There are more options than before. Lots of power saving options. (and I think they all work this time, unlike 1st gen 9300 ITX)
There is a smart fan option and a manual fan option for the CPU. You can easily change RAM timings on the board. While H67 only allows up to 1333 RAM, I put in an 8 GB kit of CAS7 RAM. It defaulted to standard 9-9-9-9-24 timings in the BIOS. I changed those 4 settings to 7-7-7-21 and it runs smooth and gets 7.7 on the Windows experience index. (I will use this RAM kit in my Z68 board that is being delivered today, and will try OCing it at some point)
You can change many power saving options in the BIOS. You can also turn on or off deep sleep states. (requires power button to turn back on instead of mouse/keyboard)
Overall, while the Zotac H67 ITX BIOS doesn't have all of the fancy graphical stuff like my AsRock Extreme4 does that I am getting today, the BIOS is laid out very nicely and there are a lot of settings to play with.
The major limitations are all H67 ones and not Zotac. In fact there are extra greyed out options for CPU overclocking and stuff. I think this supports the rumor that Zotac will have a Z68 version of this board next month.
The main options missing are undervolting options. There are a few options present, and the lack of further undervolting is probably by desing. Routing signals on the smaller board is more dificult to do. This is probably the major area Zotac had to cut down from full sized ATX designs.
Also the WiFi on the board works fine for me. I haven't done any real performance testing yet, but the wifi works out of the box in Windows and Linux (can connect during install for updates on both).
In fact I actually had issues with the Gigabit ethernet. At first I was getting a weird BSOD installing the drivers. But after I got everything else installed I uninstalled the drivers completely, and grabbed the realtek 8111 drivers direct from Realtek's site and it worked. I'm not sure what the issue was but you guys should make sure you don't have other things installing when you try to install the Ethernet, in case it bluescreens. The BSODs quit happening right before I was about to take a picture, so I don't have the error code.
The HDMI audio works, but only on the HDMI port. In fact it works more consistently than Nvidia's ION audio, which used to have problems not turning on. Audio doesn't come out of the DVI port. I have asked Zotac about this. (might be H67 limitation, previous Zotac boards had audio over DVI)
I don't have any SATA 6Gb/s, USB3, or Display port stuff to test so I can't comment on that right now.
Using the integrated graphics I can actually run a lot of games from the past few years at lower settings at 720p. (no graphics glitches or anything) I think the higher end CPUs with the 3000 graphics could surpass a crapbox 360 in graphics. However you really should get a discreet Nvidia GPU. As always you can use a riser to mount the GPU sideways for more room. Even Newegg sells a riser adapter now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816129055
Last edited:
