Review: Zotac Zbox Magnus One ECM73070C

by Parm Mann on 30 July 2021, 14:01

Tags: ZOTAC, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaeqv3

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Conclusion

...modders may view the £1,500 Zbox Magnus One barebone as an intriguing pet project...

"A petite box, sat on the desk alongside the monitor, delivering multi-core performance, high-framerate gaming, versatile connectivity, and all while making next to no noise."

That's the target, but Zotac hasn't managed to deliver on all fronts. Zbox Magnus One is wonderfully small and inconspicuous on the desk, there's an eight-core Intel Core i7 CPU at the helm, GeForce RTX 3070 graphics maintain high framerates at either an FHD or QHD resolution, and high-speed networking is afforded through both Wi-Fi 6 and 2.5GbE.

Given the size of the system Zotac has exceeded our expectations in some ways, yet there are a few frustrating caveats to this mini PC. We'd like to see models outfitted with the latest CPUs and chipsets - including AMD Ryzen - the front-facing USB ports need to be brought up to speed, and while we appreciate the thermal challenges of an 8.3-litre enclosure, fan noise sadly is too loud for comfort.

Bottom line: enthusiasts and modders may view the £1,500 Zbox Magnus One barebone as an intriguing pet project, but we're still some way from perfecting the mini PC for the masses.

The Good
  
The Bad
Cute chassis
Good performance for its size
Wi-Fi 6 and 2.5GbE connectivity
Easy access to core components
  
Creates a lot of noise
Slow front-facing USB-C
Last-gen CPU and chipset


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The Zotac Zbox Magnus One ECM73070C barebone mini PC is available to purchase from Scan Computers.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.



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HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by edmundhonda - Fri 30 Jul 2021 14:31
HEXUS
Remember the graphed number depicts average all-core temperature during the demanding Blender benchmark; the Zotac quickly climbs past 80°C and then throttles CPU frequency for the bulk of the run, hence a low average temp.
AFAIK this isn't how a thermally limited system would behave; it sounds far more like it's exiting PL1/2 turbo and capping power to 65w.

Zotac sent along a basic 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4-2400 memory kit for the purpose of this review
Sending out review hardware with this kind of component selection tells you exactly how clueless Zotac are.
Posted by spolsh - Sat 31 Jul 2021 10:55
edmundhonda
HEXUS
Zotac sent along a basic 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4-2400 memory kit for the purpose of this review
Sending out review hardware with this kind of component selection tells you exactly how clueless Zotac are.

Can always hope they wanted the review to show the “lowest expected performance” and thus provided said memory. Sounds doubtful though.
Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH - Sat 31 Jul 2021 12:03
A name that easily rolls off the tongue.
Posted by philehidiot - Sun 01 Aug 2021 22:34
edmundhonda
AFAIK this isn't how a thermally limited system would behave; it sounds far more like it's exiting PL1/2 turbo and capping power to 65w.


Sending out review hardware with this kind of component selection tells you exactly how clueless Zotac are.

We'd have to see how fast it climbed and throttled. They could have manually configured Tau but, honestly, your second point suggests that um…. yeh…. they probably didn't optimise the thermals. I find that utterly bizzaire.

But, I'd also suggest that any company which wants to create a quality system would not even try this nonsense. You're looking at parts which are simply not suited for a small form factor system. It's that simple. What'll happen is those buying it will complain about the noise. I personally don't get the appeal of SFF systems for high end stuff. Just get a big box and shove it on the floor out of the way.