Launched again at CES 2023, Intel’s Alder Lake-N platform is the corporate’s latest and newest funds platform for entry-level PCs. With the {hardware} now transport, Zotac is among the many first well-known PC makers to supply use the platform for its Zbox Edge MI351 mini-PC. Although it is not as small as a few of its opponents, it affords a level of upgradeability and loads of ports.
The Zotac Zbox Edge MI351 relies round Intel’s N100 processor, which affords 4 Gracemont CPU cores working at 800 MHz – 3.40 GHz and an Intel Xe-based iGPU with superior media decoding (AV1, H.264, H.265, and so on.) and encoding capabilities. From efficiency standpoint, Intel’s N100 ought to supply efficiency similar to that of quad-core Skylake-class processors from 2015 – 2018, albeit with way more refined multimedia engine. The latter of which is necessary not just for HTPCs, but additionally for numerous different functions N100 gadgets are aimed toward, together with kiosks and digital signage.
Trying on the MI351’s design itself, it is fascinating to see that Zotac opted to make use of an energetic cooling system with a fan to chill down the N100 processor. The official TDP of the N100 is simply 6 Watts, however as Intel’s trendy TDP mantra signifies that chips are allowed to devour way more vitality than that when turbo boosting, producers are more and more designing their containers to maintain increased thermals with a view to hold efficiency up.
The PC additionally affords an honest diploma of upgradability for a funds, Atom-class field. Zotac hasn’t soldered down any reminiscence or NAND storage – a typical sight in these gadgets – so the Zbox Edge MI351 affords a DIMM slot for a DDR5-4800 reminiscence module in addition to an M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 slot for the standard NVMe SSD.
Zotac’s Zbox Edge MI351 additionally affords above-average connectivity for a low-end mini-PC. In addition to a GbE port, 4 USB 3.2 ports Sort-A ports can be found (one on the entrance), in addition to two 4Kp60-capable show outputs (DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0), and the same old 3.5mm audio in/out connectors. Wi-fi connectivity can also be accessible through an built-in Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2 controller – although an exterior antenna (included) is required to utilize them.
The trade-off for together with room for DIMMs and M.2 SSDs, nonetheless, is that it requires a barely bigger footprint for the PC. Zotac’s Zbox Edge MI351 system measures 149.5 mm x 149.5 mm x 28.5 mm (5.89 in x 5.89 in x 1.12 in), which is a tad smaller than Apple’s M1 Mac Mini, however which is bigger than many Atom-based methods. Nonetheless, the field is greater than sufficiently small that it affords VESA mounts, permitting one to cover it on the again of the show.
Lastly, Zotac isn’t disclosing pricing for its Zbox Edge MI351 right now. Understand that that is being bought as a barebones unit, so consumers might want to embody RAM and storage of their funds, in addition to a replica of an OS.
