Zotac Unveils Small And Mighty AI Mini PCs With Intel And AMD CPU Options
As you probably expect in 2024, Zotac's latest Zbox machines are the company's first to be branded as "AI PCs". Both Intel and AMD-based machines receive this distinction, as the new Intel systems are based on "Meteor Lake" Core Ultra processors, while the AMD-powered PCs are packing Phoenix hardware in the form of the Ryzen 7 7840HS.
There are five new models in total: the Zbox Edge MI672/652, the Zbox nano CI671/651, and the Zbox Edge MA762. You can derive quite a bit about the new mini-PCs from their names: the Zbox M series offers a powerful desktop experience, and the "I" indicates Intel inside while the "A" obviously attests the appearance of an AMD APU.
Meanwhile, the "5" and "7" in the product names reflect the product segment; the MI672 comes with a Core Ultra 7 155H, while the MI652 sports a Core Ultra 5 125H. These processors come with a handful of P-coers, a pile of E-cores, and each has a pair of low-power E-cores that allow the system to shut down the compute tile when it isn't needed. The Nano systems trade the 28W "H" CPUs for 15W "U" models while also ditching the cooling fan for fanless operation—which is why they're considerably larger than the "Edge" machines.
Zotac Zbox Edge MA672 front and rear I/O.
On the AMD side of things, the MA762 gives you eight Zen 4 CPU cores and two integrated co-processors: Radeon 780M integrated graphics as well as a first-generation Ryzen AI NPU. It also drops some of the USB connectivity from the Intel-based Zbox Edge machines in exchange for a second Gigabit Ethernet port; that could make this system perfect for a home gateway using software like OPNSense.
Zotac says that all of these machines are available in barebones form today, although it didn't provide pricing or specific availability guidelines. We checked around at the usual e-tail places and couldn't find them, but we expect that the new Zboxes will pop up at sites like Amazon and Newegg before the week's out.
