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Prestonshire · (This post was last modified: 2013-11-14, 20:32 by Prestonshire.)

I'm looking to build a relatively cheap Windows HTPC, capable of 1080p (inc flash/silverlight), and I'm trying to decide on which mobo I should go for.

I've seen a number of posts on the Gigabyte GA-C1007UN-D board (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product...x?pid=4497 ) on this forum and elsewhere but nothing on the Zotac NM70ITX-C-E at all (http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-nm70-itx-nm70itx-c-e.html ), there is very little about it on the net. Both have the NM70 chipset.

My issue with the Gigabyte board is that it doesn't have USB 3.0, whereas the Zotac does.

Looking through the specs I can't see any reason why the Zotac isn't the better option (both are £70 in the UK).

Am I missing something? Any advice would be appreciated.

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-11-14, 23:27

Gigabyte C1037U should be out pretty soon, including one with a passive heatsink. See: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.as...6&p=2&v=30

The C1037U is faster than the C1007U but that might not be noticeable depending on your usage. For straight HTPC usage it won't be noticeable. The thing the Gigabyte has others do not is a much quieter fan. I've built 4 HTPCs with the GA-C1007UN-D and it's great.

Prestonshire · 2013-11-15, 00:05

(2013-11-14, 23:27)Dougie Fresh Wrote: Gigabyte C1037U should be out pretty soon, including one with a passive heatsink. See: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.as...6&p=2&v=30

The C1037U is faster than the C1007U but that might not be noticeable depending on your usage. For straight HTPC usage it won't be noticeable. The thing the Gigabyte has others do not is a much quieter fan. I've built 4 HTPCs with the GA-C1007UN-D and it's great.

Many thanks Dougie. One would assume the C1037U will be fairly pricey on launch, although it may push down the GA-C1007UN-D price, therefore so it may be wise to wait? Any indication on when it'll be out?

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-11-15, 03:44

No indication, no. I hope the passive model is available in the US.

Meelisv · 2013-11-15, 10:16

The thing why Gigabyte boards are more popular than Zotac might be wider availability of Gigabyte boards.
For example in my little corner of Europe, Zotac boards are rare and usually quite expensive, while Gigabyte boards are cheap and available from all PC retailers.

Nice to finally see a Celeron board with passive cooling. Though i have never understood why they didn't do it before. I am currently running a C1007UN board with fan disconnected, though at the moment without case, just plain board with PicoPSU and flash drive running openELEC.
idle temp. is around 35-40 C and under load usually around 55 C, never exceeding 60. Eventually i will try what temperatures i'll get in a case. Problem is that i haven't found a case i like yet which i can afford. I really like Realan E-I3 which Dougie uses but availability is very poor here, only few small shops sell it, and their delivery is so expensive it basically doubles cost of the case... Perhaps i will just MacGyver something together out of existing old stuff.

As for USB 3.0, IMO it only has advantages in 2 cases: If you have really fast USB flash drive and board can boot from USB 3.0 (cheap USB 3.0 drives are not usually fast enough to take reallyadvantage of USB 3.0) or if you use internal HDD/SSD and want to copy stuff over to it via USB.
In my case all media comes over LAN from server, so i don't need it. Of course, if price is identical, more features is usually better Smile