Zotac ZBOX CI523 nano Fanless Skylake-U mini-PC Review
by Ganesh T S on October 5, 2016 8:00 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The ZOTAC ZBOX CI523 nano was evaluated using our standard test suite for low power desktops / industrial PCs. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same. In the first section, we will be looking at SYSmark 2014, as well as some of the Futuremark benchmarks.
BAPCo SYSmark 2014
BAPCo's SYSmark 2014 is an application-based benchmark that uses real-world applications to replay usage patterns of business users in the areas of office productivity, media creation and data/financial analysis. Scores are meant to be compared against a reference desktop (HP ProDesk 600 G1 with a Core i3-4130, 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive) that scores 1000 in each of the scenarios. A score of, say, 2000, would imply that the system under test is twice as fast as the reference system.
We have not processed SYSmark 2014 on any of the passively cooled PCs that have been through our review process before. So, we only have the reference system for comparison purposes. It is interesting to see that a Core i3-6100U can almost match a desktop Haswell Core i3 with a much higher TDP
Futuremark PCMark 8
PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU in the system. The CI523 nano with a Skylake-U CPU is easily able to surpass all the other systems based on processors from the earlier generations.
Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results. In the CPU-focused benchmark, the Logic Supply ML100G-30 (based on a Broadwell-U Core i5, and having a higher turbo clock) is able to beat the CI523 nano (with a Skylake-U Core i3). However, the GPU improvements from Broadwell to Skylake ensure that the CI523 nano comes out on top in the OpenGL routine.
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keg504 - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
What is USB 3.1 gen 2?Wwhat - Sunday, October 30, 2016 - link
Gen1 is just USB3.0 or 2.0 with a USB-C connector. Or in other words fake USB3.1.BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
It looks like the CA320 and CI320 didn't have the same hot-running SSD problem the CI523 does. It's not exactly a fair comparison give the lower TDPs of the AMD A6 and the Bay Trail CPUs, but it looks like Skylake U is just a little too warm for a passive cooler in such cramped confines. It kind of defeats the purpose, but maybe putting it on top of one of those laptop cooling pads that power a fan from the USB port would help.slideruler - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
SSD does not get hot (in regular usage) when the box is put on it's side (see my message above).The whole thing is barely warm.
By the way, I'm running 2 port i5 version (not i3) and my Kill A Watt shows 10W idle, 30W when CPU is taxed. The only usage my GPU gets is when a movie is played, even then there's no much difference at the wall comparing to idle.
ganeshts - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
OS makes a lot of difference :)Under regular use, the CPUs idle at around 50C and the SSD is around 58C (that is a bit too high for my liking, but it is not a real issue, anyway)
fallaha56 - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
this device is pointless ! no HDCP 2.2, no HDMI 2.0...we hold our breath...
heffeque - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
Waiting for Zen APU here. It'll probably make awesome home theater material.dakishimesan - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
Zotac has really stepped it up in the art/design department with not only the design of the computers themselves, but also the boxes and marketing materials. Impressed.solnyshok - Thursday, October 6, 2016 - link
There are some cheaper fanless skylake systems by e-global on aliexpress and elsewhere. i3-6100u seems to go for $257. No mesh, only fins. Would love to see review of one of those. http://www.pcstationcn.com/index.php?route=product...ganeshts - Thursday, October 6, 2016 - link
Interesting ones.. they have a bigger surface area in the chassis for heat dissipation. Looks like it should be able to handle the 15W TDP processors at the rated load. If the vendor pitches one for review, I would take up the opportunity.