The enthusiast’s graphics cards market isn’t the only area that’s been heating up the past months, integrated graphics are making giant strides towards increased relevance towards the mid-range markets, instead of simply making its presence known in the lowest-end, integrated functionality – obsessed budget buyers. The latest of these giant strides is represented here by two boards using the same brand-new Nvidia chipset: The Asus P5N7A-VM and the Zotac GeForce 9300, both using the single-chip Nvidia 9300 “chipset”.

                                              These two 9300 representatives face off.

The quotes are there because the 9300 is a single, monolithic chip incorporating all of the normal integrated functions found on a micro-ATX board, and more besides. Built on the 65nm process, the 9300 is meant to take on AMD’s best in the 780G and the newly released 790GX with graphics capability, a full list of features, and compatibility with some of Intel’s best processors, along the way redefining what “integrated graphics” mean for the common consumer who usually get these kinds of motherboards instead of a full ATX board plus a discrete graphics card.

                                              In addition to the intrinsic 9300 features, each motherboard brought along their own brand of uniqueness and additional functionality.

The 9300 starts off with a bang with its list of features, which read like something from a mid-range discrete graphics card. 16 shaders (or processing units) hum along at 1200MHz and a 450MHz core. Since its FSB runs at a high 1,333MHz, support for processors as high as Intel’s Core 2 Quads is a given, and its vintage also ensures compatibility with the most recent 45nm cores. There is a full 20 lanes of PCI-E 2.0 connectivity, enabling the Nvidia 9300 to have a single 16x PCI-E for graphics. As with its other 9 series brethren, the 9300 chipset is able to decode HD content on-board, something that can’t be said for most other integrated graphics solutions.

                                             While very similar due to both motherboard's use of the 9300 chip, the buyer's needs will most probably determine which motherboard is bought.

The complete list of Nvidia’s SLI related features show up in force on these motherboards, including HybridPower, Hybrid SLI and GeForce Boost, and a relatively new feature called Hybrid Physx – all of which involve smart delegating of processing duties (and the timely deactivation of unneeded processing) between the on-board GPU and a paired discrete graphics card.

                                             The Asus (bottom) uses up one SATA connector for rear panel E-SATA duties.

Aside from the graphical capabilities of an integrated graphics solution, what makes or breaks a motherboard chipset is the number and variety of output and connectivity options. The Nvidia 9300 does not disappoint in both motherboard iterations, although the motherboards have different implementations of the chipset’s capabilities, making for an interesting comparison between the two. The most important features of the chipset remain unchanged, with both motherboards able to output two video streams through DVI and HDMI.

                                             The inclusion of DisplayPort, E-SATA, SPDIF and two additional USB ports on the rear panel on the Asus (bottom) differentiates it from the Zotac (top).

Both boards support 6 SATA 3.0 GBps connectors, with the main difference of the Asus having 5 on-board with the sixth located at the rear panel serving as an external SATA connector. Also of note is that Asus has 6 USB slots at the rear to the Zotac’s four. The Asus also trumps the Zotac with its inclusion of a next-generation DisplayPort at the rear panel, making the Asus with its inclusion of DVI, HDMI, and regular VGA in addition to the aforementioned next-gen connector a media enthusiast’s delight. The Zotac on the other hand, while not boasting as comprehensive a connectivity suite at the rear panel as the Asus, compensates by including on-board power and reset buttons and a numeric POST-er that is able to display status and error codes during startup and use.

                                             The on-board power and reset buttons, plus the numerical POST-er may appeal to the tweaker.

Other than these key differences, these two 9300-based motherboards are remarkably the same, with the same expansion suite (1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 legacy PCI), the same memory subsystem (4 DDR2-800 capable DIMM slots-nominal without overclocking) nearly the same number of internal headers (2 FireWire headers for both and 3 USB headers for the Asus, 4 for the Zotac – due to Asus’ additional two USB connectors at the rear) and secondary connectivity options that differ only in their placement.

                                             Placement of both the 24-pin power and the IDE/FDD connectors may make or break a case cooling strategy, or determine whether the cables can be connected properly or not.

Specifically, single IDE and floppy drive connectors are found on both motherboards, and while both boards place these connectors at the edges, the Asus edges out the Zotac slightly with its horizontal placement for the IDE connector and placement of both connectors on one edge of the board. Speaking of placement, the Zotac also has a somewhat unorthodox placement of the 24-pin power connector - right above the memory banks, which may or may not hinder your cable arrangement depending on the casing you use. Asus places its power connector right beside the IDE connector, which again may or may not be the correct placement depending on your casing and power supply.

                                             Again, the Asus motherboard (at bottom) subtracts from internal connectivity to add to the rear panel's connectivity options. Asus has an additional 2 USB connectors at the rear compared to the Zotac.

The Asus also comes into this comparison with its Express Gate system and EPU 4-engine, part of Asus’ continuing drive to improve energy saving and economy. The Zotac on the other hand doesn’t really advertise, but the VRMs and capacitors around the CPU area rivals that of the Asus, and Zotac has proven to be no slouch in the past with the efficiency of its products. Other small differences abound, some of them cosmetic as evidenced by the cooling apparatus on the respective 9300s of both motherboards, with Asus putting on a bit more flair with its inclusion of mini-heatpipes and a somewhat oversized heatsink compared to the Zotac’s utilitarian heatsink-and fan solution.

                                             VRM and capacitors around the Asus' CPU socket (bottom) seemmore sparse than the Zotac, although this is no direct indication energy efficiency.

Overall, both boards take advantage of the 9300’s multitude of connectivity options, with just a few omissions I’d like to have seen on either board. Primary is a firewire socket at the rear, although that’s purely a personal preference. Optical-output is also missing from the Zotac, although this can be circumvented by using the HDMI connector to route both sound and video to a compatible display device.

Other than these niggles, both boards seem to be on top of their games, whether this involves further heating up the integrated-motherboard space or simply serving as excellent media-handling platforms for the increasingly connectivity-hungry consumers who eschew the expensive discrete graphics option and look for the integrated graphics solution that is capable of satisfying their connectivity urges while still having the chops to serve as powerful graphics platforms, unlike their older counterparts.

                                            Nothing special with the Asus bundle; SATA connectors,Asus Q-connects, and the floppy cable come standard.

                                             The Zotac comes with a FireWire bracket in the addition to the normal bundle - definitely a plus point.