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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krystyin - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
It is the exact same box - except you can get it one whole month early.YukaKun - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
I love the idea and concept, but I think it's still far from perfect execution on 2 accounts:1.- They could compromise an inch or less for height and put a beefier CPU in there without sacrificing a lot of space, but giving a HUGE performance and life longevity boost.
2.- Sound does not seem to be something they cares much about. For that price range and fighting for Living Room space, they need to show more sound options and connectivity. Good on the HDMI front, but I did not see an optical nor RCA SPDIF connector. Plus, no DP can be forgiven, but still hurts IMO.
I think the price is also high, but if this delivers in acoustics and brute performance in such a nice small package, it justifies the price. Most great notebooks that come close to this are over 1K.
Cheers!
wintermute000 - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
Also, for this price I'd want HDCP 2.2 and 4k/60fps hardware HEVC10.For this scenario you'd almost say a GTX960 based card would have been better for the HEVC10 and HDCP 2.2 (than a cut down GTX970) - even if you give up a few frames, I would not expect a 1k HTPC to lack ANY HTPC features
abhaxus - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
Another article with a scrolling mobile ad. Closing after the first page. AT is fast losing any relevance it had before the loss of Anand and the buyout. Late coverage on important releases, less filler content, poor news section, embarrassing advertising. AT was the reason I uninstalled AdBlock years ago because I wanted to support the site and others like it. I remember when you offered instructions on the site for how to turn off the annoying word highlight ads on your help page. Now this. Just sad.vortexmak - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
All the disadvantages of a laptop with none of the mobilitylmcd - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
Not true -- the mobility counts for frequent long-distant mobility. Really interesting as a college student on a budget.HigherState - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
I cannot get past price/performance. A PC in a Silverstone mini-itx case (or equivalent) can get you the same performance for lower price. "Oh the box isn't as small as my appleTV :( "........please. Maybe I'm not the target audience.meacupla - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link
The story becomes different when you want to lug around a gaming PC in a suitcase, especially carry-on.SpartyOn - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
These small gaming NUCs do not compute for me... Why pay the SFF premium to get essentially a laptop in a box - without the mobility? If you use Steam for your games, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to buy a SFF PC anymore.Just buy/build whatever size computer you want - I use mITX because I actually do take my box to other people's houses, but any size box is fine - and leave it in one location in your home. Then just buy a compute stick or build a cheap NUC to stream games from the main rig to these inexpensive living room PCs.
For $978 you could build a nice desktop GTX 970 system - immensely more powerful that the reviewed machine - and still have money left over for an inexpensive streaming solution. So not only do you get a better gaming computer, but you still have an HTPC to boot. Win-win.
Maybe this serves LAN gamers who need an even smaller box than an mITX rig? I dunno, I have no trouble carting my mITX around with a full-size desktop card and if I did, I'd still just buy a laptop if I needed additional portability.
10 years ago these things would have been awesome. Now their just a niche product for people who don't know any better.
jordanclock - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
These absolutely have a purpose. It's in the living room. SFF PCs fit the same niche as consoles. They're small, relatively quiet and perform fine at 1080p. They're not meant for mobility and you won't get the same feature set for a similar price in a full ATX PC, unless you want something much louder and harder to fit in an entertainment center.Just because these kinds of PCs aren't for you, isn't to say they have no reason to exist.