ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi Pro Reviews

If you're looking a tiny board as the basis of a gaming-capable machine sans discrete graphics, the A75 B-series is a great choice. And if your little chassis has enough space, then a cheapo GPU paired up in hybrid CrossFireX mode could get you an impressive wee gaming PC.

As an HTPC board, the ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi definitely meets my needs, providing a stable, reliable base for HTPC use. However, there are ZERO overclocking options, so many users will not be impressed, but for me personally, overclocking and HTPC should only mix in specific situations, and a build with AMD's Fusion APUs is definitely not that situation, so this is of little consequence for my scoring of this product. The addition of Intel XMP support to an AMD product isn't a one-off, as we've seen a few other AMD products with the same ability, but they are few and far between, and such support vastly increases the available choices users have for memory to be used with this product, which cannot be overlooked. All that said, I am using the ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi myself as a HTPC box in my bedroom, and for that, it works great. The addition of extra USB 3.0 ports means that connecting external devices for storage or media playback is nice and fast, while at the same time making sure that the board is ready for future devices as well. I removed a half point for the lack of overclocking options, as that was disappointing, but other than that, I really have a hard time finding faults with this ZOTAC board. The addition of bus adjustments would make it perfect in my eyes, but even without, it's still pretty damn close.

It wouldn't make sense to use an ITX board as the backbone of an expensive gaming rig, but ITX motherboards do have there uses. For example, it would make a lot more sense to use an ITX board in an HTPC build as opposed to a full sized ATX motherboard. Not only that, but using such a small motherboard will allow you to build an HTPC machine that you can neatly tuck out of sight. This is obviously a huge selling point for ITX motherboards, but does the small size come at a cost to performance? As Zotac has just showed us, it doesn't have to. The Zotac A75-ITX WiFi offered up the exact same performance as other A75 boards we've looked at, all while being much smaller. One downside to the board is its $140 price tag. While this isn't a whole lot of money to spend on a motherboard, other A75 boards can be had for cheaper. While you can get the same performance as the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi for less money, the board's features help to make up for the extra cost. For instance you'll be able to utilize a total of six USB 3.0 ports and each of the board's four SATA connectors are SATA 3 6Gb/s. The board is also equipped with dual 10/100/1000Mbps LAN connectors, as well as integrated IEEE 802.11n WiFi networking. This by itself makes the board an ideal HTPC motherboard because you can easily place it anywhere in your home. One slight disappointment I found with the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi was its lack of overclocking features. Right out of the gate I wasn't expecting it to have any, but the fact that it had an overclocking section of the BIOS without any overclocking options was a bit of a let down. Hopefully in a future update, Zotac will either remove this portion of the BIOS or give the user the ability to actually change settings needed to overclock. Other than that, it was a great motherboard that I'd recommend to anyone looking for an ITX solution. The board is a bit pricey, but for what it is and does, I'd say it's worth it. Besides, all you really need to do is add memory, an HDD, and a PSU, and you've got yourself a nice little HTPC!

Despite the slower CPU and memory performance of the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi, we do not think that everyday use will suffer greatly. However, we are more concerned about the poor SATA and USB 3.0 performance. To be fair, if the system is bundled with a mechanical drive, the slower SATA performance is probably not going to be an issue. In addition, we are not a fan of the BIOS, though it does get the job done. For its market, we really think it would not be a major issue for lacking the pretty UEFI interface and the mouse support. The limited overclocking potential is also not going to be an major issue either. The thing we liked about the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi is the bundled Bluetooth and WiFi and the fact that it uses desktop DIMM as opposed to SoDIMM. While the use of USB 3.0 hub may has its drawback, it does provide more USB 3.0 ports which in the long term may come in handy. At retail pricing of $146, the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi is certainly worth considering if you plan to build a small foot-print media PC. By pairing this up with a 65W AMD A8 or A6 APUs, you can have a very nice system that is able to handle your multimedia streaming and HD encoding with the HD 6650D that is found on the Llano APU.

The A75-ITX WiFi is a great technical achievement, as the board is almost as fully featured as its full-sized ATX cousins, and we tip our collective hat to Zotac for cramming so much kit onto such a tiny board. Unfortunately, although a tiny integrated FM1 system is a compelling thought, the board is a niche product. The main reason for this is the board’s price; at £108.35, you’re paying a premium for a small form factor board that doesn’t overclock. As a result, only those who specifically require a mini-ITX A75 board should consider the A75-ITX WiFi as a viable option.