was a member here long time ago.
If just to get my hands on something new to play around with, I received a passively cooled Zotac Zbox nano CI521 a few days ago; planning to use it as tertiary desktop computer including virtualization, perhaps some light HTPC use.
Specifications:
- CPU: Intel Core M-5Y10c
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 (soldered in, not replaceable)
Storage: 1x mSATA, 1x SATA-III for 2.5" drive
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 5300
Bluetooth/WiFi: Intel AC 3160
Ports: 4x USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, line-out, mic-in, DC-in
Misc: SD Card Reader, IR receiver
Power brick: Delta Electronics ADP-40KD (19V, 2.1A)
Good things:
- Pretty snappy for web surfing (Firefox) and office use.
- Firmware allows for cTDP to be modified (down, nominal, up) and offers many power-related settings, screenshots will be provided as I go on.
- SATA, USB, graphics, audio, ethernet, WiFi worked out of the box on Mint 17.2.
Bad things:
- WiFi reception is disappointing. Where my other devices easily find more than ten networks, the Zbox only finds two.
- Throttling occurs. For initial data points, I ran Geekbench 3.3.2 ten times in a row. The first run produced scores of (single/multi-core) 2057 and 3897 respectively, the last run only got 1986 and 3343.
To be done (and added as I get them in):
- power consumption tests
- further examination of throttling using Prime95 or another benchmark, monitoring CPU frequency, voltage and temperature.
If there's anything else in particular you're interested in, please let me know and I'll see if I can provide these information or benchmark results (for the latter, I'd prefer freely available ones).
Hope this was of some interest.