ZOTAC GF6100-E-E Mobo + APEX MI-008 w/ PS Mini ITX Combo $50 AR

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cyberia

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 1999
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Newegg had this combo today on a 3-hour Shell Shocker for $55.99 AR, but the price is even lower now.

$49.99 after a $10 MIR:
ZOTAC GF6100-E-E AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP Mini ITX AMD Motherboard
APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply

Could this be a Dell HD Zino killer?
 
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mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
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Product differentiation, how you sell a cheap one, and a not cheap one.

I just built my first HTPC/NAS and the BIG lesson learned is pick the right motherboard with all the onboard stuff you need, and of the right type.
 
jjmIII

jjmIII

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2001
8,399
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I'm running this combo, but bought it months back. The board was like $26 AR or something.
Yes, its a cheap board (feature-wise), but works great for what it is. I grabbed a dual-core Sempron (yes, they exist) really cheap on eBay, and added a new $18 DVDrw and old 1TB I had laying around. Memory makes it hard to build cheap, but I got two 1gb sticks with a coupon for $36 at Omax.
If nothing else, it's a cool little box. I may use it as a loaner when I'm doing repairs on customers PCs.
 
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Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
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If that motherboard had built in wireless adapter and a DVI video output I would have been all over this deal. I had the other parts all picked out too. :(
 
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RobsTV

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Feb 11, 2000
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Many reports of being able to modify the PCI-e x1 slot by opening up the end (cut it open). This then allows most low end PCI-e x16 cards to fit in there, and most will work! Google "pci-e x16 in x1 slot" for more info. It does work for many, but I think depends on the motherboard. Did not see any results using this motherboard. Speed is of course not as good as even x4, but is still faster than normal PCI solutions. 3D gaming benchmarks show it could be used for light gaming as a faster choice than onboard.

I will definitely be doing this mod as soon as the board arrives. I have a bunch of sub $20 PCI-e cards doing nothing, so looks like a good way to use them.
 
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jaydee

Diamond Member
May 6, 2000
4,496
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RobsTV said:
Many reports of being able to modify the PCI-e x1 slot by opening up the end (cut it open). This then allows most low end PCI-e x16 cards to fit in there, and most will work! Google "pci-e x16 in x1 slot" for more info. It does work for many, but I think depends on the motherboard. Speed is of course not as good as even x4, but is still faster than normal PCI solutions. 3D gaming benchmarks show it could be used for light gaming as a faster choice than onboard.

I will definitely be doing this mod as soon as the board arrives. I have a bunch of sub $20 PCI-e cards doing nothing, so looks like a good way to use them.
Click to expand...

I don't know much about this. Do you think the something like the Radeon 4550/5450 would be bottlenecked much here?
 
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cyberia

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 1999
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jaydee said:
I don't know much about this. Do you think the something like the Radeon 4550/5450 would be bottlenecked much here?
Click to expand...

RobsTV: I am guessing something like 4350 would work here for good quality video playback and HDMI output. I would certainly like to here more about your hands-on experience if you get around to it.
 
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RobsTV

Platinum Member
Feb 11, 2000
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I'll update next week with several cards I have.
 
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RobsTV

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Feb 11, 2000
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No luck with X1 to X16 mod.
Guessing that success depends on motherboard used. Maybe one with 24pin power?

Soldering iron heated tip is good way to open slot without damaging anything.
Tape to insulate unused portion of x16 card, as it will touch USB header pins.
Remove hold down pushpin from NB heatsink, and use X16 card to hold down that end instead.

tested cards all were self powered.
ATi x1300, HD2400 Pro
nVidia 7600GT, 8500GT
None showed boot screen.
Bios set to boot to PCIx, not onboard, yet onboard was all that worked.

It really sucks that after several years, and a few CPU socket updates, onboard is still as slow or slower than the bunch of Jetway 939 motherboards I still have running with onboard x300 video. (the jetway 939 had 32 meg dedicated on motherboard video memory plus what ever shared system memory you allotted). nVidia 6100/6150 are actually a couple of the slower ones!
 
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grandeCC

Senior member
Sep 1, 2002
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The AM2 AMD stock cpu cooler would not fit the case (1/4 in too high) - any recommendation for a lower profile cooler?

Warning:
After installing the OEM home XP, I've loaded the Zotac driver and the VGA driver went kaput (4-bit resolution). Zotac tech support gave me the driver replacement but no luck - Zotac recommends RAM. But... I went ahead getting all the XP update and XP finally installed the latest video driver (1920x1080).
 
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RobsTV

Platinum Member
Feb 11, 2000
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Sempron 140 stock HSF fits with about 1/4" to spare. Maybe you could swap one out or similar?

This thing runs HOT.
Probably a good thing I could not get a video card to work, as I have needed to use that space to add a cooling fan to the system. Still idles at 50c and Prime 95 peaks around 67c with cover on though. Prior to fan, temps hit 70c+ in Prime95.
 
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mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,666
157
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RobsTV said:
Sempron 140 stock HSF fits with about 1/4" to spare. Maybe you could swap one out or similar?

This thing runs HOT.
Probably a good thing I could not get a video card to work, as I have needed to use that space to add a cooling fan to the system. Still idles at 50c and Prime 95 peaks around 67c with cover on though. Prior to fan, temps hit 70c+ in Prime95.
Click to expand...

Anybody measure the power consumption, running hot could mean its not very low power.
 
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RobsTV

Platinum Member
Feb 11, 2000
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Yes I measured with Killawatt, and total power used runs 45W at idle desktop screen to 74W prime95 or 3dm2005.

The power supply fan barely moves air. The CPU fan 1/4" below it moves much more air. I suspect that because the CPU is taking available air, none makes it through the power supply. It then heats up, which in turn, adds more heat to the CPU fan intake. CPU is pulling in hot air from overheating PS.

I tried the stock fans in all combos. PS and CPU blowing in and out, out and out and in/in. Best results were with stock configuration, CPU fan blowing onto CPU heatsink, and PS pulling air from above heatsink and exhausting outside case. Nothing worked well.
 
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