Review: Zotac Zbox Sphere OI520 Plus

by Parm Mann on 21 May 2014, 14:00

Tags: ZOTAC, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacelv

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Test Methodology

Comparison Systems
System Name Gigabyte Brix Pro Intel NUC D54250WYK PC Specialist Vanquish Mini 130 Zotac Zbox Nano ID69 Plus Zotac Zbox Sphere OI520
Processor Intel Core i7-4770R @ up to 3.9GHz Intel Core i5-4250U @ up to 2.6GHz Intel Core i3-4130 @ 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-4500U @ up to 3.0GHz Intel Core i5-4200U @ up to 2.6GHz
Cooler Gigabyte Brix Pro reference Intel NUC reference Intel reference Zotac Zbox Nano reference Zotac Zbox Sphere reference
Motherboard Gigabyte M4HM87P NUC QS87 reference Asus H81I-Plus Zotac reference Zotac reference
Memory G.Skill 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) (added) Corsair 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) (added) Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) Crucial 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB) Crucial 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB)
Memory Speed 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz 11-13-13-30-2T @ 1,600MHz 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz
Integrated Graphics Intel Iris Pro 5200 Intel HD 5000 - Intel HD 4400 Intel HD 4400
Discrete Graphics - - Palit GeForce GTX 660 2GB - -
Sound Card Onboard audio Onboard audio Onboard audio Onboard audio Onboard audio
Storage 180GB Intel mSATA SSD (added) 128GB Plextor M5M mSATA SSD (added) 1TB Toshiba HDD Samsung ST500LM012 500GB HDD Samsung ST500LM012 500GB HDD
Optical Drive - - Lite-On DVD Writer - -
PSU Gigabyte (135W, external) Intel NUC (65W, external) Corsair VS 450 (450W, internal) Delta Electronics (65W, external) Delta Electronics (65W, external)
Chassis Gigabyte Brix Pro Intel NUC Cooler Master Elite 130 Zotac Zbox Nano Zotac Zbox Sphere
Operating System Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added)
Standard Warranty Two years Two years Three years (one-year collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) Two years Two years
Approx. System Cost £750 £450 £550 £600 £420

CPU Benchmarks
HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU.
Cinebench Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible.
HandBrake Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores.

Memory and Storage Benchmarks
AIDA64 Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency.
CrystalDiskMark Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds.

System and Gaming Benchmarks
PCMark 8 System-wide examination that uses the Home preset, run with OpenCL acceleration.
3DMark DX11, run at the Firestrike default test.
Aliens vs. Predator 1,920x1,080 resolution, 2xAA, 4xAF, medium quality.
Miscellaneous Benchmarks
Power Consumption Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.
Temperature Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.

Notes

We have a range of comparison mini PCs in our line-up, as well as a small-form-factor desktop PC that is similarly priced. CPU performance should be right in line with the latest-generation Intel NUC, though the HD 4400 IGP can be identified as a potential weak point.


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