Zotac ZBOX CA320 nano PLUS Review: A Fanless AMD mini-PC
by Ganesh T S on November 26, 2014 2:00 PM ESTFinal Words
The Zotac ZBOX CA320 nano provided us with the first opportunity to evaluate a passively cooled mini-PC based on an AMD APU. Passively cooled systems are either very costly (particularly if they integrate powerful CPUs) or downright abysmal in performance (when they integrate the low-end / low-power CPUs such as the older Atoms). Zotac's offering with the ZBOX CA320 nano aims to strike a balance. $175 for a barebones configuration is quite reasonable for this type of system. With the bundled SSD and RAM, it is still less than $300.
One of the aspects we were worried about was thermal throttling, but the ZBOX CA320 nano surpassed our expectations. The chassis never got extremely hot (reaching only around 55 C, even after extended thermal stress with a couple of power viruses).
Pretty much the only downside of the unit is the relatively bad single-threaded performance of the AMD A6-1450's CPU cores and the HTPC aspects of the AMD GPU drivers. The clock rates are a bit low. Given the thermal headroom that seems to be available, Zotac could have been a tad more adventurous in overclocking. While the BIOS managed to pull up the DRAM frequency, the APU itself was clocked as per specifications. However, we shouldn't be really complaining since the system seems to operate quite nicely for day-to-day use. The SSD could be a bit better, but that is not an issue if the end-user buys a barebones configuration.
All in all, Zotac manages to deliver a very price-effective passive mini-PC in the ZBOX CA320 nano. Along with the ECS LIVA in the market, the days of users having to spend an arm and leg for passively cooled systems with decent performance are history. Zotac also has a Bay Trail-based ZBOX CI320 nano in the fanless C series, and we will be looking at that system next month.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
31 Comments
View All Comments
DryAir - Thursday, November 27, 2014 - link
I would also like to see a review for the Alpha.Seems to be much better than the other "gaming" mini pcs reviewed here (Brix), and its also the best deal of any PC at its price, be it OEM or DIY.
OtisRush - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Good Review. Looking forward to seeing how this one stacks up to the CI320 with the Celeron N2930 4core CPUmilli - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
x264 Benchmark: 'However, it is no match for the quad-core Celeron J1900 at much higher clocks (but, one which also has a much higher TDP and is actively cooled).'The TDP difference is 8W vs 10W. Your own load testing shows 1.2W difference. How does that translate in your book into a 'much higher TDP'? The J1900 is close to double the speed.
There are enough J1900 products that are passively cooled too.
ganeshts - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
There are a couple fo reasons:1. The J1900 was part of the GIGABYTE BXBT-1900 system - an actively cooled mini-PC, which could sustain the J1900 at higher clocks - the default BIOS took some liberty in allowing the SoC to be overclocked.
2. Even though the load power difference was only 1.2W, the power adapters were different - the CA320 uses a power brick with, in my educated guess, a lower efficiency compared to the plug-in wall wart used by the BXBT-1900.
I would say that the TDP difference is of the order of 4W in operation for the two PCs, and when you have 4W around the 8 - 15W ballpart, that is almost 20 - 25%. But, I do agree, I should have just used 'higher TDP' instead of 'much higher TDP'.
Conficio - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Zotac's offering with the ZBOX CI540 nano aims to strike a balance. $175 for a barebones configuration is quite reasonable for this type of system.Was it not the CA 320 under review? Typo?
ganeshts - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Thanks for spotting this! Fixed the typo.Ancalagon44 - Thursday, November 27, 2014 - link
So Zotac releases a product using Kabini 6 months after Beema/Mullins is released?Notice also that this is a mobile part, not a desktop part. So, considering they are using mobile parts, they could have used Beema or Mullins here.
But I don't blame Zotac. It is nearly impossible to buy Beema or Mullins in a notebook anyway. I blame AMD for soft-launching products MONTHS before they are actually ready to go go market.
daisysdaddy - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
You all sound VERY TECHY... I am NOT.... HELP... Is this an independent functional computer that will hook up to a Monitor, keyboard and mouse? [I was told they are NOT a computer on their own... but only an ADD ON for a computer.??] Is it true they will not play a Movie recorded in 1080? These look interesting, and my computer SUCKS and always needs repair! These are also well priced... [higher in Canada.... but still good] Could someone reply ASAP? Thanksjospoortvliet - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
It is an independent computer for sure, hook up keyboard/mouse/monitor and you are good to go. It can play your videos just fine unless they are extremely high quality, the HTPC test checks if it provides also support for various post processing and 4K, which it does not - too slow for that.Throwaway007 - Wednesday, December 31, 2014 - link
This reviewer is way more intelligent than the other idiot, the one who insists on his stupid temperature delta and power consumption delta charts.Thank you, thank you, thank you!