Zotac was present at the GDC on the Valve booth to exhibit its Steam Machine, but also to present a prototype of the MAGNUS EN980, its high-end mini-PC future. Larger than other mini-PC brand (+/- 22x20x13cm), it is also much more swift, particularly to support the VR. The MAGNUS EN980 embarks indeed a Core i5-6400 but above all, as the name suggests, a mobile GeForce GTX 980. Not a GTX 980M but a mobile GTX 980 which corresponds to a GeForce GTX 980 desktop but MXM format and with a stricter limit consumption.
To cool the whole CPU and GPU, Zotac uses a watercooling system specifically designed for the size of the case, the upper part houses the radiator and 120mm fan. This watercooling system is still in prototype and remains the element that Zotac has more work to do. Zotac has also stated we aim for a consumption limit of 150 to 175W for the graphics card, which could be very close to 180W for the GTX 980 desktop.
Zotac also considering several options to other levels, such as the number of front USB ports (2 ports currently including a type C) or the type of memory supported. Furthermore, the prototype is based DDR3L, better market, but DDR4 is still not excluded at this point. This mini PC will be sold as barebones and will accommodate a disk or SSD or 2.5 "SSD and an M.2 format. The pricing will be high priori range and Zotac plans to present the final version of MAGNUS EN980 at Computex to be held in Taipei from May 31 to June 4.