BIOS options
Although it's possible to crank Atom clock speeds even in some netbooks, there are certainly more attractive platforms for prospective overclockers. Nevertheless, the IONITX-A's BIOS has a modest array of overclocking and tweaking options.

Make that a very modest array. But the clock speed controls are easy to use, and you can arbitrarily key in values rather than having to scroll through a giant list of options. If you select a front-side bus speed in excess of 2147MHz, however, the board reboots—not that you should pushing the Atom's FSB that high in the first place.

The IONITX's suite of memory timing options is probably far more useful than the board's overclocking controls. Memory voltages are tweakable, as well, which should allow the board to play nicely with a broad array of budget and high-end modules.

Given its likely home in small-form-factor desktops and home theater PCs, the IONITX's limited fan controls are a bit of a disappointment. The board may be capable of running with passive cooling, but I'd wager that a fair number of folks are going to need at least some measure of active airflow. The IONITX only provides static fan speed options for its CPU fan header, which is a cut below temperature-based fan speed control. What's worse, these fan speed controls don't appear to work. The included fan is reasonably quiet running at full speed, but it doesn't seem to slow down when switched to quiet mode.

Specifications and pricing
We're focusing on the IONITX-A today, but Zotac also has an IONITX-B revision that loses the bundled PSU and trades the Atom N330 for a single-core N270 CPU. The IONITX-A is expected to sell for $179 online and $189 in retail, with the B slated to run between $139 and $149, depending on the vendor. Zotac expects boards to trickle out this week, with widespread availability coming before the end of the month.

Our discussion thus far has hit on all the key elements of the IONITX's hardware, but here they are distilled into spec sheet form: