Zotac's new PC line packs some meaty hardware into a tiny case

[midian182]

What just happened? Small form factor (SFF) PCs are far from new, but as technology marches on, it seems companies are packing more advanced components into increasingly smaller cases. Zotac—no stranger to the world of SFF hardware—has just launched a new line of tiny PCs that come with 9th generation Intel CPUs and Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards.

The Zotac Zbox Magnus E Series Mini Creator PCs, to give them their full name, measure just 8.27 x 7.99 x 2.45 inches and, like many SFF PCs, are designed to look more like consoles than computers.

There are two versions of this PC available. The top-end Magnus EN72070V comes with the 6-core/12-thread Core i7-9750H (2.6GHz to 4.5GHz), an Nvidia RTX 2070, support for up to 32GB of DDR4-2666/2400 SODIMM memory, a PCIe or SATA M.2 drive, and a 2.5-inch HDD/SDD bay. As the machine is so small, some of the components are laptop parts, but it'll still chew through games at 1440p.

Zotac is targeting creators and "hardware enthusiasts" with this PC, which means plenty of connectivity for such a small machine. It features DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, four USB 3.0, a 3-in-1 memory card reader, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, and a Gigabit LAN port alongside one 2.5Gbps Killer E3000 port.

The EN52060V model lowers the specs slightly to a Core i5-9300H CPU (4-cores/8-threads, 2.4GHz to 4.1GHz) and an RTX 2060.

As noted by PC Gamer, both PCs are available as barebones machines, which means adding your own RAM, storage, and OS, while the Windows configurations feature Windows 10, 8GB of memory, a 128GB M.2 SSD, and a 1TB HDD.

Sadly, Zotac hasn’t revealed pricing or a release date, but the Magnus E Series could make a great gaming PC for your living room, or just an excellent option for those with limited space.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/81369-zotac-new-pc-line-packs-meaty-hardware-tiny.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

These are good for WORK STATIONS (although I'd argue you don't need RXT for your typical workstation)

but the reason these suck as "gamer PC" is because gamers want to be able to upgrade GPU cards on their towers when new tech comes to market. And considering how cheap SSD is now, why didn't they make it lighter with a user upgradeable SSD?

The only "gaming" I could think these would be good for is portable Lan parties or travel where you'll be sitting in a hotel room playing rather than going out to meet the foreign honnies.

Or...you could use it as a media center PC to supplement your cable box.

 

[Lounds]

These are good for WORK STATIONS (although I'd argue you don't need RXT for your typical workstation)

but the reason these suck as "gamer PC" is because gamers want to be able to upgrade GPU cards on their towers when new tech comes to market. And considering how cheap SSD is now, why didn't they make it lighter with a user upgradeable SSD?

The only "gaming" I could think these would be good for is portable Lan parties or travel where you'll be sitting in a hotel room playing rather than going out to meet the foreign honnies.

Or...you could use it as a media center PC to supplement your cable box.

It probably has an NVMe drive, so I'd assume user upgrading wouldn't be too difficult, also it has SODIMM Ram, so that also is upgradable.

 

[Lew Zealand]

It will be horrendously overpriced with an unupgradable GPU, just like all of Zotac's previous mini gaming boxes. They might have a market at a 30% price cut but you're paying way too much for the small size. Buy a console instead.

 

[retsxel]

Cool systems. Great for those that need SFF machines that can do a respectable amount of gaming.

 

[ZackL04]

These are good for WORK STATIONS (although I'd argue you don't need RXT for your typical workstation)

but the reason these suck as "gamer PC" is because gamers want to be able to upgrade GPU cards on their towers when new tech comes to market. And considering how cheap SSD is now, why didn't they make it lighter with a user upgradeable SSD?

The only "gaming" I could think these would be good for is portable Lan parties or travel where you'll be sitting in a hotel room playing rather than going out to meet the foreign honnies.

Or...you could use it as a media center PC to supplement your cable box.

You can say that, and while I think its narrowminded, there is a point to be made there about future upgradeability.

But these specs would slap the **** out of my current PC and Id argue 75% of most current gamers rigs too. Remember according to steam, the majority of gamers are rocking a 1060 or 970 and something like an older i5.

 

[retsxel]

@QuantumPhysics
While I'm not going to throw out the passive-aggressive "stuff", I do have to say that these specs are more than good enough to make for a solid gaming system in a compact space.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I do wish they would make these things with MXM slots in them. Zotac themselves could offer new MXM GPUs and make extra cash.

 

[CMH]

Depending on how much of a premium it costs, I'd buy one.

I game, but I don't upgrade my graphics card very often, and a GTX 2070 will last a while. And I generally upgrade my whole pc in one go anyway (with the exception of storage and RAM).

I suppose my situation is a bit different where I do need a portable PC, but I don't need to use it while on-the-move (ie in a bus/train). I did think of desktop-replacements, but those costs a kidney-and-a-half... If these are cheaper I'd definitely be all over it.

 

[hahahanoobs]

I do wish they would make these things with MXM slots in them. Zotac themselves could offer new MXM GPUs and make extra cash.

I believe the problem with upgradeable MXM's are the pin outs and size can change from gen to gen.

 

[hahahanoobs]

12 threads and a 2070 is a really good combo that can easily last someone a few years especially if connected to a 1080p TV. Even PC builders don't upgrade every year.

 

[ypsylon]

On plus side it is good to see that Zotac finally refreshed that series. Old one was, well old...

Biggest problem is that while it has some ingredients to be workstation sadly it fails miserably with one crucial omission. No TB3 ports which means you can't connect NVMe storage or external VGA for more rendering power.

For quite some time I'm circling around solutions like that. Not getting any younger, but all of them (barebone SFF) have major flaws which mean I still have to stick with a big heavy desktop. If I could plug 8 NVMe via TB3 and my existing 3 1080Ti for rendering to this then yeah, very sure on toast. But meh... no.

 

[toooooot]

If it can run 3dmark for five hours without crashing, I ll take it.

 

[retsxel]

If it can run 3dmark for five hours without crashing, I ll take it.

You'll get fan noise as the cooling components reach heat saturation, but it will be fine. However, why would you need it too?

 

[toooooot]

You'll get fan noise as the cooling components reach heat saturation, but it will be fine. However, why would you need it too?

To go on adventure with me.