Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN970 Review - A Gaming mini-PC Done Right
by Ganesh T S on September 28, 2015 8:00 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN970 was evaluated using our standard test suite for mini / industrial PCs. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same.
Futuremark PCMark 8
PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU in the system. The issue for the MAGNUS EN970 is the fact that it comes with a U-series CPU, while the gaming mini-PCs from the competitors use the non-U CPUs. For example, the extra thickness of the ASRock VisionX series units allows them to integrate Core i7-4712MQ CPUs in the VisionX 471D and 420D systems. The GIGABYTE GB-BXi5G-760 uses a Core i5-5200H.
Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
We have moved on from R11.5 to R15 for 3D rendering evaluation. CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results. The surprising aspect is the OpenGL results - the previous generation GTX 760 seems to perform better than the GTX 960. As we shall see further on in the review, this issue persists in a few other benchmarks as well. The other results can easily be explained by the low power CPU (Core i5-5200U) in the system.
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boe - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
Thanks - I don't think that meets my 4K, HDMI 2.0a or audio requirements (pretty much my only requirements)SpartyOn - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
It does output UHD 4K @ 30 fps which should satisfy most consumer TVs on the market (unless you're rich enough to afford a 4096 × 2160 panel), so why do you need HDMI 2.0a?Also, as I stated, there is an open PCIe x1 slot for adding a sound card that meets your requirements, all at this inexpensive price point.
Jeesh, just trying to help here, bud.
boe - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
I'm putting in a new 85" TV with HDMI 2.0a and I'll want to be able to take advantage of high fps 4K 3d, DTS-X and Dolby Atmostjbrizz - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
What is the high end audio you're talking about? You only need to stream 8 ch PCM over HDMI for movies or multichannel music, or if you're an audiophile you use an asynchronous USB DAC for music. Any PC can do this.boe - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
DTS-X and Dolby AtmosSpartyOn - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
Oh, and I'll also point out that if you can afford a Dolby Atmos sound system, you really shouldn't be worrying about what the cost is for the right HTPC to be hooking it up to...Teknobug - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
Most TV's smaller than 55" takes up around 35W. This particular PC (CPU is 15W) shouldn't take anymore than 25-30W. I care about power consumption and this isn't half bad considering that, I have an i3 4010U NUC and under full load it only takes 19W.jbrizz - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
My 55 inch Samsung H6400 uses 60w with the backlight on 5 and 120w with the backlight on 15.Teknobug - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
jeez 120W on max backlight? My Sony Bravia 55" uses 52W with max backlight (I think that's 10) and my Sony Bravia 48" uses 37W, I normally use 6 or 7 backlight because it's next to a window where the sun shines in the afternoon, but 10 is hard on the eyes.meacupla - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
Is this the same thing as Zotac's steambox SN970?If it is, this was the one that caught my eye as it really stoodout from the crowd.