I'm definitely sure this will be bigger than the EN760 as I reckon it'll be dimensioned the same size or similar size as a console. Still, it'll be pretty nice and small enough and like many Flat desktop or Horizontal Desktop Form Factors, you could simply save space by just plopping your monitor on top. Of course you can change the orientation as you'd like.
Zotac revealed that it will have a Skylake CPU which is the successor to Broadwell. Broadwell for the Desktop if memory serves, is not available yet so it makes me wonder what difference will Broadwell be against Skylake. So I'm a bit doubtful of the CPU's capability at the moment. But the GPU is proven capable, that is definite. The Maxwell Architecture really has set some solid ground from my GTX 970 SLI experiences despite the 3.5GB controversy. So I won't be surprised at its definitive performance. With 1280 Maxwell-based CUDA Cores and 3GB of Video Memory on a 192-bit bus, it's a definite sweet spot for Home Theater gaming at 1080p with an extent to even 1440p and 4K and more than enough for current today's AAA titles at close to maximum settings. I read somewhere on Zotac that the GPU is a MXM Module based card, so I guess it's possible to bump this up down the road should you want. We'll wait for November to be absolutely sure though. But if it is confirmed that this should be the case, this will be an awesome feature to have, especially in a event should your GPU happen to fry itself somehow.
One thing I notice that this thing has a crap tonne of HDMI! Those are nice to have, so if you plan to go NVidia Surround, you can. Each HDMI is at the 2.0 standard and supports UHD resolution at 60Hz so 4K gaming is definitely possible there, especially given the horsepower of the GTX 970M. But this also functions as a HTPC and you'll want to have the option of plugging in some add-on players to record movies and TV Shows to your SN970.
The unit is set to launch in November. And as far as it's certain, I was told by Dennis from BeyondGeek, the retailer whom I personally bought my former Zotac GTX 780 AMP Card 1.5 years ago from, a high chance that a Barebone will be released as well. Knowing Zotac, they always sell barebones for their ZBoxes. I'll gladly look out for one because I want to transfer my 8Gigs of RAM and my 2.5" Samsung 840 250GB SSD from my X11 to here. But I'd definitely take a 64GB M.2 as my boot if you ask me. Likely a definite Win-Win for Zotac.
Rumored Specs:
CPU: Skylake 6th Generation CPU
RAM: 8GB SODIM
Storage: 64GB M.2, Provision for an extra 2.5" Drive in it.
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 970M (MXM, Maybe upgradable in future)
I/O: 2 x USB 2.0, 4 x USB x 3.0, 4 x HDMI?! (That's a lot of HDMI!) , Audio Jacks: Mic In and Speaker/Headphone out, SD Card (always nice to have), WIFI: 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
OS: Steam OS, Optional Windows OS.
By the way, has anyone thought of using Steam Machines as a Hackintosh Mac Mini?
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| Front I/O: Power Button, Dedicated Audio Jacks, two USB 3.0 ports and the good ol' SD Card slot. |
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| Very nice: Dual Ethernet, Wireless Antenna, And a crapload of HDMI. 2 USB 2.0s and another pair of USB 3.0s. |
