ZOTAC introduced on Monday a new line of gaming mini-PCs, the E-Series. This line features Haswell processors and Intel's Iris Pro 5200 graphics that will bring a smooth medium quality gaming experience in a small form factor. The company also introduced the palm-size nano AQ02 Series packing an AMD A8 series APU, promising performance and energy efficiency.
For starters, the E-Series currently consists of the E1750 and the E1730, which features the quad-core Intel Core i7-4770R processor (6MB L2, 3.2 GHz - 3.9 GHz) and the quad-core Intel Core i5-4570R processor (4MB L2, 2.7 GHz – 3.2 GHz), respectively. That's where the differences between the two models stop.
According to the specs, both models provide two 204-pin SO-DIMM slots for DDR3-1600 memory (up to 16 GB). There's also one SATA 3 (6 Gbps) connector and one mSATA (6 Gbps) connector for storage. However, the PLUS models (E7150, E7130) will already have 8 GB of DDR3 RAM and a 1 TB hard drive already installed.
In addition to memory and storage, both models will provide a 4-in-1 card reader, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, on-board Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.0, two DisplayPort and DVI-O display options, four USB 3.0 ports, HD audio, and analog sound output.
"We've always wanted to create a ZBOX that delivers a good gaming experience but couldn't strike the right balance between size, performance, heat dissipation and energy consumption. Intel's latest Haswell architecture with quad-cores and Iris Pro 5200 graphics hits that sweet spot we need to fit in a ZBOX chassis," said Carsten Berger, senior director, ZOTAC International.
Next up is the ZBOX nano AQ02, also arriving in barebones and PLUS versions. This device sports an AMD A8-5545M quad-core APU (4MB L2, 1.7 GHz – 2.7 GHz) with Radeon HD 8510G graphics. There's also a 204-pin SO-DIMM slot (up to 8 GB) for DDR3-1600 memory, and support for a 2.5 inch hard drive or SSD. The PLUS model comes with 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive already installed.
As for the other features, this mini PC provides a 7-in-1 card reader, one SATA 3 connector, one mSATA connector, a Gigabit Ethernet port, onboard Wireless AC and Bluetooth connectivity, DisplayPort and HDMI, four USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports.
Zotac did not provide actual availability and pricing.
