Zotac ZBOX Nano XS AD11 Plus: Redefining the Small Form Factor PC
by Ganesh T S on April 11, 2012 5:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- ZOTAC
- Fusion
- HTPC
The other important aspect for HTPCs is performance with network streaming services such as YouTube and Netflix. The ZBOX Nano XS AD11 Plus comes with a GbE port, so one should never be found wanting in terms of bandwidth. The bundled support for Wi-Fi serves as a backup if the unit is placed somewhere without wired access. We tested out both YouTube and Netflix with our standard test streams used in previous reviews.
The good news is that GPU acceleration is attempted and enabled in both Silverlight and Adobe Flash. The unfortunate aspect is that there are some CPU intensive parts which result in dropped frames.
With Netflix, we started out with a 3.6 Mbps video / 64 kbps audio stream. However, the plug-in seemed to sense the high CPU load and automatically shifted to lower bitrate streams (as can be seen in the screenshot above). This is despite the fact that GPU acceleration was attempted and enabled!
YouTube is a slightly different story. The CPU load is not that high, but it periodically loads up one of the cores fully. At 100% CPU loading on one of the cores, there were visible dropped frames in the playback.
I had encouraging words for the ZBOX at the end of the previous section, but, with OTT streaming, there is no way to put a positive spin on things. Either the drivers have to step up, or the plug-ins have to be optimized. Either way, the ZBOX can't be recommended right now for streaming high definition videos despite the presence of GPU acceleration.
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dealcorn - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
The form factor has appeal and will increase sales because it is cute. However, the relevant, missing comparative data point should be Intel's dn2800mt which provides a lower cost, more efficient alternative to the Atom Ion boards of old.markq - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
This machine is directly comparable to an atom based nettop. Why were the performance numbers not compared to an atom machine? My wife curently has an atom based unit and I would like to be able to determine if this is a suitable replacement for it.Matias - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
I had an ID11 before the AD10, and the E350 is way better than the 510+ION for video playback, and CPU is a little faster. There are other reviews that compare them.Spunjji - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
Because that would make Brazos look good. ;)msroadkill612 - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
not my cup of tea - always a big price for such excessive miniaturisationam interested in brazos tho
a review of a brazos mini itx board would be interesting to see what problems go away - the review judges the barazos package based on a sample of one
no mention of memory used - i hear 1600~ ram helps heaps on llanos anyway - cos it is used by the gpu also
not surprised by fan noise in such a small package
in short - we should reserve our judgement & hunt up other brazos reviews
some of the flaws dont sound right - the dropped frames e.g
power numbers v impressive
Idle 14.1 W
Prime95 + Furmark (Full loading) 31.4 W
1080p24 MKV Playback using DXVA 24.4 W
as a thin client on a cloud - a lot for the boss to like - a big cost can be aircon w/ all those hot overpowered PCs pumping heat into the office in summer
imagine 40nm brazos at 32nm (now running smoothly for amd) or 28 nm, (next node for their now 40nm gpuS) tweaked a bit
Tralalak - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
W will waiting to ZOTAC ZBOX nano VD-series with VIA QuadCore procesor and all-in-one chipset VIA VX11 MSP with DirectX11 VIA Chrome 645 IGP.R3MF - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
i like, i really do, but i will put cash on the table when Zotac show me a model sporting an AMD Trinity Fusion APU...........adityanag - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
The pictures are pretty poor (not the internal ones in the gallery, those are OK). It looks like you took them with a phone. I'm not suggesting that you need to get a $5000 camera, but at least something that is in focus?Not trying to be too negative or anything, rather liked the review, and that's why I wish the pictures were better.
adityanag - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
I saw another comment that explained why the pictures were poor, so I take it back.. a little... even pictures shot in a hurry should be focused!NerdMan - Friday, April 13, 2012 - link
Agreed.A 1st rate site should definitely have quality photos, no matter how quickly the review is done!
I loved AnandTech back in its heyday, but it's fast becoming a 2nd rate review site.