Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 SFF PC Review - An Innovative VR-Ready Gaming Powerhouse
by Ganesh T S on August 25, 2016 8:00 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 was evaluated using our standard test suite for gaming mini-PCs. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same. In the first section, we will be looking at SYSmark 2014, as well as some of the Futuremark benchmarks.
BAPCo SYSmark 2014
BAPCo's SYSmark 2014 is an application-based benchmark that uses real-world applications to replay usage patterns of business users in the areas of office productivity, media creation and data/financial analysis. Scores are meant to be compared against a reference desktop (HP ProDesk 600 G1 with a Core i3-4130, 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive) that scores 1000 in each of the scenarios. A score of, say, 2000, would imply that the system under test is twice as fast as the reference system.
The SYSmark numbers are a bit of a problem for the MAGNUS EN980 due to the 4C/4T configuration of the Core i5-6400 CPU in it. Since this is a CPU-intensive benchmark, it loses out to better-clocked / higher-thread-count systems such as the Skull Canyon NUC and the mobile Haswell Core i7 in the ASRock VisionX 471D. That said, performance in office and creative applications is probably not of great concern to the target market for the MAGNUS EN980 - hardcore gamers.
Futuremark PCMark 8
PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU in the system. The presence of a discrete GPU and better power budget enables the ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 to make a clean sweep of all the Futuremark benchmark numbers.
Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
We have moved on from R11.5 to R15 for 3D rendering evaluation. CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results. The OpenGL performance with the GTX 980 at the helm is a cakewalk for the EN980, but the unit comes in the middle of the pack when it comes to CPU rendering performance for the same reasons that we analyzed in the SYSmark scores section.
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Karthik Subramani - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
I agree. We are still a little behind viable consumer high end VR experiences for such a claim.Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
$1600. Hahahhahahah. Put down the crack pipe man.lament - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
Seriously.. barebones was earlier reported to be $800 or $900.xenol - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
Now that NVIDIA is making their mobile and desktop chips the same, maybe it's time for the MXM module to enter the DIY market in full swing. Hopefully MXM has standardized chip layouts so cooling components can be standardized to a degree. The only thing I hope is that if MXM does enter the DIY market, they won't cost an arm and a leg more (mobile versions of high end GPUs tend to run $800+ on eBay).I would certainly like to go even smaller than my current <15L case.
Tchamber - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
This is a nice little system. It would be more compelling if it were configurable, though.The_Assimilator - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
Zotac should get a round of applause for bringing this to market. Then a kick in the 'nads for only supplying 4 rear USB ports. What a waste of all the HSIO lanes."We purposefully didn't disassemble it fully to ensure that its thermal design was not compromised."
Seriously? The most interesting part about this machine is how Zotac managed to shoehorn in a GTX 980 and keep everything cool, and you don't bother to show that?
Also, if you consider 70dB quiet, I don't want to know what you consider loud.
ganeshts - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
After 6+ years of reviewing equipment, I invariably find either readers or manufacturers wanting me to rerun one benchmark or the other. For straightforward systems, it is fine after reassembly, but, this one was quite different since I didn't have the time bandwidth to do a full teardown. In any case, Zotac has a nice graphic indicating how the CPU and GPU are placed on the board and how the watercooler / pump are arranged in this location:https://www.zotac.com/download/files/overview/en98...
This has been linked in the text too.
As for 70 dB - note that it is at maximum stress, and with the microphone placed right on top of the unit. It is unlikely that the unit will be subject to that much load, and even if it is, it is probably some intensive game or the other - the audio from those titles will easily drown out the fan / pump noise.
It is also important to stress that it is a rough estimate - the readings were not carried out in a soundproof room and no special care was taken during the recording of the graph. I can say subjectively that is is much more silent compared to any other non-watercooled desktop PC I have seen or built. I encourage you to check it out in person if you can (or, you can pitch this to the SPCR guys and they will provide you a more reliable verdict that can be the final word - after all, that is their speciality).
fanofanand - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
This response gets the Family Feud seal of approval. "Good answer! Good answer!"Morawka - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
Your link is bad. Access denied is what i get when i click on it.The_Assimilator - Friday, August 26, 2016 - link
An exploded block diagram of a system, provided by the hardware manufacturer, is hardly the same as an actual look at the hardware. It tells us nothing about the quality of components used and whether they're sufficient. Thankfully Linus has done a complete teardown of the system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qu7qckqulY