Zotac Unveils 2017 ZBox Magnus SFF Gaming PCs: Powered By Intel Core & AMD Ryzen
by Ryan Smith on June 3, 2017 12:00 PM EST
Besides of course their video cards, Zotac’s other claim to fame is their variety of mini-PCs. For this year’s Computex trade show, the company did not disappoint, with the announcement of a new generation of Magnus gaming mini-PCs.
The big change for the upcoming family of Magnus boxes is that they have been revamped to make room for some of Zotac’s mini-branded video cards, including the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070. Previously, the ZBox Magnus family utilized the mobile versions of NVIDIA’s 10-series GPUs.
The new ZBox Magnus lineup consists of four different models, with two sporting Intel CPUs and two featuring AMD Ryzen processors. The company wasn’t clear on which specific AMD Ryzen chips would be utilized, but it did disclose that they would sport a 65W TDP.
| Zotac ZBox Magnus (2017) Barebones PC | ||||||||
| EK51060 | EK71070 | ER51060 | ER51070 | |||||
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7300HQ | Intel Core i7-7700HQ | AMD Ryzen | AMD Ryzen | ||||
| Video Card | Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 Mini | Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 Mini | Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 Mini | Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 Mini | ||||
| Memory | 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM | |||||||
| Storage | 1x M.2 (PCIe & SATA) + 1x 2.5" SATA Bay | |||||||
| Networking | 2x Gigabit Ethernet + 802.11ac |
|||||||
| Connectivity | 4 x USB 3.0 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C 1 x 3.5mm headset 3-in-1 Card Reader |
|||||||
Each of the two Intel ZBox Magnus offerings sport different CPUs and GPUs, with the Magnus EK51060 featuring an Intel Core i5-7300HQ and a Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 Mini. The Magnus EK71070 sports an Intel Core i7-7700HQ. Both offer support for Intel Optane memory with an M.2 2242/2260/2280 slot.
Over on the AMD side of the ZBox spectrum, the new Magnus ER51060 features an undisclosed AMD Ryzen CPU and a GTX 1060; the new ER51070 sports a Zotac GTX 1070 Mini. If the naming convention of each model is any indication of the hardware inside (see the Intel models), the CPUs will likely be Ryzen 5 chips.
All of the new ZBox Magnus PCs feature an M.2 slot for PCIe or SATA SSDs, a 2.5” drive bay, and support for up to 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR4-2400 SODIMM memory. There’s also four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports (one Type-A, one Type-C), and a 3-in-1 card reader. Network connectivity is provided by two gigabit Ethernet ports and 802.11ac WiFi. For display output, the new ZBox Magnus PCs sport the same outputs as the GPUs; three DisplayPort 1.4 interfaces, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a DVI-D connector.
Pricing and availability for the new ZBox Magnus mini PCs is still undetermined.
Derek Forrest contributed to this report
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
17 Comments
View All Comments
Chaitanya - Saturday, June 3, 2017 - link
8 core CPU in that form factor would be awesome.Charlie22911 - Saturday, June 3, 2017 - link
I'm gonna guess from the model number that they are Ryzen 5 based...meacupla - Sunday, June 4, 2017 - link
yeah, looks that way.EK51060 -> i5 + 1060
EK71070 -> i7 + 1070
ER51070 -> R5 + 1070
Still, 6 cores, 12 threads isn't bad, assuming they use R5 1600
James5mith - Sunday, June 4, 2017 - link
My only problem with Zotac SFF PC's is that they never actually come available until the next one, possibly two generations have been announced.Take for example the generation before this that was announced at CES. It is still unavailable for purchase at this point, and they are now announcing new models.
It wasn't until after CES this year that you could reliably find the model announced at the 2016 Computex.
If they actually executed and produced for sale the products they announced in a timely fashion, I would buy one to replace my living room HTPC/Gaming system in a heartbeat.
James5mith - Sunday, June 4, 2017 - link
*Update: Of course after I read this I go look at Amazon and now the CES 2017 models are actually available in limited supply.artifex - Friday, November 10, 2017 - link
I don't see them on Zotac's own website today, Nov. 10th. At least, not the Ryzen ones.HankP - Sunday, June 4, 2017 - link
Since they're SFF PCs, wouldn't it be relevant to post their sizes? Or did I miss that?Lolimaster - Monday, June 5, 2017 - link
One is probably the R5 1500X which is already better than Skylake i5 and the other the R5 1600 which is also way better than the 7700HQ.They should remove intel from their products, they can get more profits delivering more performance :D
vladx - Monday, June 5, 2017 - link
In gaming scenarios a 7700k beats even a Ryzen 1800x, so nice try fanboy but you can't fool AnandTech readers.bb36 - Monday, June 5, 2017 - link
The 7700k is a desktop cpu topping out at 4.5 and the 7700hq is a mobile part topping out at 3.8.