Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN970 Review - A Gaming mini-PC Done Right
by Ganesh T S on September 28, 2015 8:00 AM ESTPower Consumption and Thermal Performance
The power consumption at the wall was measured with a 1080p display being driven through the HDMI port. In the graphs below, we compare the idle and load power of the Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN970 with other low power PCs evaluated before. For load power consumption, we ran Furmark 1.12.0 and Prime95 v27.9 together. Despite consuming close to 19W at idle, the ZBOX MAGNUS EN970 actually happens to be the PC with the lowest idle power amongst all the discrete GPU-equipped machines that we have evaluated so far.
The load power is also amongst the highest in the set of numbers that we have seen till now. However, the big separation between the idle and load powers indicate that the sytem can operate efficiently over a wide range of loading conditions.
Our thermal stress routine starts with the system at idle, followed by 30 minutes of pure CPU loading. This is followed by another 30 minutes of both CPU and GPU being loaded simultaneously. After this, the CPU load gets removed, allowing the GPU to be loaded alone for another 30 minutes. The various clocks in the system as well as the temperatures within the unit are presented below.
According to Intel's official specifications, the junction temperature of the Core i5-5200U is 105C. We find that pure CPU loading keeps the clock frequency half-way between the base frequency (2.2 GHz) and the maximum burst frequency (2.7 GHz). However, the temperature remains well below the junction temperature (around 82C). Getting the GPU into the equation ramps up the motherboard temperature as well as that of the GPU and GPU. However, the CPU remains below the junction temperature despite going up to as high as 102C. The GPU stabilizes around 81C.
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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.