Zotac is known for making powerful mini-PCs. Zotac also manufactures the smallest GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card in the world. Combine these two things and you have a heck of a little powerful black box.
There are many ways to create a very small gaming PC. One way is to make a gaming laptop without the built-in keyboard or screen. It's basically so that was conceived the first Zotac machine with which I played in 2016. Another approach is to design a case that fits to real size components in space as small as possible, like the Bolt line of Digital Storm.
The Zotac Magnus EK71080 is a bit of both. From the laptop, we have SODIMM memory, designed to be small and flat. It has slots for a portable M.2 style SSD and a normal 2.5-inch SSD or HHD. It even has a slot for Intel Optane memory, which can provide a significant acceleration of loading games and applications from a slower standard hard drive and larger capacity. It is powered by the 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ quad-core processor, a processor that we see a lot in high-end gaming laptops.
And then he has that ...
With only 8.3 inches long, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Mini is the smallest 1080 of Nvidia without switching to the smaller MXM profile and centered on the laptop.
With performance equivalent to or slightly greater than that of the Founder GTX 1080 Edition, it is the best graphics card possible for a very small PC. This is ready 4K. This is VR ready. And since it's a desktop card, there are enough ports (three DisplayPort and one HDMI) to run four screens at the same time.
All this in a box nine inches wide, eight inches deep and five inches tall. Not bad.
Magnus EK71080 Specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ (quad-core 2.8 GHz, up to 3.8 GHz)
- Memory slots: 2 slots DDR4-2400 / 2133 SODIMM (up to 32 GB)
- Graphics: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Mini GDDR5X 256-bit
- Storage: M.21 x M.2 slot NVICe PCIE x4 / SSD SATA (22 / 42.22 / 60.22 / 80), 1 x 2.5 inch SATA 6.0 Gbps HDD / SSD, memory slot Intel Optane
- Ports: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.1, 4 x USB 3.0
- Network: Dual Gigabit LAN, 802.11ac / b / g / n Wifi
- Dimensions: 225 x 203 x 128 mm (8.86 x 7.99 x 5.04 inches)
- Price: $ 1,500 without memory / storage / operating system
assembly required
Although there are models of the EK71080 shipped with preinstalled memory and storage, the unit I am studying here is in barebones. It means no memory, no hard drive and no operating system. Then I opened it and I looked inside.
By turning the EK71080 upside down and removing the four-screw screws, you will discover all the internal elements you need. Clearly identified areas indicate exactly where memory, an M.2 drive, an Intel Optane key, and a 2.5-inch SATA drive should be used.
For the record, I chose a pair of HyperX Impact DDR4 chips 2133 SODIMM of 8 GB. The system can accept faster speeds and up to 32 GB of memory, but that is a good starting point.
For storage, the obvious choice would be a good sized M.2 SSD reader. It would be a shame to leave a system with an M.2 slot without an M.2 player, after all. The Intel 760p series is relatively affordable in all sizes, from the 128GB version to 70GB up to the $ 512GB beast of $ 200 seen here.
Note that the Intel SSD is perched on a Seagate Barracuda 2TB laptop hard drive much larger and much slower. I could combine both, putting boot files and other programs that I need to quickly access on the M.2, using the 2TB disk as storage. But this system also has an Intel Optane slot.
This small Optane 32GB memory module is really cool. My Seagate 2TB drive is not a fast drive. After I've been reminded to install the Optane Disk Management Software (yes, there is software to install), my slow drive slows down considerably. Games that took more than ten seconds to load started almost immediately. My browser is open faster. Windows loaded faster.
Optane has very specific hardware requirements (the least of which is not an Optane memory slot), so this is not for everyone. But on a system like this, is it built to use it? This is a great way to have a lot of storage without slowing things down.
What I did with
Once the EK71080 finished, I played quite a few games, including a few that I can not mention yet. It is basically supported gaming tasks for my normal gaming desk during the review process, because the stupid little thing is more powerful than my normal gaming desk. It's rather sad.
What's great about it
Performance: There is no game out there that will give the EK71080 a hard time in 1080p, and a few that give it a break at 2160p . Rise of the Tomb Raider My current game "ow it hurt," hovered around 60 frames per second at "very high" settings at 2160p, so it's a brave little toaster . 4K play is certainly feasible, although some of the more demanding games will need bells and whistles.
A VR Monster: The EK71080 is a perfect virtual reality box. Small and portable, but powerful enough to do anything requested by the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift with nary stuttering. It makes me want to catch an extension cord and take it to the driveway so I can finally go RV without breaking half of my desk.
The size, of course: There is so much on my computer desk. When I first agreed to look at the EK71080, I was looking to approach it from the point of view of someone who is looking for a living room PC. I'm sure it would be great for that too, but damn it, it's not good to have a PC the size of a shoebox on a desk covered with toys, shelves, gadgets, video lights, coffee mugs, scented wax burners and various gadgets and gadgets.
This is not so great
Not quite scalable: While we can fiddle with hard drives and memory configurations, there is not much else to change in the EK71080. If there was only one PCIe slot available, it would be perfect for my use (I'm using an internal video capture card). Considering most people looking for a very small PC form factor to take such things into account, this might not be negative for most. It's just me after looking for the cost of an external PCIe case (several hundred dollars at best).
A little loud: When he's not involved in vigorous games, the EK71080 is rather quiet. I have a desk fan that is stronger than on its lowest setting. Things get noisier only when fans of the Mini 1080 throw an overdrive ... Rise of the Tomb Raider did it, just like my 3DMark torture test (to see if the computer explodes - this is not the case). Something to keep in mind if you are looking for a discreet gaming system.
Reliability: Since Kotaku and a few others have reviewed the Magnus EK71080 to March, mostly with praise and positive reviews, the box has been sold on Amazon and Newegg where reviews are mixed with people who love the box. size, and hardware specifications, but with a significant portion of users giving Zotac's Mini PC 1 out of 5 reviews due to reliability issues and less rapid resolution and / or lack of support from the manufacturer. Potential buyers are wary.
The Zotac Magnus EK71080 is a little black box that does everything I need and want to do. Looking at him then while looking at my flashy pink PC tower with his missing drive bay covers and the acrylic side panel clogged with dust, I can not help thinking that I've done bad choice.
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