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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Oxford Guy - Saturday, August 27, 2016 - link
"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)."
So you're saying the load noise reading that we need to see, the usual one, just isn't in the article. Instead, we were given an academic reading that doesn't really tell us anything useful?
mr_tawan - Friday, August 26, 2016 - link
I think I saw some youtuber (Linus, if I'm not mistaken) dissemble this system.The_Assimilator - Friday, August 26, 2016 - link
Thanks, it's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qu7qckqulY - much more informative.fanofanand - Thursday, August 25, 2016 - link
$1845 for last year's tech. *Yawn*milkod2001 - Friday, August 26, 2016 - link
Zotac caters for IT noobs with zero clue what is inside. Plenty out there so it might sell quite well. The rest can build 4K ready PC monster for that price.Wineohe - Friday, August 26, 2016 - link
Yes the effort put forward for this review should have been saved for a Pascal variant.kyuu - Friday, August 26, 2016 - link
Way too expensive given the components and it's barely smaller than a mITX case. But I guess someone must be buying these overpriced boutique systems since they keep making them.AnnonymousCoward - Saturday, August 27, 2016 - link
My mid-tower is significantly quieter, cooler, faster, cheaper, and has 1TB SSD. (well duh, but it's worth saying)Btw Page 1 could have used a picture with a known object like a soccer ball to show relative size.
Calista - Sunday, August 28, 2016 - link
What's the point in creating a tiny box if it demands a huge external power brick?Namisecond - Monday, August 29, 2016 - link
Would LOVE to see Anandtech review and compare these machines with the most recent iteration of the Alienware Alpha.