Zotac Announces ZBOX M and ZBOX P Series Mini-PCs

ZOTAC is a well-known name in the video card game, but they are most well-known for their ZBOX mini-PCs. The new M-series and the P-series ZBOX models which were seen at Computex 2017 are finally available. Both sport elegantly compact designs and house the latest hardware technologies from Intel such as Optane and 7th generation processors.

ZOTAC ZBOX MI553

The ZBOX MI553 measures 184.6 x 184.6 x 71.5mm and is just a little bit larger than the VESA mount it comes with. Inside is an Intel Core i5-7300HQ processor, which is a quad-core solution running at 2.5GHz base with a 3.5GHz turbo. There are two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots available inside supporting up to 32GB of system memory. The built-in Intel HD Graphics 6300 can output up to 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz via the DisplayPort 1.2 port. Alternatively, an HDMI 2.0 port is also available which supports up to 3840 x 2160 @ 60Hz.

In terms of storage, a single 2.5″ SATA 6Gbps slot is available with two M.2 slots. One supports SATA devices in 2242 form factors. Another supports faster PCIe x4 or Optane memory modules up to 2280 form factors. There is also a built-in 3-in-1 card SD/SDHC/SDXC reader of course, which also doubles as a USB port. A USB Type-C connector is available in the front, and four more USB 3.0 ports are available in the rear. There is also a Thunderbolt 3 Type-C port in the rear with 40Gbps bandwidth. This can be used for connecting external VGA boxes, connecting 4K displays or connecting any USB Type-C peripheral.

ZOTAC ZBOX PI225

The ZBOX PI225 is a remarkably compact PC that is barely larger than a credit card, albeit thicker. It is ultra compact and easy to mistake for an SSD, meaasuring only 95.4 x 63 x 8mm. Inside is an Apollo Lake Intel N3350 dual-core processor running at 1.10 GHz. It also has 4GB of LPDDR3 memory on-board and uses the built-in Intel HD Graphics 500. It uses USB Type-C for outputs so it comes with a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter which can output into a 4K 4096×2160 @ 30Hz display.

Despite its compact size, the PI225 is not lacking in storage options either with 32GB of eMMC onboard storage available. There is also a built-in card reader supporting Micro SDHC/SDXC for fast storage expansion. Understandably, only the two USB Type-C ports are the only other options for storage and one is for display, so that leaves users with only a single port available. Built-in 802.11ac WiFi functionality with Bluetooth 4.2 is also included.