Zotac Z68-ITX Wifi

Pjalchemist

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
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253
Anyone had a go with it? I really fancy making a uber powerfull ITX build. External WC is what i had on my last full sized rig. I'd be loking at using a 2600K
 
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/zotac_z68-itx_wifi_review/1

Bottom Line. It only overclocks to be about 4.5ghz due to bios setting weirdness. Perhaps you'd be able to break that if they cleaned it up a bit. I'm eagerly looking forward to it or just buying a h67 and then springing for a z68 when a good z68 itx comes out.

Waiting for good Z68 ITX board. Unless I see improvements in this board. Judging by comments on past Zotac boards that may not happen.
 
Wow. Overclocked an Intel i5 2500K to 4.5Ghz is excellent. Considering that the the motherbord is a tiny itx board. If one would run a tiny system at 4.5Ghz there should be no complaints.
 
I read on Zotac's site that they listen to people's comments and suggestions. Why don't you guys send an e-mail to Zotac and request them to make some improvements to their bios for overclocking?
 
Wow. Overclocked an Intel i5 2500K to 4.5Ghz is excellent. Considering that the the motherbord is a tiny itx board. If one would run a tiny system at 4.5Ghz there should be no complaints.

+1 that's excellent imo, I can't name one other mitx board that's oc's better than this one.
 
I read on Zotac's site that they listen to people's comments and suggestions. Why don't you guys send an e-mail to Zotac and request them to make some improvements to their bios for overclocking?

I tried that with the H55ITX-CE BIOS which really needed some fixing and it lead nowhere. Although I did get a "I'll pass this along to the engineers" it was followed by a "We're not planning a new BIOS for this model".

Typically, BIOS updates on Zotac boards are few and far between.
 
Wow. Overclocked an Intel i5 2500K to 4.5Ghz is excellent. Considering that the the motherbord is a tiny itx board. If one would run a tiny system at 4.5Ghz there should be no complaints.

lets see. I hit 3.7Ghz on turbo w/o overclocking on a board that costs a lot less. The zotac can hit 4.5 unclear if thats turbo. I would like to OC, but the Zotac BIOS has me concerned. I am in a position that I can wait and see.
 
I tried that with the H55ITX-CE BIOS which really needed some fixing and it lead nowhere. Although I did get a "I'll pass this along to the engineers" it was followed by a "We're not planning a new BIOS for this model".

Typically, BIOS updates on Zotac boards are few and far between.

I've experienced the same thing, when I was using a Xeon CPU on that same board, the voltages were set wrong and the adjustments weren't varied enough to set it right myself, so I emailed them and they basically told me that since it's not on the list of supported CPUs they don't plan to (and don't feel any need to) add better support for it.
 
Video review

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5qGoAVg1d0"]YouTube - ‪[Cowcot TV] Déballage CM ZOTAC Z68-ITX WIFI‬‏[/ame]
 
Ok...that's not a review...that's an unboxing.
MCube74, do you work for Zotac? Because what they claim about their customer support is 1 thing, what they actually do is something entirely different.
 
Ok...that's not a review...that's an unboxing.
MCube74, do you work for Zotac? Because what they claim about their customer support is 1 thing, what they actually do is something entirely different.

No I don't work for Zotac. However, I am in Hong Kong and Zotac is a company that originated from Hong Kong.

I have been in touch with a person from Zotac regarding certain things I wanted to know about the motherboard (drivers, bios, etc). I have received a reply from them everytime with suggestions.

I can understand that the tech support is not the same in every country but so far I have received a reply to all my e-mails from Zotac Hong Kong.
 
You know what? Screw it, I did the same waiting game with OC mATX boards in 2007 and wound up with a $120 mediocre OC board that I replaced two years later with another $150 DFI that rocked. I guess I'm going to go grab the Gigabyte H67 that's $55 off ($55 total) at MC and get a more mature OC Z68 next year.
 
You know what? Screw it, I did the same waiting game with OC mATX boards in 2007 and wound up with a $120 mediocre OC board that I replaced two years later with another $150 DFI that rocked. I guess I'm going to go grab the Gigabyte H67 that's $55 off ($55 total) at MC and get a more mature OC Z68 next year.

My thoughts exactly (except I already got anASRock board)
 
No I don't work for Zotac. However, I am in Hong Kong and Zotac is a company that originated from Hong Kong.

I have been in touch with a person from Zotac regarding certain things I wanted to know about the motherboard (drivers, bios, etc). I have received a reply from them everytime with suggestions.

I can understand that the tech support is not the same in every country but so far I have received a reply to all my e-mails from Zotac Hong Kong.

I'm glad it's good for you. Unfortunately it sounds like maybe there's a corporate disconnect or something, because here in America I always hear terrible news about their customer support. It's a shame because their boards are great spec-wise.
 
I've used Zotac mITX mobos for a while, but that is only b/c they're just about the only folks sporting a full size (50mm) mPCIe slot.

Any comments / questions I have made regarding high-level technicaly specifications of the motherboards have been ignored, or rebuffed as "we don't give out that info". Every. single. suggestion. I have made has fallen on deaf ears.

The product happens to work for me, but I certainly won't be going around telling anyone how great their service is in the US (quite the opposite, actually. more of a cautionary tale).
 
I understand what you guys are referring to with you past experiences. If you guys wish you can send me a PM and I can give you the e-mail address and the name of the person at Zotac who has been replying all my e-mails

May be the customer service is better in Hong Kong?
 
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I'm gonna quote myself from another tread.

Rizzt said:
Got my hands on my Zotac Z68 card yesterday. I must admit. First thought about it when it was fresh out of the box. Awesome! The components looked good and everything on the board smelled quality. The 5 years warranty that Zotac gives the board is not bad either .

It comes with alot off stuff! And it was easy installed and up and running. I didn't need the WIFI so i did remove the card (yes, its removable). An i not gonna use almost half of the stuff on the card. But for a so small card and so much stuff. I give it thumps up.

The first hard bang i had with it was the BIOS overclocking. You can just tell Intel turbo what to do and how high to go. Almost nothing else. Yes, u can set you memory to for an example 1600. And tell CPU to get some more juice but that's it. I do hope Zotac comes with a new bios. This one is terrible.

At least I now run my 2500k at 4.5Ghz and my memory at 1600. And that was my goal. So I am happy either way.

I do recommend this card. But keep in mind the small BIOS faults, and headakes it gives. And pray for a new one! For this card have the opportunity to be great!
 
FYI, there's a new review posted over at TechPowerUp: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/Z68-ITX_WIFI/. I'm eagerly waiting for HardOCP or Anandtech to do a decent review, but I'm not terribly impressed with the product so far. I'm tempted to just buy another Asus H67 mini-itx board for my new gaming PC.
I've been away from PC gaming for so many years, I doubt I'll really notice the lack of a Z68 motherboard's features.
 
You know what? Screw it, I did the same waiting game with OC mATX boards in 2007 and wound up with a $120 mediocre OC board that I replaced two years later with another $150 DFI that rocked. I guess I'm going to go grab the Gigabyte H67 that's $55 off ($55 total) at MC and get a more mature OC Z68 next year.
Are you talking about this?

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0361415

I see the price as 95 after rebate. If it was $55, is that recommended over the Asus H61?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131727
 
How did the OC go? I'm also thinking of going anted h20 + Zotac z68 but can't really decide on the zotac board :p
ok, right now turbo multiplier seems stuck at 43 (42 looking at cpuz) even if i set higher values through bios
i also tried increasing turbo voltage a bit and one bios reset... mmm :confused: will try a pin reset later
 
Seams the Zotac Z68 will only do 4.5Ghz with a 2600K. I want more but is Zotac going to fix this problem or am i going to have to wait for someone to bring out a Z68 board?
 
i reached 4,5 ghz with the i5-2500k, you have to increase 'Turbo Boost Power Max' and Turbo Boost Short Power Max' values, but i don't know which values are safe for this board...

 
Zotac's Company Philosophy

http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=486&Itemid=100045&lang=ap

Listen to what users want


"We take user feedback of our products and general feedback of components and mini-PCs seriously at ZOTAC. We listen to all feedback, whether posted on forums, submitted via email or even tweeted about, ZOTAC cares about what you as an end user have to say about current and upcoming products."

That's great and all, but actions speak louder than words. That has not been my experience or the experience of many who own Zotac products.
 
wow i got impatient and just bought the h67 itx from zotac, i have no plans for overclocking anyways AND this will only be for my living room htpc, although a 2600k will be inside.

thanks for the pics fakeasd.
I have my pcq08 ready to go and ill post up my build when i get the cpu. ill be running onboard gpu though, until i see a nicely priced 6950...
 
i reached 4,5 ghz with the i5-2500k, you have to increase 'Turbo Boost Power Max' and Turbo Boost Short Power Max' values, but i don't know which values are safe for this board...


4,5 ghz is pretty sweet imo. Did you have to disable any features and would you say the Z68 is worth buying or?
 
4,5 ghz is pretty sweet imo. Did you have to disable any features and would you say the Z68 is worth buying or?
good or bad, if you can't wait other manufacturers, this is the only way to overclock these k cpus on itx and it works
about the features... no, i didn't disable any of them
 
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