Nvidia's GeForce MCP7a does include 7.1 channel LPCM HD audio support over HDMI 1.3 without any need for an extra TDMS like Intel's G45, so this could certainly perk the interest of some HTPC enthusiasts. It's better than the vanilla ALC883, but not as good as the premium ALC885/889a that also include content protection for Blu-ray movies, providing the software can handle it (none do at the moment, as far as we know). Zotac includes the Realtek ALC888 HD audio codec onboard that can provide decent 7.1 channel audio. This keeps the power cables neatly away to one side. The 24-pin ATX socket is sat right up at the top of the board along with the four-pin socket and thinking about it this makes for a better position should you use a "desktop" style HTPC case with the PSU sitting to the right hand side of the CPU socket.
Should a double slot card be used in the x16 this still leaves a PCI and PCI-Express x1 available. Zotac includes a single PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot for graphics, then one x1 and two PCI slots for expansion with other peripheral cards. The memory slots are placed a bit too low making DIMM removal a bit of a pain when a graphics card is installed, however the four slots are a benefit to easily upgrade. We'd have liked the SATA ports at 90 degrees to the board, but at least they don't get in the way of anything facing outwards. It certainly looks pretty good and the placement of components is very good indeed. Board LayoutZotac's corporate colours certainly permeate the design in its black PCB, orange, white and blue colour scheme.
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