Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN1080K Compact Gaming PC Review

Networking and Storage Performance

Networking and storage are two major aspects which influence our experience with any computing system. This section presents results from our evaluation of these aspects in the Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN1080K. On the storage side, one option would be repetition of our strenuous SSD review tests on the drive(s) in the PC. Fortunately, to avoid that overkill, Futuremark's PCMark 8 has a storage bench where certain common workloads such as loading games and document processing are replayed on the target drive. Results are presented in two forms, one being a benchmark number and the other, a bandwidth figure. We ran the PCMark 8 storage bench on selected PCs and the results are presented below.

As expected, the EN1080K performs similar to the EN1080 since we are using the same Toshiba OCZ RD400 in both builds. It is not the fastest PCIe SSD around, but, is a definite step up from all the SATA SSDs we have used in some of the previously evaluated systems.

On the networking side, we restricted ourselves to the evaluation of the WLAN component. Our standard test router is the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk configured with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. The router is placed approximately 20 ft. away, separated by a couple of drywalls (as in a typical US building). A wired client is connected to the R7000 and serves as one endpoint for iperf evaluation. The PC under test is made to connect to either the 5 GHz (preferred) or 2.4 GHz SSID and iperf tests are conducted for both TCP and UDP transfers. It is ensured that the PC under test is the only wireless client for the Netgear R7000. We evaluate total throughput for up to 32 simultaneous TCP connections using iperf and present the highest number in the graph below.

In the UDP case, we try to transfer data at the highest rate possible for which we get less than 1% packet loss.

We need to clarify one important aspect in the above graphs. The numbers for both the EN1080 and the EN1080K should be similar. However, due to a recent change in the lab environment for the PCs, we are no longer able to recreate the same WLAN testing environment for the new PCs. As we evaluate more systems, we will phase out the results derived with the older setup. That said, the comparison of the relative numbers is still valid. The 1x1 802.11ac radio is not a great choice for a flagship system, but, it is somewhat made up for by the dual gigabit LAN ports.