3DMark06 was then used to assess gaming performance:



The ION ITX A Series is not a gaming machine - that much can be seen by the 3DMark results. Despite this i did choose to test it with Call Of Duty 4 running at 'Standard Settings' with no AA and no V-Sync.


Call Of Duty 4.

For HD playback i used an LG Bluray/HDDVD drive to see how the ION ITX A Series coped with that kind of material.

I once again used my Sony 40W4000 and an HDMI cable to assess it's 1080p performance. I also downloaded a few full HD videos from Microsoft's HD site to see if they caused any issues.

I'm happy to report that all playback was smooth with no lockups, image issues or other noticeable problems.

Sound:

Compared to the last Zotac motherboard i tested the little ION ITX A Series was very impressive indeed. It’s fan throttled when under little to no load and only spooled up a little more during heavy encoding and gaming duties. It was quiet, unobtrusive and would work a charm in a HTPC environment.