• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

DEAD: ZOTAC GF6100-E-E AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 MiniITX Mobo $15 After MIR

hmmmm, the AM2 CPU that I have sitting around is 95W. I assume that the power circuitry isn't designed to handle that, however my old Kuma undervolts very well. If I put a 95W CPU in this board A) will it boot B) if I immediately boot into BIOS and crank the clockspeed/voltage down will I be OK?
 
If you read the NewEgg feedback, several people said their 95W chips run fine in it. I got this board for $25 (AR), and the $10 rebate from Zotac came very quickly. I run mine with a 65W Brisbane, so I can't personally comment on the 95W compatibility, I just remember several user comments on NewEgg mentioned it. Also, there's not a lot of BIOS options on this board, don't expect to do much overclocking. I just use it for playing with Ubuntu and crunching, it works fine for that.

Also, while my $10 rebate came quickly for this board, another $30 rebate for a Zotac video card is taking much longer, and I still haven't received it. Zotac seems to be real hit-or-miss when it comes to rebate processing. Make sure you register for the rebate through their website, that supposedly makes the process easier.

maniac5999 said:
hmmmm, the AM2 CPU that I have sitting around is 95W. I assume that the power circuitry isn't designed to handle that, however my old Kuma undervolts very well. If I put a 95W CPU in this board A) will it boot B) if I immediately boot into BIOS and crank the clockspeed/voltage down will I be OK?
Click to expand...
 
the nvidia chipsets dont kill this deal? the mir is bad enough.... still tempting, im sure it would work as an htpc...
 
Apparently it's possible to use a PCIE 1x slot for a video card with some modifications...

Not sure how NVIDIA GeForce 6100 onboard stacks up to a really cheap discrete card (6450 or similar).

I luckily have 2 1GB sticks of DDR800 that was given to me, so I'll be using that... I think a Linux HTPC box is starting to come together 😎
 
the 6100 wont do high def as far as i know... things like youtube or netflix wont be playing in hd off the gpu... the 6100 is a very old onboard gpu nowadays.... but this board can use fast cpu's so it should be a non-issue anyway. just get a quiet cpu cooler
 
wirednuts said:
the 6100 wont do high def as far as i know... things like youtube or netflix wont be playing in hd off the gpu... the 6100 is a very old onboard gpu nowadays.... but this board can use fast cpu's so it should be a non-issue anyway. just get a quiet cpu cooler
Click to expand...

Sorry I don't understand... Fast CPU means the onboard should be a non-issue? Meaning?
 
meaning a fast cpu can play any hd video you throw at it, pretty much regardless of what video chipset youre using. in fact, its ideal to run all of your media off a fast cpu if you can.. it usually means 100% compatibility across all softwares.

current trends though seem to show that having a slower power efficient cpu coupled with a discrete video card that can handle media (and subsequently be powered down when not used to save power) is a cost effective solution that still works really well... so having a fast cpu is not imperative anymore.

again though, now that we have cpu's with c5 power states you go back to the fact that the cpu can perform and save energy all on its own, and the video part is just there to provide a little image quality improvement and general gaming capabilities.
 
Last edited:
Onboard video is not my area of expertise, obviously... So the CPU powers the onboard video? I always thought it was just a little onboard chip that does the video as well as it does and thats it... Except for the brand new CPU's with a GPU on the die, of course... Or does the on-die GPU take over for the onboard video? That almost makes sense...
 
well its always a combination of the cpu and the gpu that makes the final image. but in cases like HD video, you need a lot of processing power to make that image happen. in motherboards like this one, the 6100 video chipset is not powerful enough to process a 1080p video stream... so it would have to rely on the cpu to do the crunching. then, the gpu can take that processed video and overlay some subtle enhancements on it before it goes to the monitor. thats how you get a good HD output normally.

but nowadays we have gpu's that are fast enough to process and enhance the video all on their own.... leaving the cpu almost entirely out of the stream. its just another way to do it, it doesnt mean its better or worse then having the cpu help, but since this all started with cpu's doing all the work you get the best compatibly across all platforms when you have a cpu that can handle its own. of course, gpu accelerated video is very common as of the last couple years, so its not even much of an issue anymore.
 
Considering the only video output on this board is vga I don't think you'd want to use that for htpc. This looks more like a home server type board to me.
 
4 year old chipset and Zotac rebate. I had to fight to get my Zotac rebate on a Z-box (netbox) purchase. If you're not the kind that likes to fight for rebates, then consider whether you're happy with the pre-rebate price.
 
So, I received the motherboard today... It has a lifetime warranty, so I went on their website to register it for the warranty... I can't figure this part out:

zotacwarranty.jpg



There's no USA or Canada? Srsly?
 
Tried!

EMEA Others:
Finland
Croatia
Turkey
Ukraine
etc... No Canada or USA

APAC Others is the same thing, random other countries...

HORRIBLE WEBSITE!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top