1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:07,759 Building a fairly compact, super powerful system with like a GTX 980 and 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:12,240 a miniITX case is kind of fashionable right now. But there's a whole other 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:17,279 class of machine that's smaller than what can be built using offthe-shelf 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:19,600 components. The issue is that with these 5 00:00:17,279 --> 00:00:23,920 systems, you get less customizability and in some cases like we experienced 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:29,679 with this really small Gigabyte bricks micro PC, heat management can be a real 7 00:00:27,119 --> 00:00:34,160 problem if desktop class GPUs are integrated into such a design. So, Zotac 8 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:40,239 is taking a bit of a middle ground approach with their new Zbox Magnus 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:43,600 EN970 compact gaming desktop. At only 10 00:00:40,239 --> 00:00:46,879 about 20 cm long and wide and about 5 cm 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,800 tall, it's small, but not so small that 12 00:00:46,879 --> 00:00:53,700 it seems like it'll melt the minute you fire up Battlefront. But does it hold 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:58,649 up? I guess we'll find 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:07,360 out. If you already know about Loot Crate, go sign up for the October crate 15 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,479 at the link in the video description. And if you don't, stick around till the 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:15,640 end of the video to check out our unboxing of the September Summon Crate 17 00:01:13,119 --> 00:01:20,159 with items from Pokémon and Hearthstone. So, let's start with a look 18 00:01:17,759 --> 00:01:25,520 at the Magnus' specs. At the heart of this tiny PC is an Intel Core i5 5200U 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:31,920 processor running at 2.2 GHz with a turbo boost speed of up to 2.7 GHz. For 20 00:01:28,479 --> 00:01:35,640 graphics, you get a desktop class NVIDIA 21 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:38,159 GeForce GTX 960 with 3 GB of GDDDR5 22 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:43,119 VRAM. And well, okay, you don't get a whole lot else. This is a barebones kit, 23 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:49,280 meaning that you get no storage, no RAM, and no operating system included, but 24 00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:55,520 it's got two 2 and 1/2 in SATA 3 6 GB per second bays and an M.2 slot. For 25 00:01:52,560 --> 00:02:00,399 RAM, you will need laptop style sodium memory. It's got two memory slots with 26 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:06,159 official support for up to 16 GB of RAM. Although we were able to install 32 gigs 27 00:02:03,759 --> 00:02:11,280 of this fancy pants highdensity stuff that we got from intelligent memory a 28 00:02:08,399 --> 00:02:16,879 little while back. Not the first time we fit tons of RAM into a tiny PC. You can 29 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:21,840 check out that video here. Now, moving on to the outside. The chassis itself 30 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:26,959 has an, I'd say, unassuming, but personally appealing look that would fit 31 00:02:24,319 --> 00:02:30,800 in well either on your desktop or in your living room as a console 32 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:34,239 replacement. The front panel features a power button that lights up in orange 33 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:39,360 when you turn the system on. And you'll also find two USB 3 ports, headphone and 34 00:02:36,879 --> 00:02:44,560 microphone jacks, and an SDXC reader for high-capacity cards. The back panel has 35 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:50,239 two more USB 3.0 no ports as well as two USB 2 ports, four HDMI outputs, 2 GB 36 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:54,440 Ethernet ports, an antenna connector for the built-in wireless AC Wi-Fi, and of 37 00:02:52,480 --> 00:03:00,400 course, a power connector for the included 180 W power brick. While 38 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:06,159 another type of display output such as DisplayPort would have been nice to 39 00:03:02,239 --> 00:03:09,599 see, at least these are HDMI 2.0 ports, 40 00:03:06,159 --> 00:03:11,920 meaning that you can get 4K at 60 Hz as 41 00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:16,000 long as you have a compatible monitor or television. I wouldn't try to game at 42 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:20,400 that resolution, mind you, on the GTX 960 anyway, but those connections could 43 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:25,040 still be useful if you wanted to use a box like this for other less intensive 44 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:30,000 tasks at high resolution, whether it's web browsing or office work or whatever 45 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:34,480 the case may be. For accessories, you get a screw and Wi-Fi antenna, the 46 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:38,319 aforementioned power brick, and drivers on a CD. 47 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,519 Although, since the Magnus doesn't include an optical drive, you'll either 48 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:45,280 need to dig out an external optical drive if you want to get into that CD, 49 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:50,959 or you could just use the also included readonly USB stick. Thumbs up for that 50 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:53,680 one. Installing our RAM and SSD was a 51 00:03:50,959 --> 00:03:57,760 breeze. The bottom panel comes off quite easily with a couple of thumb screws, 52 00:03:55,280 --> 00:04:03,599 revealing the two drive bays and RAM slots. our test SSD, a Samsung 850 Pro, 53 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:07,360 installed with a very simple toolless plastic mounting system that snapped 54 00:04:05,439 --> 00:04:10,879 right onto the drive. From there, it was just a matter of inserting the SSD 55 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:15,200 directly into the SATA ports and securing it with another thumb screw. It 56 00:04:12,879 --> 00:04:18,479 was one of the easiest SSD installations that I've ever done and will allow you 57 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:23,199 to get up and running in a matter of minutes. And remember that these bays 58 00:04:20,799 --> 00:04:26,800 also support 2 and 1/2 in mechanical drives if you're more into that sort of 59 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:32,479 thing, giving you the capability to throw an M.2 two SSD and then up to two 60 00:04:29,919 --> 00:04:35,280 high-capacity hard drives in here. So, now let's have a look at some 61 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:40,800 performance numbers though, just to see how capable the little Magnus is. 62 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:45,759 Although, we were a little concerned that a desktop GTX 960 would thermal 63 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:50,880 throttle due to being in such a small case, our gaming results were actually 64 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:54,320 very good. We ran three games at 1080p, starting with Crisis 3 on high settings 65 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:58,960 with anti-aliasing and motion blur turned off, and the Magnus delivered a 66 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:03,440 very solid 63 frames per second average. Moving on to Tomb Raider, we got 54 FPS 67 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:08,880 with everything maxed out and FXA enabled. And finally, we achieved 38 FPS 68 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:14,240 on The Witcher 3 on high settings, again with AA and motion blur off. Aside from 69 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:19,520 FPS numbers though, we wanted to keep an eye on our GPU's core clock speed to see 70 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:24,880 if it was throttling in spite of the solid performance. And Zotac clearly did 71 00:05:22,479 --> 00:05:31,039 a solid job with his cooling solution with our GTX 960 running smooth at 1038 72 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:36,400 MHz during both our Crisis 3 Skybox stair load test as well as a Firmark 73 00:05:33,759 --> 00:05:41,919 stress test at 1080p with MSAA cranked up. While that clock speed is about 90 74 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:46,160 MHz lower than NVIDIA's reference GTX 960, you can still expect a solid and 75 00:05:44,479 --> 00:05:51,759 consistent gaming experience with the Magnus at normal room temperature. And 76 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:56,639 speaking of temperatures, the Core i5 5200U maintained an average core 77 00:05:53,840 --> 00:06:01,680 temperature of a very reasonable 70° C throughout the ID to 64 system stress 78 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:05,199 test with no thermal throttling either. What's really impressive in addition to 79 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:10,080 that though is that the system stayed nearly whisper quiet even during our 80 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:15,360 most strenuous tests with John standing right next to it during testing and kind 81 00:06:13,199 --> 00:06:20,479 of having to get pretty close in order to hear it even after turning off the 82 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:24,080 room's air conditioning. Our review unit also scored good marks for power 83 00:06:22,319 --> 00:06:28,800 consumption or lack thereof. So, even though the included power brick is rated 84 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,479 for 180 watts, we didn't come close to 85 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:36,240 hitting that during testing with idle power consumption at a mere 21 watts 86 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:38,960 going up to 34 watts in IDA and 84 watts 87 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:43,039 in Firmark and only 100 watts during the Crisis 3 load test. I mean, seeing as 88 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:47,680 there are full-fledged desktop rigs that consume close to that while idle, this 89 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:52,400 is a big plus if you're an eco-conerned individual who's worried about power 90 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:56,000 draw. We also put the system through a couple synthetic benchmarks to get a 91 00:06:53,840 --> 00:07:03,759 feel for its non-gaming performance. It scored 255 in Cinebench, uh 7438 in 92 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,599 Windzip, and uh okay. Although these 93 00:07:03,759 --> 00:07:10,160 numbers are just fractions of what you'd expect to get with a desktop Core i5 or 94 00:07:07,599 --> 00:07:16,400 Core i7, they are respectable when you consider that the i5200U is a low power 95 00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:19,680 part and it only has two physical cores 96 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:22,080 with four threads. So, watch out for 97 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:25,919 that because while I wouldn't have recommended doing any kind of heavy 98 00:07:23,759 --> 00:07:31,840 rendering or like super intensive video editing on a system like this anyway, 99 00:07:28,639 --> 00:07:35,680 some games don't cooperate well with two 100 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:37,759 cores or less. So, your mileage may vary 101 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:42,560 in terms of the long-term usability of the system for gaming, which I guess 102 00:07:41,039 --> 00:07:46,960 leads us pretty well into the conclusion. I don't really have anything 103 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:51,680 negative to say other than there's a slightly weird pickled vegetable smell 104 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:56,560 that uh was kind of detectable when it was first open, but none of that showed 105 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:58,080 up during uh during testing. Anyway, and 106 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:02,639 I guess, okay, I guess if there was something to complain about, cost is a 107 00:08:00,879 --> 00:08:06,560 bit of a tough pill to swallow on this one because 108 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:10,639 $800 is pretty steep for a barebones machine, especially when you compare it 109 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:15,759 to what you could build in terms of a fully equipped traditional desktop. But 110 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:20,800 if you can stomach the price, the solid 1080p performance, the thermal 111 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:23,280 management, and superb acoustics make 112 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:27,919 the Zbox Magnus an interesting choice for anyone who wants a bigger than it 113 00:08:25,759 --> 00:08:31,840 looks gaming experience in a tiny lightweight 114 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:36,240 package. So, if you don't know what Loot Crate is, basically it's a basically 115 00:08:34,399 --> 00:08:40,919 basically it's a monthly subscription box for geeks and gamers as well as pop 116 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:48,720 culture afficionados. So, we are going to be unboxing September's Summon Box with the 117 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:50,880 October theme being time. It costs less 118 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:55,640 than 20 bucks a month and gets you six to eight items, including licensed gear, 119 00:08:53,360 --> 00:09:01,760 apparel, collectibles, and unique one-of-a-kind items. They guarantee a 120 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:07,120 $40 value on each crate. If you sign up before October 19th at 900 p.m., you 121 00:09:05,279 --> 00:09:10,880 will actually receive the October crate. If not, you'll miss that cutoff and you 122 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:14,959 won't get another chance. That crate is gone forever. You'll have to wait for 123 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:18,160 the September one. The good news is they're all pretty freaking cool and 124 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:23,040 they'll all have different themes. Whether it's like inspired by inspired 125 00:09:20,959 --> 00:09:27,279 by Star Wars. There we go. We got some Hearthstone gear here. Whether it's 126 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:31,640 inspired by Marvel, The Walking Dead, whatever else the case may be, there is 127 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:36,640 always cool stuff. So, here we've got a supernatural loot crate car. We've 128 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:41,880 actually collected a whole whack ton of them now. And we've got a massive amount 129 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:44,399 of cool stuff. Is this like a a 130 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:48,800 Simpsons? That is cool. It's like a Simpsons Homer Simpson Buddha thing. 131 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:53,440 Anyway, the point is if any of this sounds appealing, you can sign up at 132 00:09:51,560 --> 00:10:01,240 lootcrate.com/Linus and enter code lionus to save 10% on any new 133 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:05,760 subscription. Why is this in 134 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:07,200 a youuber lucky? Wow, we got like lots 135 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:11,519 more stuff in here. Scratch off with another coin. Oo, claim your free card 136 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:16,079 pack. Well, whoever watches this first and claims it first is totally going to 137 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:19,760 get it. Yeah, that's right. I am all about the little bonuses for sticking 138 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:23,120 around and watching the uh sponsor spots. Right. Right, guys. Actually, I 139 00:10:22,079 --> 00:10:30,079 think this is the first time I've ever done anything like that, so whatever. But uh what else we got in here? Free 140 00:10:27,839 --> 00:10:34,320 mobile game. There we go. Oh, yeah. And every month you get like a little uh 141 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:39,800 booklet that'll have like uh some articles and some extra extra swag and 142 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:45,720 cool stuff like that. And then the box usually folds into some kind of like 143 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:51,120 cool diarama scene thing as well. So it's like a cool place to put 144 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:54,000 all of your summoning stuff. Now I just want to get this bag 145 00:10:54,760 --> 00:11:01,040 open. There we go. Look at him. So there 146 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:03,880 you go guys. That's lootcrate.com/lininus. This hat is 147 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:09,440 awesome. Thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, I think you know what 148 00:11:07,839 --> 00:11:13,200 to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit the like button, or even 149 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:17,040 consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code to shop at Amazon, 150 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:20,320 buying a cool t-shirt like, well, this is a sweatshirt, but whatever. You get 151 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:23,200 the point, or with a direct contribution through our community forum. Now that 152 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:27,519 you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering what to watch next. So, normally I tease something we just 153 00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:34,399 did, but this time I'm going to tease something we're doing soon. I'm going to be running two systems off of a single 154 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:38,320 box and gaming headto head. It's going to be amazing. Make sure you're 155 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,320 subscribed.