Intels recent Z77 chipset for desktop PCs seems to seem to inspire motherboard manufacturers to conquer another niche in the market. What we're speaking about are mini ITX performance desktops. Today we show you what EVGA is doing in this market segment and what their plans are.
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The Z77 mini ITX will be EVGA's first mini ITX motherboard that can even be used for overclocking. Therefore we're really curious what they've done from the layout and design perspective.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Spezifikationen / Lieferumfang
| CPU | Intel Socket 1155 2nd/3rd Generation Core Processors |
| Chipset | Intel Z77 |
| Memory | 2 x DIMM max 32 GB DDR3, Dual Channel |
| Multi-GPU | N/A |
| Slots | 1 x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 |
| Sound | Realtek ALC898 8-Channel HD Audio Codec |
| Storage | 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s (Intel, RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1) 2 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s (Intel, RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1, JBOD) 2 x eSATA 6.0 Gb/s (Marvell) |
| LAN | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet |
| I/O internal | |
| I/O Back Panel |
|
| Fan connectors | 3 header |
| Forfactor | mini ITX Form Factor (17 cm x 17 cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (64 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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[pagebreak]
Layout
Already at a first glance the EVGA Z77 Mini ITX looks very good with its harmonic design. EVGA uses a black PCB, black expansion slots and antracite colored coolers. The colors suite nicely and the different shades of black and grey are calming. The layout itself is well thought and concerning the samll form factor there is for example plenty of space around the CPU socket to install even big CPU coolers. Right above the PCI-Express-x16 slot there are four straigt SATA connectors. Placed like this it's possible to easily install a big and powerful graphics card without running into troubles.
EVGA equipped the Z77 Mini ITX with an eight phase current supply regarding CPU. The memory gets an additional phase for stable operation. EVGA managed to squeeze all the nine phases right onto the motherboard itself, not like ASUS who chose to put the power design onto an additional daughterboard. To offer maximum reliability EVGA uses IR3550M MOSFETs from International Rectifier which can cope with up to 60A current per phase.
Totally you'll find two DIMM-slots on the Z77 Mini ITX. At the moment there is no official information about the supported clock sepeed but we're quite sure that this board will be able to reach something between 2400 MHz and 2800 MHz easily, with the right CPU of course.
Southbridge as well as the current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via passive cooling blocks. The cooling blocks haven been positioned wisely, which means that they don't collide with memory or CPU cooler. Considering this is a just 17 x 17 centimeter small mini ITX board, there really is a lot of space for big coolers. Of course you can't compare this to a full ATX board but for mini ITX standards, this is really good.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Anschlüsse und I/O
Totally EVGA provided the Z77 Mini ITX with four straight SATA ports which should be enough for any office PC or gaming system. You'll also find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons. Furthermore there even is a debug LED. There even is an mSATA slot.
Totally you'll find three fan header on the Z77 Mini ITX which really is enough for all kind of setups you might want to build using this board. Two of the three fan headers have been located right above the CPU socket. The third one you'll find left from the CPU socket.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel EVGA equipped the Z77 Mini ITX with four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, two eSATA connectors, one gigabit ethernet port, an optical out as well as an analogue audio panel. Furthermore there also is a BIOS reset button as well a DisplayPort and an HDMI connector.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Fazit
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| At a first glance EVGA leaves a very good impression with its Z77 Mini ITX. There even is plenty of space around the CPU socket to install large coolers. Furthermore we liked that EVGA equipped this board with an eight phase power design regarding the CPU. This is even engough to do some serious overclocking. Fruthermore you'll also find an additional phase which takes care of a stable current supply for the DIMMs installed. Another thing is the PCI-Express x16 slot which can be found on this tiny power board. | - Design - Mini ITX form factor | ||
| Layout | + | - | |
|
Generally the EVGA Z77 Mini ITX's Layout has been very well thought. In case of the SATA connectors you find four straight ones right above the PCI Express x16 connector, close to the DIMM slots. Impressive, that's what the VRM design is. Although there is almost no space at all on this tiny board, EVGA managed to squeeze nine phases onto the PCB. Furthermore it should even be possible to install big CPU coolers. In this case we would recommend to make use of a down draft cooler which will provide the onboard components with fresh air too. |
- Power design on raiser card - Space around the CPU socket | ||
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Author: Marc Büchel m.buechel@ocaholic.ch