Earlier this year, Zotac, a well-known vendor of graphics cards and motherboards, adopted NVIDIA’s Ion platform to build a new HTPC-ready motherboard that boasted a compact mini-ITX form factor. On that note, the company is now preparing to provide users with a new model, featuring the same NVIDIA Ion chipset, with the introduction of the new Zotac ION ITX F-series, designed to enable the same HTPC-ready features but on a board that should deliver a bit more performance, thanks to the adoption of Intel’s more powerful Atom 330 dual-core processor.

“ZOTAC always listens to user requests for features. End users loved our ION ITX series motherboards, but some requested PCI Express expansion. We listened and thus the ZOTAC ION ITX F series was born,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International. “Our engineers managed to integrate PCI Express x16 expansion without sacrificing any of the award-winning features either. The ZOTAC ION ITX-F series is a work horse. The powerful graphics processor and dual-core processor makes the ION ITX-F series ideal for home theater PCs or a desktop PC,” Mr. Berger said.

As you’d expect, the board is based on NVIDIA’s ION chipset, offering support for Intel’s dual-core Atom 330 processor. In addition to that, the Mini-ITX board is also featured with support for up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, through two DDR2-800 memory slots, three SATA 3Gbp/s ports, one eSATA, Gigabit Ethernet, integrated 802.11n wireless LAN, support for up to ten USB 2.0 ports, 6-channel HD audio and built-in support for DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 graphics, thanks to the integrated GeForce graphics chip. On the connectivity side, you have your regular ports, but also HDMI, DI and VGA outputs, offering a wide choice for all consumers.

Specifically designed for HTPC and DIY enthusiasts, the board is expected to become available soon, although the company is yet to detail the specific availability date and pricing.