I really hope for some high end Zen APU in such small or even smaller box. 6 cores + R9 470X (or even R9 480) would be really decent box for playing even quite demanding games, far better than laughable (in terms of gaming performance) Intel Skull Canyon.
Yay, more cheating "mini" systems with external power bricks. On the one hand it's reasonable because you aren't dumping at heat into the system, which helps, but it's not entirely honest to say how small your system is when it has a massive external power brick (or two).
Yeah, that's what I hate about the XboxOne. It's a massive device, yet MS still went external power brick. PS4 is smaller and internal. Still, on this type of device, it's probably good to get some of the heat elsewhere, so temps and fan speeds don't get out of hand.
Heat is definitely a valid reason to make the power supply external for small cases like this.
Looking again at the Xbox One and PS4, the PS4 gets a lot hotter during use than the Xbox ever does. The fan in the PS4 is also quite a bit louder, though I'm not sure if that's because it's working much hard than the fan in the Xbox or if it's because it's simply just a cheap fan.
I personally look at external power bricks as a cost cutting measure. It's cheap. Especially regarding monitors. All the high end monitors have internal global PSU's and they are still thin.
It's more efficient than an internal unit would be, reduces the size of the box itself and reduces the heat output and fan noise of the box. What's cheap about that?
This is the kind of system I'm interested in, only with a GTX 1060 when it arrives. I'd rather have an external power brick to conceal than the internal power supply, they all get to share a shelf together. I would actually like to see more companies providing solutions like this rather than these Intel CPU IGP combos that won't offer a satisfactory gaming experience.
Yeah, I couldn't disagree more. I wish far more mini systems used external powerbricks to decrease the size of the box itself and, far more importantly, the heat and noise.
Disappointingly large for what it is, Zotac could have really pushed the volume down further. For example, the Magnus is 225 mm × 203 mm × 128 mm, plus TWO external bricks. The Dan A4 is 327 mm x 205 mm x 112 mm. That extra 100mm in length gains an internal PSU, and support for standard ITX motherboards and full-size GPUs. You can successfully stuff a X99 ITX motherboard in there (and that has been demonstrated) along with a GTX 1080, without issue.
You can't fit a 140mm water-cooler on your CPU inside the Dan, though, and it is a lot more expensive. To me this looks like a fairly reasonable compromise between cost, size and noise.
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Tabalan - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
I really hope for some high end Zen APU in such small or even smaller box. 6 cores + R9 470X (or even R9 480) would be really decent box for playing even quite demanding games, far better than laughable (in terms of gaming performance) Intel Skull Canyon.Lonyo - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Yay, more cheating "mini" systems with external power bricks. On the one hand it's reasonable because you aren't dumping at heat into the system, which helps, but it's not entirely honest to say how small your system is when it has a massive external power brick (or two).MonkeyPaw - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Yeah, that's what I hate about the XboxOne. It's a massive device, yet MS still went external power brick. PS4 is smaller and internal. Still, on this type of device, it's probably good to get some of the heat elsewhere, so temps and fan speeds don't get out of hand.Leonick - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Heat is definitely a valid reason to make the power supply external for small cases like this.Looking again at the Xbox One and PS4, the PS4 gets a lot hotter during use than the Xbox ever does. The fan in the PS4 is also quite a bit louder, though I'm not sure if that's because it's working much hard than the fan in the Xbox or if it's because it's simply just a cheap fan.
Samus - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
I personally look at external power bricks as a cost cutting measure. It's cheap. Especially regarding monitors. All the high end monitors have internal global PSU's and they are still thin.Spunjji - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
It's more efficient than an internal unit would be, reduces the size of the box itself and reduces the heat output and fan noise of the box. What's cheap about that?HomeworldFound - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
This is the kind of system I'm interested in, only with a GTX 1060 when it arrives. I'd rather have an external power brick to conceal than the internal power supply, they all get to share a shelf together. I would actually like to see more companies providing solutions like this rather than these Intel CPU IGP combos that won't offer a satisfactory gaming experience.Cygni - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
Yeah, I couldn't disagree more. I wish far more mini systems used external powerbricks to decrease the size of the box itself and, far more importantly, the heat and noise.damianrobertjones - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
The marketing people need to make things CLEAR!"nVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Notebook:" is NOT a 980. It's a 980m. All literature should state 980m or 980 notebook.
P.s. DDR3?
claudiu_io - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
No, it's actually a full 980 with some reduced voltages (and frequencies): http://www.anandtech.com/show/9649/nvidia-gtx-980-...damianrobertjones - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
Then the above chart needs to remove 'Notebook' from 'NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Notebook'Spunjji - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
No, because it is different from both the desktop 980 and the 980M. Blame NVIDIA for the confusing nomenclature if you want.dueckadam - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
^What he said.Although agree that the DDR3(L) is odd.
JoeyJoJo123 - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
Oh dear, the completely uninformed has something to completely incorrect to say, on the internet, no less...Whatever shall I do...?
acme64 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
it says notebook right in the title, where is your confusion?edzieba - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
Disappointingly large for what it is, Zotac could have really pushed the volume down further.For example, the Magnus is 225 mm × 203 mm × 128 mm, plus TWO external bricks. The Dan A4 is 327 mm x 205 mm x 112 mm. That extra 100mm in length gains an internal PSU, and support for standard ITX motherboards and full-size GPUs. You can successfully stuff a X99 ITX motherboard in there (and that has been demonstrated) along with a GTX 1080, without issue.
Spunjji - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
You can't fit a 140mm water-cooler on your CPU inside the Dan, though, and it is a lot more expensive. To me this looks like a fairly reasonable compromise between cost, size and noise.acme64 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
what a fantastic looking chassis. i'd give it a design award