Zotac's Fanless ZBOX C Series PCs Gain Alder Lake-P Updates

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Three options available, with the Intel Core i7-1260P at the top.

Zotac ZBOX C series
(Image credit: Zotac)

PCs and components maker Zotac has refreshed its ZBOX C Series mini PCs with Intel Alder Lake P processors. The highly compact mini PCs are fanless and silent, and now come in three 28W Intel 12th Gen Core processor options: the new ZBOX CI627 nano with Intel Core i3-1220P (10C/12T), the ZBOX CI647 nano with Core i5-1240P (12C/16T) and the ZBOX CI667 nano with Core i7-1260P (12C/16T).

Zotac pitches the compact ZBOX C series as PCs that are "ideal home theater PC, digital signage, home office, office workspace, and more." In space-limited environments, where quiet operation is preferred, they are particularly suitable with silent fanless operation, VESA mountable chassis, flexible video output, and a compact USB-C power supply.

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Zotac ZBOX C series
(Image credit: Zotac)

As FanlessTech notes, besides the processor inside, all the new Zotac ZBOX C series PCs are identical in most respects and aren't significantly changed from the previous generation. They all come in a tiny 1.8-liter chassis measuring 204 x 129 x 68mm (8.03 x 5.08 x 2.68 inches).

Inside the Zotac ZBOX C series PCs, sold as barebone kits, users can equip up to 64GB DDR4-3200 RAM (2x SO-DIMM slots), plus dual storage (one each of an M.2 2230/2242 PCIe x4 SSD and 2.5-inch SATA 6.0 Gbps drive).

All other expansion options are catered for with external ports as follows: HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840x2160@60Hz), DisplayPort 1.4 (up to 4096X2160@60Hz), DisplayPort 1.4 via Thunderbolt 4 (up to 4096X2160@60Hz), 1 x USB 3.1 (Front), 3 x USB 3.1 (Rear), 1 x USB 2.0 (Rear), Dual LAN (2.5Gbps / Gigabit), 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 3-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC). Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5 are also supported. You will use the rear USB-C port to connect the USB-C PD Power Supply, delivering DC 20V/65W.

Zotac ZBOX C series

(Image credit: Zotac)

If you want a reminder of the differences between the Intel Alder Lake-P processor options here, please review our article from when these processors launched back in February.

(Image credit: Intel)

At the time of writing, Zotac hasn't shared the pricing of the fanless ZBOX C Series PCs with Alder Lake-P chips. The previous generation (with Tiger Lake CPUs) was sold starting from about $499 for the Core i3-1115G4 model. As well as memory and storage, you will have to source an OS, with Zotac stating that both Windows 10 and 11 are supported.

Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Wisecracker
    Love to see a smackdown with the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U -- or a new 7000-series mobile APU.

    Zotac used to have some sweet ZBOX Series with AMD ___ but it looks like they are lovin' on some Chipzillah, now, exclusively.
    Reply
  • hasten
    Wisecracker said:
    Love to see a smackdown with the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U -- or a new 7000-series mobile APU.

    Zotac used to have some sweet ZBOX Series with AMD ___ but it looks like they are lovin' on some Chipzillah, now, exclusively.
    Cool an AMD apu fanless?
    Reply
  • Wisecracker
    hasten said:
    Cool an AMD apu fanless?
    I've got 8- or 9-year old C-Series Nano with an APU __ it punk'd the "Atoms" of it's time. I think Anand did an article at the time. Maybe an 8-watt '5200 APU' ??

    At 28-watts, those Ryzens can cut that as much as 35- to 40-percent in the wattage department, BUT the one single Zotac I can find is a Ryzen 3 __ not sure what series it is ...

    I thinks it be an exclusive deal -- there are a boat-load of 'em from Zotac in all flavors. Except AMD.
    Reply