Console Killer? More like Console SMASHER!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,648 words · ~8 min read
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OMG I have been asking for something like this since CES 2014 I mean not
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quite like this more on that later but Zotac still a lot closer to my vision
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for the ultimate compact PC than anyone
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else's this is the Magnus en980 Zak's
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most powerful Mini PC yet boasting a core i5 quad core processor a full fat
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gtx980 Graphics core with 4 gigs of vram
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and liquid cooling all in the size of a
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shoe
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box Mass drop is featuring The White Fox
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keyboard it's available in four plate layouts and comes complete with cherry
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compatible key caps check it and other drops out at the link in the video
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description so let's start with a look at this puppy physically the design of
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the en980 reminds me more of Zotac Pico
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Pi 320 micr PC then of the similarly
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named en 970 the bottom is white maybe
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this was borrowed from the SN 970 steam machine with small vents around the
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outside edges and a couple of product information stickers adorning it the top
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is a white plastic honeycomb with a tighter powder blue mesh behind it that
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gives it a distinctive if not particularly high performance look and
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all of the sides are constructed from thick blasted anodized aluminum at the
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front you'll be greeted by a power button an SDXC reader two USB 3.1 ports
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one type A and another type c and two audio jacks for headphones and
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microphone which regrettably aren't replicated on the back a frustrating
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thing for people who use Standalone speakers not headphones and want their
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desk to look clean also on the back you'll be greeted by two Wi-Fi antennas
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2 GB Ethernet connections two each of HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2 video
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outputs four USB 3.0 ports thank goodness I thought we were going to have
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two of everything and damn it it happened again two DC
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inputs what yes my friends the Magnus
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en980 includes not one but two 180 wat
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power brakes to provide enough juice for
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the shocking powerful Hardware that it carries within its gut let's go through
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that then shall we at its heart is a desktop Core i5 6400 2.7 GHz Skylake
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quad core that turbos up to 3.3 GHz and
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a desktop grade mxm form factor NVIDIA
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GeForce GTX 980 with 4 gigs of vram
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they're installed on a completely custom motherboard with support for a single
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m.2 SSD a single 2 and 1/2 in SSD or
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hard drive and up to to two sodum slots for ddr3l memory that offer official
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support for up to 16 gigs of RAM total but that I tested with our intelligent
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memory modules and found will actually work just fine with up to 32 gigs if you
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can get your hands on 16 gig sticks so
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why then external power supplies well
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there are two things I've ignored so far number one is the magnan 980 size at a
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mere 5.85 L it is smaller than the Dan Case
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A4 sfx by about 20% and it's even
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smaller than the MSI Vortex and while it
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doesn't have two graphics cards like the vortex number two is that it has a
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freaking water cooler inside OMG right
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now some configurations of the Magnus will come with RAM and drives and an
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operating system pre-installed While others like mine will just have empty
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Bays there's great news though they are astonishingly easy to get at I was about
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to get started realized I didn't have a screwdriver ran downstairs for my trusty
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iix it kit then ran back upstairs only to realize that the rubber feet on the
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bottom of the case are thumb screws and everything is right there brilliant this
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does raise some questions about air flow and dust accumulation however because I
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actually don't see how those bottom vents are really going everywhere and
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every panel other than the top and above the I on the rear is solid metal let's
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dig deeper the front and rear panels come off with a handful of philli screws
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to reveal really no further insight about where Zotac expects cooling for
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components like the SSD and the motherboard chipset to come from but we
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do get a much better look at the liquid cooler they actually managed to cram a
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full-sized 120 mm radiator and 25 mil
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thick fan along with a vibration dampened lowprofile pump a reservoir
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that's an odd one most pre-sealed units forgo this and custom cooling blocks for
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both the CPU and GPU this was an
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expensive product to develop I will tell you that much but so was this
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monstrosity in all likelihood so cost
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clearly won't save a bad idea let's find out if the en980 was a bad idea first up
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is thermals surprisingly like due to
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their inexperience dealing with those little wannabe toaster we call
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Enthusiast graphics cards even large multinational companies can screw up
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cooling even in a midtower that's several times the size of this guy but
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whether it's thanks to Zotac experience building video cards or building mini
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PCS the en980 not only avoids thermal
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throttling even after a prolonged synthetic stress test it manages to keep
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both the CPU and GPU under 70 degrees
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not to mention the SSD as well within reason and stay as quiet as a full-size
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Tower with good coolers installed definitely suitable for use in any space
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provided you've got ample breathing room above the top exhaust so given that then
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these benchmarks shouldn't come as any surprise I mean yes the GTX 1080 is out
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but the gtx980 is no slouch and when it's not being thermally limited is
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going to be able to fully stretch its legs now of course our performance
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testing doesn't include any real VR titles I'm sorry about that Luke is
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actually working on a video about some of the challenges associated with VR
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benching but in the meantime I can personally vouch for the GTX 980s
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viability as a VR card given that that's what I run in the living room Vive setup
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that I was showing off on Instagram a couple of weeks ago which leads us to
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the answer to the question I posed a couple of minutes ago was the en980 a
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bad idea a super tiny VR capable gaming
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PC with liquid cooling and this the thing I've been asking for external
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power supply perfect for the living room where I suspect a lot of people's VR
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setups are going to end up where quiet operation and Sleek looks are huge
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factors seems pretty awesome to me but
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there are a couple of oversights that I'd like to see corrected next time as
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well because let's face it in a barebones configuration this is a 1600
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100 US product I mean holy actual math
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Batman number one is minor HDMI 1.4 guys
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really I mean okay yes I can use this $25 Club 3D adapter to convert display
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port to HDMI 2 but I shouldn't have to
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number two on the other hand is pretty significant the Magnus en980 is not user
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upgradable outside of the drives in RAM Zotac tells me that it's very difficult
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to take apart and that the user's warranty will be void
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I mean honestly I don't mind locking in the CPU but quick connect fittings and a
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commitment to make upgraded graphics card kits available would take this
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thing from very difficult to recommend
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like the MSI Vortex to a much more
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reasonable long-term solution for Ballers like the msig gt80 Titan with
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that said value calculations aside this
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is one of the coolest PCS that I've ever laid my hands on and I'm in awe of what
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Zotac has achieved here great job you guys and great job to Phoenix who we've
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partnered with again to give away five
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well this looks like six but apparently five of their newly launched vitess
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gaming mice some of the features of this mouse include its avago 3310 Optical
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sensor its ergonomic design I me imagine a mouse with no ergonomic design that'd
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be terrible it's 90 G weight if you don't include the cable it's ARM run
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switch is on the Fly DPI adjustments a maximum DPI of 5,000 DPI units which is
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DPI and led indicators to display what
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DPI setting you're at also for one lucky
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winner we'll be giving away an entire gaming Suite of Phoenix products which
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is pretty sweet if you think about it that'll include one vitess Mouse I guess
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that's where the other one comes in oops one Deora mouse pad one Arya headset and
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one oour keyboard you can enter by following Phoenix over on Twitter and
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checking out the link to our community Forum in the video description so thanks
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